please describe (anonymously of course) any colleagues you find unproductive and for what reasons you speculate they are still employed at your office.
I never said anything about bailing him out. If I was trying to talk to him and she calls, I just sit and listen.
As for how he stays employed, nobody really knows it goes on I don't think.
We also have a marketing person, I haven't figured out what they do yet besides get really bored.
so his lack of working ethics, or being trapped under his wifes thumb is not direclty affecting your productivitty, except for having to wait for him to finish his calls.
hear anything interesting in the eaves dropiing sessions?
I dont know a person in "marketting" who ever does any work! so thats par for the course.
One firm where i worked, which was very large has more than half un productive people thank god I only really had to work with 3. one is a bully and ignorant but i think they keep that person so they dont have to train someone else to do that job and I think they like the bully quality. one was a new hired project manager who i strongly believed had a learning disorder "never understand anything anyone trained them on, i think they keep him until he finishes what he has started . the other was a gay guy that was only concerned with gay culture and talking about what guys he's done. never is serious or correct with his work, always who ever works with him had to redo what he did. I guess they keep him because he only does redlines nothing too strenious and he is funny to have around with his stereotypical gay behavior and mannerism. Companies i guess like these type cause they keep the pay low and who wants to pay unemployment to them anyway. eventually all the real workers will get the work done. Yet Im glad to be gone from there!
unproductive...me? never. I only surf the web while on break or after work hours. Everyone is unproductive at some point or another. the way I see it, being in a "creative" profession, or one which requires you to pump cad for hours on end, a meaningless stress free moment is needed at least every hour or so. There is a fine balance of work/play, too much of either will burn you out/get you fired!
Turning the tables for a moment, I trully don't understand over-productive people. I have worked with many of these in the past, and currently work with 2. They come in @ 8am and work til 7pm with 30 min lunch. Breaks...not really, I think they don't even get up to go to the bathroom. I have tried to get them to stop, with no success. One thing is to be over-productive and be moving up the ladder, but this is self torture. WTF! The sad part is that at the end of the day, they think that by working harder/longer they will get ahead...it ain't happening. They are the least respected people in the office (the CAD monkeys)
I practice my shepherding skills at the office:
And whilst it might not be seen as productive in monetary terms.
I do consider it to be cross training or preparing for the inevitable career change!
JB, you are a worthless MF! ;-)
I have just waisted 1 hour "ffing" around with the caos theory game. Wait til monday when I share this with my co-workers. Where should my company send you the bill for time waisted?
Just kidding...thanks
it is hard to do this anonymously when you start to speculate as to why they are still employed.
but, the IT/drafter guy at my work falls asleep at his desk constantly. but it usually looks like he is reading something so people don't really notice.
employers are free to ask whether a potential employee smokes.
not sure if they are aloud to discriminate on this basis!
Before passive smoking became sucha big deal (probably up until the 1980's) employees were allowed to smoke at their desks.
Hence the ciggarette break phenomenon.
Its not a good addiction to have though.
But I think generally if a peson is an honest smoker they will normally either come in early, take a short lunch or leave later, to make up for the 5 minute breaks they have.
Research (of varied kinds) has proved two things.
1. Smokers are more likely to receive promotions faster than other employees because they come into contact with a greater cross section of offices (outside in the cold) hence having a ciggarette with your boss or the accountant or whoever gives you 5 minutes to have a chat instead of staring blanky at your screen and working like a drone!
2. From a different source, you should be taking short breaks at least every hour anyway to give your eyes a rest from the radiation of your monitor (if you use such a thing!) which if your readingthis you must do.
I work outside alot, so I can smoke as much as I want and work at the same time. AS long as i dont set fire to the merchandise!
what i hate is the guy who never takes a break and comes to work even though he is sick(and gets you sick in the process)brings a sack lunch and eats it at his desk in two minutes and is back to work. its not their work ethic i hate its the i am better than you attitude they put forth.
the fact is though it he/she was actually really good they would have all their work done in the morning then could play japanese flash games in the afternoon.
or play frisbee
or......
sack (packed) lunches are a great way to save money though.
but its absolutely neccesary to get out of the office for lunch.
and sometimes the only thing you need is an all you can eat chinese buffet lunch for £4.993
JB: I wonder if that research will hold up as the number of smokers in professional offices declines. I've seen research that says that the total number of smokers is not dropping very quickly - in fact in some demographics it is on the rise - but among those with professional or graduate education it has dropped drastically.
