Thank you for the shiny new thread,
@Hope96 !
I used to work in a place where meetings were banned on Fridays which, in essence, was quite a good idea as it gave everyone a decent chance to get stuff done ... but there were no exceptions for crisis meetings or anything of the sort, which was silly.
In the same place, our manager encouraged us to get up off our seats and go and talk to people - rather than emailing them - of course that's all fine and dandy in an ordinary world, but when you're dealing with people who'll say they'll do something only to later deny they ever agreed to it ... well, let's just say emails are handy to have in case evidence is needed!
A friend has just returned to her job from maternity leave and is having a hell of a time. Her workplace decided that they liked the contractor filling her role while she was off, better than her, so created a new position for this person that sits alongside my friend's role. The contractor makes little comments under her breath constantly while my friend is on the phone to people (they sit next to each other), and is holding back on giving my friend information during handover sessions (this other person denies that is happening). My friend has returned to work on reduced hours to start off with (leaving mid-afternoon everyday), which the contractor has been using to her advantage by "finishing off" things she says my friend failed to do (she's very vocal about that to all the right people), and organising team get-togethers (dinners, drinks, etc.), where she tells them all that my friend's head isn't in it. I've suggested my friend find another job STAT! My friend is well-liked and used to get on fabulously with everyone in the team, but when she went on maternity leave only a couple bothered to keep in contact, and have stayed friendly - everyone else has iced her out. These two said to her before she returned that they won't pick sides, which was the first time she sensed there was even any drama there! Hideous.