Annoying things your work colleagues do all the time? #3

[Sunflower91]

This week I was asked by a CEO advice/ for support with something in my area of expertise (so you know.. doing the job I’m paid to do). I said of course but made them aware that there was a breakdown in communication somewhere and we have a solution in place that’s not built to standard and fundamentally wrong, built by someone who doesn’t know their arse from their elbow. The reply : “thanks for your help, we’ll go with the solution X made” felt like replying with “your funeral”

 

[JustmeKC]

This is a random question but on a weekly basis how many emails do you come back to in work if you had a weeks annual leave?

I recently had 3 sick days due to Covid and I told my manager how many emails I had when I came back (approx 250) as it took me a couple of days to get through them and her reaction is that she gets twice that many and that she didnt think it was excessive.

We have a big culture of ccing someone and then if you dont read it being given out to for missing something even though it wasnt addressed to you. I feel so much of my day is spent reading emailings rather than doing anything.

I have spoken to colleagues at similar levels and they have said they dont get nearly as much.

I get around 100 a day most days - lots of them being meeting requests so that’s fun

 

[Rodneytrotter]

I work in a school with someone who speaks to everyone like shit. Today she was talking loudly about me having pink sheets of paper. After her third passive aggressive comment I said that I had found them in the stock room. She shouted at me 'THE PINK PAPER IS FOR BEST!'. I said I didnt know that but I do now. She's unhinged and all of the children are scared of her.

 

[TheGlossy]

Last minute people:

Last week, I was requested by stakeholder A to provide a large amount of deliverables within 3 days. This meant I had to put my own work aside and work overtime to meet this ridiculous deadline. I managed to provide everything by Friday COB as requested. Fast forward, today Thursday is the last day before stakeholder A submit all deliverables to another stakeholder. They approach me at 6pm my time asking me to do some random modifications and state: "Kindly note, this needs to be done by tomorrow".

Excuse me? It is already 6pm over here and you had an entire week to review the deliverables I provided yet you're waking up at the last minute asking me to bend over and backwards? Unbelievable.

 

[Some People!]

Everyone talks over each other constantly in Teams meetings, it's horrendous. I am so sick of having to fight to be heard in meetings.
You never get to speak unless you butt in whilst someone else is speaking.
It's rude AF.
Occasionally I am on calls with other business areas and it's a joy that everyone raises their virtual hand before speaking, or if they want to add something after the curret speaker has finished.

You put your hand up in our calls and it gets ignored every time.

Also men mainsplaining constantly in meetings, or going into unnecessary detail. I don't need the minutiae, just be brief!

Your meetings need an agenda and a chair, no??
No one can possibly be satisfied with things as they stand, maybe raise the issue if you feel able? You might be everyone's hero!

 

[JOHN1967]

Completely agree with all of the above. I come home sometimes so exhausted because I’m trying to say and do all the right things and not look like I’m stuck up or aloof.
The truth is I’ve been excruciatingly shy all my life and people pick up all the wrong signs from you when you’re like that. Especially when you’re at an age when you’re expected to have “grown out of it”.
At my new place there are very few people who make an effort to draw newcomers in. The only thing that hides the cliquey-ness is the fact that most of the time it’s as quiet as the grave because the managers sit in the same room and frown on any chatter.
Add to that the control freakishness of the place and those in charge changing their minds more times than they change their socks and it doesn’t make a great experience



Ha! My OH has just told me not to be stupid because a company I emailed this morning came to me in less than an hour and I was going to send a nice message back thanking them for reading it and responding so quickly
I honestly believe that most people don’t bother opening their inboxes any more

I often do thank them if I think they have been especially efficient, it costs nothing, and I am sure they will be happy.

 

[Samf2020]

A colleague who never responds to emails in a timely manner and whose phone, nine times out of ten goes on to voicemail, phoned me 15 minutes after sending me an email asking 'have you had a chance to look at my email yet'

We had 2 of those in our office. They would put their phones on voicemail the second they walked in. I used to cover reception sometimes and on more than one occasion I opened the door to their office and said loud enough for everyone to hear that no one could contact them as their phone was permanently on VM and they dont reply to emails. Finally shamed them into sometimes answering the phone.