In my current office there are no smokers, so if we did hire one they'd be standing outside in the parking lot alone - not a lot of networking going on. In all the offices I worked in as an intern there were very few smokers - even though some were large offices and one was in the "smokiest city in the US." I've never had a boss who smokes. In those firms it was the office manager and the CAD guys who'd be hanging out on the fire escape smoking.
A friend keeps telling me about this guy in his office. This guy literally will show up to work about 2-3 hours/week. And when he is in the office he surfs the internet for porn. Always there to pick up a paycheck though.
He's had heart surgery and isn't in too great of health. His wife had terminal cancer. I'm assuming that they feel bad for the guy and don't want to fire him.
Some people just know how to milk the system. Would piss me off if someone like that was cutting into my profit sharing.
except on the rarest of occasions, i only do about 4 hours of actual work on most days.
i don't understand a lot of office conventions. i don't know how they started. why they started, and why they continue. it doesn't seem like many of them existed before the 20th century though. here are some examples of what i mean:
-if someone only has 4 hours worth of work to do in a given day, and there's no chance something's suddenly going to make that change, why can't that person just leave after he/she finishes the 4 hours?
-if sunny weather is predicted for friday and rain for saturday and sunday, why can't you just not show up on friday and make up the time on one of the weekend days?
-if someone wants to put in his/her 8 hours between 4am and 12pm, why are they not free to do that?
a day in the life:
as an experiment i kept track of all my non work doings today at work
7:50 arrived went to bathroom got a fresh cup of coffee
9:05 p break
9:10 coffee refill
9:11-9:15 ate yogurt and almonds at desk
9:40 coffee refill
10:00 filled up water bottle
11:20 p break
12:10-12:40 ate lunch and surfed web
12:40-12:45 made coffee
12:46 p break
12:50 coffee refill
1:50-1:55 talked about sammy sosa trade
2:35 p break
3:10 stared out window
4:00 p break
4:30 left
hey, thanks for the retro look at a 'real ' job. last time I was "captive", i had negotiated at deal that I thought was pretty sweet! I worked 4-10's. Came in at 7:30 a.m. left at 5:30. In actuality worked thru my breaks and at lunch at my desk so consistently ( i took an hour on friday), that I had to confront my boss about the 'equity ' of my work performance. He bit his tongue - big time. I was more than productive + some. Nothing ever came back to give anyone a headache.
But, now I am self employed, single office proprietor................. Get up at 4:30 am. work like a dog for myself. what a wonderful world!
hey, their are two sides to the coin. You have to realize a balance. The biggest plus is if you love what you do like its Christmas morning at 4- am. You look forward to it. IF you don't - change what you do. The biggest disservice you do is to yourself. Time flies if you are having fun.
Don't pay a bit of attention to the slackers. They will always be slackers. Maybe politically savvy, but SLACKERS just the same!
I work with a SERIOUS slacker. Shows up around 10:30 or so, checks his email, leaves around 11:30 or so for lunch, back at 2 or 3 to check messages. Gone by 4:30.
But he pays me every Friday, so I let him get away with it.
unproductive employees
please describe (anonymously of course) any colleagues you find unproductive and for what reasons you speculate they are still employed at your office.
this one dude constantly checks some sort of architecture blog and is always typing on it, christ do some work for once!
oh wait. shit.
what? oh wait I get it.... that DUDE is you. hahahahaha. well played
one guy's wife literally calls every 20 minutes
Strawbeary: Why is one of your colleagues wives calling you?
she doesn't call me, she calls him
if he doesn't answer his desk phone because he's doing some "architecture", she calls his cell phone right away
Sorry, my mistake.
Might be more interesting if she called you? no.
you could try and divert his calls to your phone then you could tell her to let him get on with his work, so you dont have to keep bailing him out!
Is he a battered/brow beaten husband?
I never said anything about bailing him out. If I was trying to talk to him and she calls, I just sit and listen.
As for how he stays employed, nobody really knows it goes on I don't think.
