First of all, I must say I feel so fortunate to be able to keep the pink copy of our requisition forms in my binder, and send the green copy to our purchasing department for payment. = ) Seriously, though, I really do feel better when I wear my pink sweater...responses from people seem to be more positive.
As to the perception problems, I've run into this in my current job. When I first started, I kept trying to get things done by going directly to the people who were responsible. They were holding up my part of the work because they weren't doing theirs. I got into big trouble with this, as they perceived that I was undermining their authority. That couldn't have been further from the truth. I wasn't trying to take over their jobs or their "power".... I just wanted them to do their assigned tasks.
My boss actually agreed with me about it, and said he runs into the same problem himself. So, he couldn't help me. After a while I realized that all I could do was wait for the others to get their jobs done so I could, in turn, do mine. I no longer push people to move things along, I just stew in frustration.
The specific problem I was running into--and still do--is that new employees were not being processed efficiently, so that when they arrived they were not furnished with the necessary items to do their work. This infuriates me and the other admins to this day...it seems so "unwelcoming" to the new person.
Movinonup 