 

[grumpy-nosy-cow]

This weird thing in my current job where everyone is obsessed with age! Little cliques for each age group. So strange. Never experienced it before. The younger ones act like anything over 25 is ancient.

you must work with me ! its same at my work..i have never worked anywhere before like it ..all the young women stuck together and then the older ones in their group..i don't fit into either age group so wasnt welcome in either groups.
it took me until the pandemic to really settle into and enjoy my job..mainly because i wasnt in the office and away from crap like this !
Every other job ive had the departments have been people in their 20s up to 60s and people all got on well. my first job the older ladies gave us both work and life / relationship advise and looked out for us all c

 

[Timz]

He sounds like one of those weird types who either invent or embellish stories just for attention. Best avoided.

Yes we had one guy like that making up stalker-like love stories about his life outside of work when no one brought anything up, but colleagues kept looking on his FB to see what he was up to. Then he also made what seemed like small white lies about work things, a big no no in a regulatory lab, everyone has to be “whiter than white” anyway, it came back to bite him when there was a big audit! Also a known harassment predator… bisexual…no one was off limits!

 

[HoGi]

That's what most of my jobs have been like. I don't mind, spend enough time at work and I think it's better to make friends with people you have to interact with so much. Well most of them at least.

No chance I'm answering any work related stuff out of hours though

Yeh we all get on well enough and have a few in jokes etc.

But the group chat is mainly kept to IT issues and birthday greetings lol

 

[Rodneytrotter]

I cant stand nosey people, in general. I would be pausing and looking at her for a moment before giving a vague answer. Or burying my head in something and giving uh-huh responses until she was sick of me

Ha ha ha! That is so true ' uh-huh' and 'oh okay' are my favourites when she starts slagging people off as I just don't get involved in that. She hates it and goes around saying 'I think rodneytrotter is being a bit off with me" (which I dont care about). I love the idea of pausing and looking at her for a moment! She has no self awareness at all.

 

[shhh1712]

Removed by request

 

[TheGlossy]

When someone asks you to do something absolutely stupid, you try to push back and they still insist on you doing that stupid ask. Except, given you're acting on their behalf, you're the one who is going to look bad, not them.

**I was asked to ask project leads to provide comments on each one of their upcoming projects for reporting purposes. My take is to send all of them an email to collect this information to a) have a written trace b) save time for everyone. My manager instead asked me to set up a call with all of them. Utter waste of time, because each project lead is going to speak for 5 minutes about their project then spend the rest of the call listening to comments on projects they're not involved in? Stupid. **

 

[Pinhead Larry]

WWYD in this situation

I have handed my notice in, I have annual leave booked for the whole of next week. I have absolutely nothing to do at work which is my reason for leaving, I mentioned upthread.
My manager is on annual leave this afternoon and tomorrow. I work in an isolated office a 5 min drive from the main office. I am the only person in my office who has to go over to the main office occasionally. There's me, two women who have told me I should do what I am suggesting, and one lad who is a huge grass.

Should I announce to the grass later on that I will be going to the other office tomorrow to tie up any loose ends before I leave and then just have my work laptop on from home so I can iron and pack for holiday?

 

[ChastityDingle]

Urgh yesss and they’re always the same people that constantly try to convince you to confront your own boss to get yourself in shit or complain about them to higher up for their own benefit. My friend from my previous job was the WORST for this. We had the same manager and I couldn’t have one tiny moan about her without her lecturing me about how she wouldn’t have it, I needed to speak my mind to tell people higher up yada yada.

Then when it came to her own issues with our manager it was always the same thing over and over - “I’m sick of this, I’m putting a meeting in and telling her I’ve had enough” (a few days later) “Did you put that meeting in?” “Er no cause I’m just gonna bring it up in our 1:1” (a few days after that) “How did it go?” “Oh er yeah it was fine… I wasn’t too harsh as I don’t think it’s fair to not give her a chance to rectify things” yet with me it was always “you need to bring the Head Of into your 1:1 and just let her have it” as if lol

Oh gawd yes, I used to have one of those 'you shoulds' in my life. We were actually colleagues at one stage, and remained friends for quite some time afterwards. But I realised that - among other things - about her.