We also have a marketing person, I haven't figured out what they do yet besides get really bored.
ok
so his lack of working ethics, or being trapped under his wifes thumb is not direclty affecting your productivitty, except for having to wait for him to finish his calls.
hear anything interesting in the eaves dropiing sessions?
I dont know a person in "marketting" who ever does any work! so thats par for the course.
Lots of uninteresting gossip about the house and kids. His house is under remodel and has three daughters, one of them a few weeks old.
ok
so that sort of explains why his wife is calling a lot
i think he deserves a break.
should probably not be at work, and should have taken paternity leave so he could help his wife look after their new born kid!
i know that if i ever have kids, i am going to take at least 6 months off.
maybe even be a house husband and let my wife go to work so she can be posted about on some website rather than me!
One firm where i worked, which was very large has more than half un productive people thank god I only really had to work with 3. one is a bully and ignorant but i think they keep that person so they dont have to train someone else to do that job and I think they like the bully quality. one was a new hired project manager who i strongly believed had a learning disorder "never understand anything anyone trained them on, i think they keep him until he finishes what he has started . the other was a gay guy that was only concerned with gay culture and talking about what guys he's done. never is serious or correct with his work, always who ever works with him had to redo what he did. I guess they keep him because he only does redlines nothing too strenious and he is funny to have around with his stereotypical gay behavior and mannerism. Companies i guess like these type cause they keep the pay low and who wants to pay unemployment to them anyway. eventually all the real workers will get the work done. Yet Im glad to be gone from there!
unproductive...me? never. I only surf the web while on break or after work hours. Everyone is unproductive at some point or another. the way I see it, being in a "creative" profession, or one which requires you to pump cad for hours on end, a meaningless stress free moment is needed at least every hour or so. There is a fine balance of work/play, too much of either will burn you out/get you fired!
Turning the tables for a moment, I trully don't understand over-productive people. I have worked with many of these in the past, and currently work with 2. They come in @ 8am and work til 7pm with 30 min lunch. Breaks...not really, I think they don't even get up to go to the bathroom. I have tried to get them to stop, with no success. One thing is to be over-productive and be moving up the ladder, but this is self torture. WTF! The sad part is that at the end of the day, they think that by working harder/longer they will get ahead...it ain't happening. They are the least respected people in the office (the CAD monkeys)
I practice my shepherding skills at the office:
And whilst it might not be seen as productive in monetary terms.
I do consider it to be cross training or preparing for the inevitable career change!
http://www.addictinggames.com/sheep.html
and this one is the sole reason for the previous company i worked for going under (I had left already)
well this
http://www.addictinggames.com/monkey.html
and Quake!
and this one is ffing great
http://www.2flashgames.com/f/f-1211.htm
Friday Afternoon Funtime!
JB, you are a worthless MF! ;-)
I have just waisted 1 hour "ffing" around with the caos theory game. Wait til monday when I share this with my co-workers. Where should my company send you the bill for time waisted?
Just kidding...thanks
what was your top score>
i got 123 (or something like that) after about 3 goes
damn you jb...i got 118.
i won't say how many "goes" it took...
it is hard to do this anonymously when you start to speculate as to why they are still employed.
but, the IT/drafter guy at my work falls asleep at his desk constantly. but it usually looks like he is reading something so people don't really notice.
What about those people who take 15 smoke breaks per work day? Annoying when the rest of us work through those "breaks".
i got 136. it says 'miracle'.
what a cool game.
132
smoking ciggarettes is an addiction.
employers are free to ask whether a potential employee smokes.
not sure if they are aloud to discriminate on this basis!
Before passive smoking became sucha big deal (probably up until the 1980's) employees were allowed to smoke at their desks.
Hence the ciggarette break phenomenon.
Its not a good addiction to have though.
But I think generally if a peson is an honest smoker they will normally either come in early, take a short lunch or leave later, to make up for the 5 minute breaks they have.
Research (of varied kinds) has proved two things.
1. Smokers are more likely to receive promotions faster than other employees because they come into contact with a greater cross section of offices (outside in the cold) hence having a ciggarette with your boss or the accountant or whoever gives you 5 minutes to have a chat instead of staring blanky at your screen and working like a drone!
