Q: Worst part of your j*b?

[scrabbler1]

I had my share of Dilbert events back in my working days. Two of them arose from one of our corporate executives who paid a visit to our floor just after we relocated to a new building back in the early 1990s. First, he saw my hanging overcoat sticking out from a hook behind a partition in a small space in front of a window at the end of my cubicle. He demanded I either put it on the back of my chair (it was too long, the wheels would run over it) or put it in a coat closet way down the hall. I put it in the closet the rest of the day but then returned it to my cubicle the next day and used that spot for the 10 years we were in that building. I mean, why would some executive care where I hang up my damned coat?

This same executive also gave a coworker down the hall a hard time with the fact that the venetian blinds were raised to uneven levels in a long series of windows. He demanded they be set at the same level. My coworker the next day set them to ascending heights like a staircase. I don't know if the executive coat police-turned blinds police ever saw that.

 

[FUEGO]

I've always looked forward to meetings. I worked on a production floor for 11 years doing manual labor for 12hr shifts. A meeting meant actually sitting down for a while. It meant taking out the ear plugs and not sweating in the 90+ degree heat. Granted I was not conducting a meeting I was just attending but meetings were the best part of my job. They were basically an extra break from the hard work.

This is how cube dwellers feel about a day out in the field.

 

[HFWR]

This is how cube dwellers feel about a day out in the field.

Or a "traincation"...

 

[FUEGO]

Or a "traincation"...

I would rather review TPS reports all day than undergo any more training from our training overlords.

 

[HFWR]

I would rather review TPS reports all day than undergo any more training from our training overlords.

True for in-house training, but back in the good ol' days they used to send us to Silicon Valley to the equipment vendors' sites for training...

Nothing like a free week in the SF bay area!

 

[M Paquette]

The head office flew an HR boob out to conduct a training on how to mentor people. This creature proceeded to instruct the mentors to make very sure that their mentees understood the finer points of the dress code, how peep toe shoes are acceptable, but open toe shoes are not, etc. I am left to wonder if there is a toe inspector roaming the halls of the head office.

So, how do they feel about Birkenstocks? When worn with shredded cutoff jeans? Are they OK while skateboarding the corridors, or only on a Razor scooter?

I think maybe I was in a different sort of workplace from most people...

 

[chasesfish]

I realized today that I have basically two shares professional level support staff and one assistant to support the documentation, regulatory, and IT functions required now to achieve my productive job function, 9 years ago when I started, it was the same job function with one assistant shared with three people. I'm watching regulation create economic waste every

 

[UserRequested]

. The head office flew an HR boob out to conduct a training on how to mentor people.

The boobies get all the attention

 

[traineeinvestor]

Another classic:

"The March meeting of the Mid-Career Professionals Mentoring Circle will be Tuesday, March 19, at 3 p.m. in the XXX room and via conference call. The topic will beMeeting Overload, (how to make the best of time in meetings, time management, meeting management, etc.). Bring your questions, best practices and suggestions."

Its a meeting on how to deal with the fact that we have too many meetings.

I have learned to value and appreciate meetings - with iPhone in hand I can appear to be productive while dealing with personal e-mails and spending time on the internet.

 

[ER Eddie]

So damn tired of being blamed for everything even though it's not my job function. Tired of being scape goat.

I wish I had a thick skin and was a back stabber because I would have been an excellent Director!

That's a lot how I feel. The worst part of my job is how dysfunctional some of the people I work with are. Blaming, accusatory, hostile, perfectionistic (about others, anyhow), degrading, and prone to angry outbursts. Power-hungry, disrespectful bullies and blamers...

It's not everyone, or even the majority who are like this, just one or two people. But they are inevitably the ones who gravitate toward positions of power in the system and who are promoted by administration for their "productivity" and Type A qualities. Management turns a blind eye to it, cooperates with it, and lets people like me (lower level, less power in the system) get blamed and trashed.

After 15 years of it, I'm worn out. The funny thing is, I'm in the mental health field, and this is the type of people who are in charge ... inmates running the asylum.

All I do lately is just tell myself to keep my head down, CYA, and head for the finish line.

And then, also, I've stopped learning and growing on the job. There was a time when I was learning quite a bit, but that's over. Granted, I'm still learning about how to deal with all the egos and the dysfunction of the system, but that's not interesting to me.

Over the years, too, the system has moved from an inspirational and service-oriented paradigm to something much more financially driven, cost-cutting, and profit-focused. That's drained out a lot of my interest in the job, too.

 

[UserRequested]

. Blaming, accusatory, hostile, perfectionistic (about others, anyhow), degrading, and prone to angry outbursts. Power-hungry, disrespectful bullies and blamers...

I take great delight in exposing these people for what they are.

Granted I can do this because I am in a senior position or higher than these people. When any of these sorts mess with my staff or me, I go on the attack with facts and figures.

These bullies are actually cowards and run for cover when challenged

 

[Hexanova]

I'm a mechanical design engineer, not a manager, so my job is to actually do work, create things, build things, test things, do drawings, do structural analysis, do tolerance analysis, design the things you see on the shelf in excruciating 3D detail, every curve, corner, nook, surface, hole, screw, piece of sheetmetal, etc.

