With the approval behind him, Chris was ready to tackle the next phase: ordering the new phones. He chose a reputable vendor, finalized the specs, and hit “submit” with a sigh of relief. For about 48 hours, everything seemed fine.
Then came the dreaded email:
“Dear Valued Customer, due to unforeseen delays, half your order is backordered. Expected arrival: TBD.”
Chris read the email twice, hoping he’d misunderstood. He hadn’t. Before he could finish processing that disaster, another email arrived:
“Your installation kit is missing several key components. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
Fantastic.
Meanwhile, the execs were growing impatient. “When will this be done?” one asked during a staff meeting. “We’ve already promised clients we’ll have the new system up and running soon.”
Chris juggled timelines like a circus performer. He spent his mornings on hold with the vendor, afternoons updating increasingly skeptical managers, and evenings Googling phrases like “stress relief for IT pros.”
Barry, who had somehow adopted Chris as a mentor, popped into his office one day. “Why don’t we just use Zoom for everything? Phones are, like, so 2010.”
Chris gave him a tight smile. “Noted, Barry.”
The chaos continued for weeks, but eventually, the missing equipment began trickling in. Chris updated the timeline for the fifth time and prayed nothing else would go wrong.