2. From a different source, you should be taking short breaks at least every hour anyway to give your eyes a rest from the radiation of your monitor (if you use such a thing!) which if your readingthis you must do.
I work outside alot, so I can smoke as much as I want and work at the same time. AS long as i dont set fire to the merchandise!
what i hate is the guy who never takes a break and comes to work even though he is sick(and gets you sick in the process)brings a sack lunch and eats it at his desk in two minutes and is back to work. its not their work ethic i hate its the i am better than you attitude they put forth.
exactamundo!
the fact is though it he/she was actually really good they would have all their work done in the morning then could play japanese flash games in the afternoon.
or play frisbee
or......
sack (packed) lunches are a great way to save money though.
but its absolutely neccesary to get out of the office for lunch.
and sometimes the only thing you need is an all you can eat chinese buffet lunch for £4.993
JB: I wonder if that research will hold up as the number of smokers in professional offices declines. I've seen research that says that the total number of smokers is not dropping very quickly - in fact in some demographics it is on the rise - but among those with professional or graduate education it has dropped drastically.
In my current office there are no smokers, so if we did hire one they'd be standing outside in the parking lot alone - not a lot of networking going on. In all the offices I worked in as an intern there were very few smokers - even though some were large offices and one was in the "smokiest city in the US." I've never had a boss who smokes. In those firms it was the office manager and the CAD guys who'd be hanging out on the fire escape smoking.
A friend keeps telling me about this guy in his office. This guy literally will show up to work about 2-3 hours/week. And when he is in the office he surfs the internet for porn. Always there to pick up a paycheck though.
He's had heart surgery and isn't in too great of health. His wife had terminal cancer. I'm assuming that they feel bad for the guy and don't want to fire him.
Some people just know how to milk the system. Would piss me off if someone like that was cutting into my profit sharing.
except on the rarest of occasions, i only do about 4 hours of actual work on most days.
i don't understand a lot of office conventions. i don't know how they started. why they started, and why they continue. it doesn't seem like many of them existed before the 20th century though. here are some examples of what i mean:
-if someone only has 4 hours worth of work to do in a given day, and there's no chance something's suddenly going to make that change, why can't that person just leave after he/she finishes the 4 hours?
-if sunny weather is predicted for friday and rain for saturday and sunday, why can't you just not show up on friday and make up the time on one of the weekend days?
-if someone wants to put in his/her 8 hours between 4am and 12pm, why are they not free to do that?
a day in the life:
as an experiment i kept track of all my non work doings today at work
7:50 arrived went to bathroom got a fresh cup of coffee
9:05 p break
9:10 coffee refill
9:11-9:15 ate yogurt and almonds at desk
9:40 coffee refill
10:00 filled up water bottle
11:20 p break
12:10-12:40 ate lunch and surfed web
12:40-12:45 made coffee
12:46 p break
12:50 coffee refill
1:50-1:55 talked about sammy sosa trade
2:35 p break
3:10 stared out window
4:00 p break
4:30 left
all in all a pretty productive day
hey, thanks for the retro look at a 'real ' job. last time I was "captive", i had negotiated at deal that I thought was pretty sweet! I worked 4-10's. Came in at 7:30 a.m. left at 5:30. In actuality worked thru my breaks and at lunch at my desk so consistently ( i took an hour on friday), that I had to confront my boss about the 'equity ' of my work performance. He bit his tongue - big time. I was more than productive + some. Nothing ever came back to give anyone a headache.
But, now I am self employed, single office proprietor................. Get up at 4:30 am. work like a dog for myself. what a wonderful world!
hey, their are two sides to the coin. You have to realize a balance. The biggest plus is if you love what you do like its Christmas morning at 4- am. You look forward to it. IF you don't - change what you do. The biggest disservice you do is to yourself. Time flies if you are having fun.
Don't pay a bit of attention to the slackers. They will always be slackers. Maybe politically savvy, but SLACKERS just the same!
what about all the stories we keep hearing about the insane hours architects put into work etc etc???
I work with a SERIOUS slacker. Shows up around 10:30 or so, checks his email, leaves around 11:30 or so for lunch, back at 2 or 3 to check messages. Gone by 4:30.
But he pays me every Friday, so I let him get away with it.
damn 124 can get to 130
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