Some people have said this already but it bears reiterating because I had to learn this the hard way: big organizations are qualitatively different from small o

Some people have said this already but it bears reiterating because I had to learn this the hard way: big organizations are qualitatively different from small ones, mainly because they can't play fast-and-loose with the rules as much. So big organizations have bureaucracy to make sure the rules get followed. That slows things down. You have to adjust your expectations accordingly. Another thing to keep in mind: navigating bureaucracy in order to get things done is a skill in and of itself, and it takes time to learn and master. It's made that much more challenging by the fact that this is not widely recognized as a skill, and so there aren't any books or manuals. You have to mostly learn by doing. But three rules of thumb that I have found tremendously useful: 1. Be friendly. Keep in mind that everyone you interact with is a human being and they are all in the same soul-crushing boat as you are. A little bit of common courtesy can move mountains. 2. Read the rules. There are probably mountains of documentation somewhere about policies and procedures and who is at least ostensibly in charge of what. This documentation may or may not be complete, and it may or may not bear and resemblance to actual reality, but being familiar with it is nonetheless very useful because nothing strikes more fear into an uncooperative bureaucrat's heart than someone who has read the rules and knows what they say. 3. Rule 1 is more important than rule 2.