what annoys you about your co-workers? cell phone answering? body odour? breath? wardrobe malfunctions? loud chewing? Let's hear it.
I work in a small, very open office and our middle aged interior lady (thankfully is unaware of archinect) clears her fecking throat evey two minutes. If I could put the the noise she produces into prose I would, but trust me it sounds like the muffled death of a small animal or something. Holy crap she just did it three times last sentace.
we have a computer with internet radio access connected to speakers that play throughout the office. the people who have taken control of it play 80's "new wave", classical, country, or one particular alanis morisette album. anytime anyone but those 2 people change it to something else, it's mysteriously changed back within an hour. i don't perticularly like any of the 3 types of music listed above (especially country) and I despise alanis, so I spend most of my days under headphones. then i get teased for wearing headphones all the time!
One of the people I'm working with asks my opinion (when our project manager isn't here), and then proceeds to do something else anyway. Why was my opinion necessary? Were you just making absolutely sure not to do what I wanted?
This is also the same person that, when I gave her some redlines, told me, "I'm just not going to do that." And she gets away with it! Would that we ALL had the power to refuse work that way.
okay, so i am sitting here wearing a pressed shirt and pressed black bress pants, freshly shined black shoes and because me and one of my co-workers have this tie-thursday thing, a pretty awesome vest and tie.
the guy sitting across from me is wearing a shirt that can best be described as doilley meets crochet meets beach wear. what? yes there are large open spaces throughout. what? yes i can see large patches of skin through these open weaves. and at one unfortunate instance today i am pretty sure i saw nipple. >>yuck!<< somehow i fail to see how this falls into the "business professional" guidelines, but no one seems to care that he is just spf 50 sunblock and a mai thai away from the beach.
oh, and i have a throat clearer here too. he does it after every thing he says. he is our ca person and marked up my set before it goes out for bid with such helpful redlines like "how will this detail work: hint-not very well" but then failed to provide what he thought would be a better solution. and of course, i get the set back yesterday afternoon and he is on vacation until next wednesday.
i'm with y'all on Morrissette. makes me agro just thinking about 'jagged little pill'.
OK one more....
the throat clearer talks about her 'diet' non stop. What she can eat, when she can eat. how she can eat. Tell me about how she has to eat 57 grams of raw pumpkin seeds every day or some shit.
Today she told me about how she 'broke down' and gave into her craving to eat the skin from roast chicken on sunday.
I so badly want to say to her one of these days: "I don't care about your fucking diet, why don't you try just going for a run!"
The office-speak people use around here really gets to me.
for example:
"Circle back" (ie "I think we need to circle back on your last point about egress requirements," etc)
"Close the loop" (similar to above)
"Check-in" ("How about we do a check-in in 5 at my desk?")
The last one is especially prevalent.
The worst one I heard recently was "braindump", and "download," like "Let's check in in 5 and I'll do a braindump/download to you about my meeting with X client." The baby boomer crowd especially likes "download."
i crack my fingers all day. i think it's only fair to acknowledge things i do that must annoy the hell out of my co-workers. i try not, but call me al green, 'cause i can't stop.
There is a guy in my office who conducts nearly every phone conversation he has on speakerphone, at a fairly high volume. And we just moved into a new office in which everyone sits in the same space. So we can all pretty much hear every word he says. Not only is it annoying if you are actually trying to have a conversation on your own phone, can you imagine calling this guy?
i sit right next to a throat clearer... also does this weird humming thing at the end of every phone conversation "...hummmmm...goodbye"
also a serial document destroyer, both actual pieces of paper and .dwgs. he seems to think that whipping through paper sets hard enough to rip pages will make him a better architect. i'm also the one who gets to fix autocad files he ruins. he can transpose half of a floorplan while trying to print it with such ease!!!!
Public character assassinations
Setting someone up for a fall
Mental trespassing
Back stabbing
Most is all very trivial at the end of the day considering people who are suffering from war, disease, physical and mental abuse...
The Department of Standardization has the standard form available for the standard fee at your area AIA office, as deemed necessary by that AIA president (allow 3 weeks delivery at that office), for those of you above that wish to more perfectly standardize your standard coworkers. It is a known and quantifyable fact that the Department has the right and the ability to assess and adjust, as required, all standardizers to a more perfect standard. Please fill out your forms and include your name and the name of your coworker and send to this department. Concerned Standardizers, allow a known time for adjustment of yourself and your coworker to a higher and purer level of standardization.
