a management tip

If you want a series of reports for a meeting at 4.30 on a Monday, and the person who can generate the reports only got access to the mainframe application the preceding Friday at 4 pm, give them more than 30 minutes' notice. Especially if you have known for over a week that you wanted the reports.

If the reports aren't coming out in a fashion that you think you can use, standing behind me and telling me to complete steps that I just did while you (weren't) watching -- that's really going to make the critical difference. Do more of that.