That, Baz, corresponds in large part to my experience in the last two years. I am still somewhat reeling from the shock of finding that what I had thought was a position within a community dedicated to "higher education" was actually more like one within a faceless corporate entity. This phenomenon is extremely disheartening and will drive me back out of the "system" long before I'm eligible to retire, I am absolutely sure. Not that this has anything to do with the thread title although both are symptoms of the same thing.
The bureaucracy had so taken over "the system" that when I was Head of Department I had to wait up to 3 months to receive a reply to an important educational document I had submitted to the Warden affecting changes I was proposing to the structure and content of courses we intended to offer. Since this delay meant that they could no longer be implemented for the following year - causing severe and unnecessary drain upon our meagre financial resources - I decided to undertake a covert piece of detective work in order to explain why it could possibly take 3 months to receive a reply as a Head of Department! I came up with the following scenario:
1) Document is put in my Administrator's Out Tray
2) It is collected by the internal postman
3) It is then placed in the internal posting In Tray
4) Another internal postman removes it the following morning and places it in HIS Out Tray
5) The following day yet another internal postman collects it and places it in his bag (along with 100s of others)
6) He then notes the word "Warden" so places it in another postman's In Tray
7) Another postman collects it from there and places it in his Out Tray
8 ) A further postman collects it the following day from that Out Tray and places it in his bag
9) The following day this same postman walks down to the appropriate Warden's building and places it on the counter
10) A receptionist picks it up (with several dozen others) and walk upstairs to the first floor to place it in an In Tray
11) The following morning a junior Clerical Officer takes it from that In Tray, and places it in her Out Tray
12) The next day another Clerical Officer collects it and forwards it to the Warden's Secretary's In Tray
13) The next day The Warden's Secretary places it in her Out Tray
14) The following day she then places it in the Warden's PA's In Tray
15) Next day the Warden's PA places it in her Out Tray
16) The following day The Warden's PA then places it in The Warden's own In Tray
17) Upon noticing that the content of the document has financial implication, The Warden then places it in his Out Tray marked "Director of Finance"
18) His PA then collects it and places it in her In Tray
19) Next day she places it in her Out Tray
20) Next day it is collected by an internal postman who places it in the postal In Tray
21) Then another postman moves it to somebody else's Out Tray
22) Then another postman places it (along with hundreds of others) into his bag
23) Next day he deposits it in another the Finance Building's In Tray
24) Next day it is picked up by a Junior clerical officer and placed in her In Tray
25) Next day she places it in her Out Tray
26) She then places it in the FO's PA's In Tray
27) Next day this PA places it in her own Out Tray
28) The following day she places it in the FO's In Tray
29) The next day he then opens it and reads it. He thinks about it, and arranges with his secretary a time to meet to dictate a reply
30) Some days later (when he has decided upon the reply) he dictates it, and leaves it for the Secretary to deal with
31) The Secretary then types the reply the following day, and places it in her Out Tray.....
....then - yes - the reply goes right back into the system, and is required to navigate (in reverse) exactly the same endless
staircase of In and Out Trays - at each stage being dalayed by the internal posting system that adds another day each time it moves the document from one building to another - eventually reaching The Warden!
....But there is more! The Warden then has to act upon "the advice" of the Finance Officer in order to reply to me (as the originating Head of Department), so HE then arranges a meeting with HIS PA to dictate a suitable reply to ME!
....When at last this reply has been dictated (which might be within a week or two from that point only) we now know what will happen don't we?!
....Yes! His reply will now have to be navigated (in reverse) through the remaining staircase of seemingly endless In and Out Trays (each one of which will add at least a whole day to the process) as well as several times having to interact with the Internal Post system (each time adding yet a further day's delay).
...Then, and only then, will the reply eventually be received by my Department Administrator!
I speak not in jest! This is an administrative Cottage Industry that has been created! So much for "EDUCATION"!
Baz