But everyone above (and even lateral) to the people actually doing work think the following qualifies as work:

1) Running endless and recurring meetings, even when there's nothing to meet about because chairing a meeting is the only accomplishment they can claim for the week.
2) Running pre-meetings for meetings (I'm not making this up)
3) Making non-critical requests to give the illusion of adding value to a project (when in reality they do nothing)
4) Enforcing their own idea of best methods for accomplishing successful design.
5) Everyone giving the 2 cents on your designs even if they aren't a co-owner, user, or stakeholder of said design.
6) Disturbing me when I'm in "do not disturb" mode via chat notice or a sign on the entrance of my cubicle.
7) People walking in to my cubicle at 4:59 "Hey, got a minute." ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
8) Sick people who come in thinking the company just will not go on if they miss a few days. Then they infect two people, who infect two people, etc, until hundreds or even thousands of work hours are lost. I've actually chewed out my own manager for not enforcing some kind of "stay the hell home when you're sick" policy. He didn't care what I thought. He literally shrugged his shoulders and didn't care when sick people come to work. So now I rule with draconian zeal when any sick person gets near me at work. They are not allowed in my cubicle. I will not have face to face meetings with them. Some people don't like this, but that's my policy.

Okay, I'm going in to rant mode about work...I better stop because I could literally write a book on the absurdity of nearly every aspect of my job. LOL

 

[ER Eddie]

I take great delight in exposing these people for what they are.

Granted I can do this because I am in a senior position or higher than these people. When any of these sorts mess with my staff or me, I go on the attack with facts and figures.

These bullies are actually cowards and run for cover when challenged

You're the kind of boss I'd love to have. Unfortunately, my higher-ups either don't have enough backbone to stand up to these jerks or else just don't understand the damage to morale that sort of behavior causes. They've lost quite a few good, talented people because of it, but they don't seem to be making the connection.

I agree that challenging them makes them run for cover -- if you have power in the system. If you don't, though, challenging them can be dangerous. I've decided to just keep my mouth shut and head slowly for the exit.

 

[obgyn65]

Thanks for clarifying what peep toes shoes are. Although I love working for women and with women, all this fashion stuff is still a bit of an unknown world to me.

When I was working, I usually figured that they could even tell me to dress in a clown suit and I'd do it if they paid me enough. So, I never really minded dress codes.

Here you go:

Peep Toes - What are Peep Toe Shoes?

 

[Milton]

I realized today that I have basically two shares professional level support staff and one assistant to support the documentation, regulatory, and IT functions required now to achieve my productive job function, 9 years ago when I started, it was the same job function with one assistant shared with three people.

Interesting. I have observed things going the other way too: in my last four years of work, I actually had to share a secretary with a junior lawyer (quelle horreur!).

 

[chasesfish]

Actually, I was saying its going the other way. I now have three people that have to provide compliance, IT, and documentary support. I work in banking, the side that loans money to locally owned businesses.

We're viewed the same as the mortgage brokers who were doing no income verification loans

 

[GTH2016]

Most aspects of Law Enforcement. It was an adventure for about the 1st ten years but after 17 years, the novelty has worn off. I have to survive 45 more months till I can bail.

 

[Walt34]

This same executive also gave a coworker down the hall a hard time with the fact that the venetian blinds were raised to uneven levels in a long series of windows. He demanded they be set at the same level.

Well, my God man! Don't you understand that there are institutional standards to maintain! What would the neighbors think?

I work in contract security for one of the large three-letter federal agencies and some of the nitpicking they have to complain about is astonishing too. But since almost all of us are retired law enforcement and have made multiple trips through hell and high water and back, and are therefore grateful to have survived the trips with our sanity (more or less) and appendages intact, we figure that if that's all they have to complain about we must be doing a pretty good job.

 

[brewer12345]

Well, tomorrow should be interesting. I have been summoned to the national capital of peep toe shoes only (the head office) to be one of the dancing monkeys on a panel discussion so that the brain dead automatons who are in the role of officers can pretend they are thinking about emerging risks. I just realized I failed to pack a pair of dress shoes.

I suppose I could figure out where in this dreary midwestern city where I could buy a pair of shoes after hours. **** it. I was dragged out here on short notice for what is a complete boondoggle so let them freak out over my hiking shoes if they wish.

 

[REWahoo]

I was dragged out here on short notice for what is a complete boondoggle so let them freak out over my hiking shoes if they wish.

As long as they aren't open-toed hiking shoes you should be fine...

 

[sengsational]

...let them freak out over my hiking shoes if they wish.

I think that attitude will keep your blood pressure low and enable you to live a healthier life. Maybe you could get the hotel concierge to polish 'em, hehe.

 

[brewer12345]

As long as they aren't open-toed hiking shoes you should be fine...

I think I will keep a count of how many times I hear about my footwear when they have allegedly brought me in at something close to a thousand bucks for a 90 minute panel where I am to contribute insight into the idiocy going on in the credit markets.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Eery time you hear shoes, think "TPS reports" an that should keep you entertained.

 

[brewer12345]

Eery time you hear shoes, think "TPS reports" an that should keep you entertained.

I will not miss this dumb job when I make my escape.

 

[jon-nyc]

I once heard an author being interviewed on NPR. I forget who it was, but he had made it pretty big but only later in life. Before that he held every type of job imaginable while writing on the side.

The interviewer asked him about the jobs he had over the years, which kind he preferred. His answer was great: "I've had white collar jobs and blue collar jobs. I always preferred a blue collar job because you didn't have to pretend you liked it."