RE: how to prevent DBA burnout?
Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2009 10:48:13 -0400
Message-ID: <8833494F383585499CB855121711D26313916A746B_at_JBXEXVS02.fplu.fpl.com>
Amen! That's the reason I quit my last job. I was the one-man-dba-team. The thing that REALLY killed me is that they had an open position for a SR DBA and that position was open for more than a 1.5 YEARS! yeah. just let the JR DBA do all the work. He's running things alright. no need to waste extra payroll!
Jeremy
P Consider the environment. Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to.
From: oracle-l-bounce_at_freelists.org [mailto:oracle-l-bounce_at_freelists.org] On Behalf Of Andrew Kerber
Sent: Monday, March 30, 2009 10:37 AM
To: robyn.sands_at_gmail.com
Cc: jerry59grp_at_gmail.com; Oracle L
Subject: Re: how to prevent DBA burnout?
have at least two dba's, if not, reasonable up-time expectations. Nothing burns out a dba quicker than being on call 24x7, with no one else to take the load. On Mon, Mar 30, 2009 at 9:24 AM, Robyn <robyn.sands_at_gmail.com<mailto:robyn.sands_at_gmail.com>> wrote: Opportunities to learn ... classes, conferences and the chance to share ideas with others dealing with similar problems and environments. Conferences and symposiums are beneficial on multiple levels - cutting training budgets is penny wise and pound foolish.
Burnout and boredom go hand in hand. Doing the same thing the same way over and over again burns people out, as does dealing with the same problems day after day.
Today's card on indexed is perfect for this question:
http://thisisindexed.com/2009/03/ask-more-questions-youll-feel-better/
On Mon, Mar 30, 2009 at 9:44 AM, Jerry Cunningham <jerry59grp_at_gmail.com<mailto:jerry59grp_at_gmail.com>> wrote: Hi all...
I came across this question on twitter (http://twitter.com/Michael_Corey). How do you prevent DBA burnout?
I know there are a lot of smart people on this list - any thoughts? I replied via my blog (more than 140 chars!)... here are my 2 cents:
===
- Communicate with them regularly. Forget business/corporate formality - everybody you work with is simply a person. From the security guard at the front desk to the CEO. How is life? Are you happy? What is stressing you out? If there are problems, what can I do to help?
- Don't forget how hard it is to find good people. At a previous job, when interviewing for a vacancy, I had interviewed for weeks without a promising candidate. This made me realize how good the people we had were, and I told them so. I told them, that while they were working harder due to the staffing shortage, I was not going to settle for less than the high standard they had set.
- If somebody resigns (and you value them) - make them a counter offer immediately. It amazes me how often this does not happen. Or, the employee is asked "what can I do to keep you?". Too vague - make a concrete offer. ===
Jerry
http://jerrycunningham.wordpress.com<http://jerrycunningham.wordpress.com/>
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Andrew W. Kerber
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Received on Mon Mar 30 2009 - 09:48:13 CDT