It sticks in my mind that one year she was encouraging me to not attend my work Christmas party. I had probably said I wasn't sure about attending, couldn't be bothered or whatever. Meanwhile she was actually flying home from a work assignment abroad in order to attend hers. She always needed to be seen to do the right thing. That probably isn't making my point very well. But it was one of the first times that I thought

A great woman at making snowballs for others to fire, I think with hindsight. Our paths crossed in more recent years and a friend who now works with her commented on the fact that she was well able to gripe about their mutual boss, but was all sweetness and light to his face

It reminds me a bit of Friends where Chandler and Joey are advising Rachel to quit her job. She asks why they don't quit theirs and they say 'oh no we are too afraid' or something like that.

 

[Rodneytrotter]

I am currently working with a micro manager. Every day there is something I am nit picked about. This morning was too much as im not sleeping well and a bit hormonal and when she came in the 80th time with a fault she had found , I started crying the minute she left the room.

How do you politely tell someone to back off?

 

[Fidah]

I'm so happy that my colleagues aren't annoying and I have good relationships with all of them.

 

[Bluelipstick]

Does anyone have experience or advice on this. So my team are mostly junior office staff and a few of them are complaining that some of the older coworkers (same level) are treating them like kids and are generally condescending. To give context, the company is years old with lots of people there from day 1. It was acquired and is going for a trendier culture but there's naturally resistance from some legacy staff. This wasn't an issue working from home but now we're back some are pulling the elder card and manipulating juniors into doing their donkey work, like the way offices would have been ran years ago. I'm not saying they shouldn't be giving a dig out or respecting the experience of people who know the company inside out, but I've had complaints like this:

1) a member of my team helped the receptionist carry and unload deliveries one day. The receptionist has manual handling training, its been part of her job since she started years ago. Now she keeps calling him everytime something comes in and uses manipulative language like "I know my buddy will make time to help" , "you're in here a wet day this is how you earn your stripes'

2) I had a new admin start and she seems great. She's efficient, responsive, takes ownership but the office manager has taken a dislike to her (perhaps feels threatened) he's twice her age if not more and talks to her likes she's a small child. She forgot her swipe card and he ripped into her telling her its not his job to let her in and out. Then later that day it happened to someone else and his reaction was vastly different "no worries Pal anytime" any suggestions she makes for admin improvements he shoots down and says "that's not how we do things here"

I now have to figure out how to tactfully nip this in the bud and foster a culture that everyone has a valuable role in the workplace.

It is always difficult when new staff/new culture comes in somewhere but everyone has to adapt and be respectful of each other.

The second guy is a bully and needs a verbal warning.

The first one probably just needs a quiet word to establish if they are struggling with that part of their job, so they can get some help by someone with appropriate training. If they’re just being lazy then it’s not ok.

Maybe you guys need one of those team bonding days. A bit wanky but it might help?

 

[rosemarina]

I don’t think it’s jurisdiction specific. It’s company specific. Each company is free to dictate their own rules in this regard.

The way you wrote it sounded like you thought it was mandatory, and since I know you're in Ireland, I thought I'd mention that even if it is the law there, it's not here. Your words left no room for nuance.

" Technically, if a company sponsors a course or a degree, you have to remain in the company for a specific amount of time otherwise you have to refund a portion or the full fee to the company on your way out. It’s policy in most companies so whether you offer it as a gesture or not, the company is entitled to ask for their money back anyways "

The company is not entitled to ask for its money back if you haven't entered into an agreement with them first.

 

[HoGi]

I have a manager who sends global emails calling some people out on certain things and we are instructed to respond to their email saying: "Yes, I read and understood".

It's already happened on numerous occasions. What on earth is this? School?

That's a bit far. But it is soul destroying when you send out emails knowing most people will pay no attention and just delete it.

Suppose this at least forces people to acknowledge and then there is "proof" they read it should there be an issue later down the line.