The pure Standard be known!!!!
but i must say i used to work with a guy who would maybe twice a day sit back in his chair, start hacking from the back of his throat a bit then get his tonsils in the righ position to hork up a big bit of lung gunk (a chronic smoker) into a waiting tissue. then smacked his lips and got back to work...
this was a very disturbing thing for me. i was still just past 25 and had never seen this kind of ritual before....a trip to china changed my mind about the limits of personal hygiene and appropriate locations of enacting said personal thingies...now it seems almost cute...;-)
i work next to a guy who, every time he is finishing a phone conversation, says, "alrighty, buh bye" I didn't really notice at first, but now it's become a long pronounced "buuuuh bye" i hear about 20 times a day. i'd rather choke on hot coals then hear it again
Department of Standardization current inoperation programs:
Mr. &^!@$&^!$(: Breath will be Standardized
Ms. (*(^!()^: PMS outbursts will be Standardized
Mr. *&%(&*@#_*(): Standard deodorant will be issued
Mr. (*%!(^(!*$: Standard curtailment of mental trespassing
Ms. (*&(^$(*^#@$(: Standard bra will be issued
Ms. )*&$&!()&: Full Restandardization of mental/architecturalization standards after a non-standard and complete deprogramming in Cancun, Mexico
We've got a nail clipper at my office, too. So gross! We shuffled the desks recently and another intern got his desk when he left and found a bunch of old clippings all over the place.
There was another guy that I used to work with that had this annoying tick where every time he was talking he would randomly turn down the corners of his mouth in a wierd grimmace. But maybe that's just tourette's.
My biggest annoyance at our office is that someone always pees on the toilet seat and doesn't wipe it up. It is so disgusting! He also gets pee sprinkles on the floor. He must just stand there and hope he gets it in the bowl - is it that hard for guys to aim? Sick.
I am working at an airport managing a bunch of fitout projects. Anyho, I sit across from a guy who has a aid-dog. He is in a wheel chair so he needs his dog to assist him. The dog sits right beside my chair. So, far, this is not big deal right. But, the dog smells to high heaven. I don't think the dog has had a bath in months. I feel sorry for it. The other issue is the guy is a solidarity leader for the local union and everyone has these "pow-wow" sessions by his desk. So, between the dog stench and the twenty people that come by to chat I manage to get dick done. Other people around me have resorted to ear plugs because they do not want to piss off the union. Great. Oh, and to top that off they are expanding the airport and installing piles and seismic upgrades to the structural walls adjacent to our office. So, the union is having more "pow-wow" sessions next to be to formally complain about the noise. Yippy. Good thing my contract ends this month and I am outy-five-thousand.
I just hate having to explain the Barking Noise of My Secretary's to clients....but damn they just won't listen and seem to know when I'm on the Phone.....better yet is the howling when a the fire department and assorted other emergency people come prading up the street and howling goes into high gear....Actually most clients find it humerous cause they know my boys.
I once worked with an enormous woman who sat around eating all day while bragging about how she stole her fiance from her (then) best friend. No class. Just a disgusting beast.
grrrrrrrrrrrr! I've just started working on a project with asks-questions-but-doesn't-want-answers girl. To give some context, she is my age, but not anywhere near my experience level. Plus she went to school for interiors, not even architecture. Design opportunities aren't exactly a dime a dozen for people my age, and she already gets more than average because she's the only interiors person in the office. Now, when I am working on something, if she happens to glance over, she automatically comes over and starts telling me what to fucking do! Excuse me, could you give me a goddamn chance here? Do you have to take EVERYTHING for yourself? You're not even fucking qualified for this shit, bitch. You go and do your job and don't try to take the few good bits of mine away from me.
But seriously, if anyone has some suggestions on how I can deal with this, without the hatred and obscenities contained in the above rant, it would be greatly appreciated.
what if you "let" her steal one of your projects, but gave her a fake and completely inappropriate set of criteria. you might want to film a montage of you slyly manipulating her and of her gleefully doing everything wrong. then, you arrange a gala event around the unveiling of the finished project ensuring that your bosses, clients and her parents are in attendance. then a medium shot of her proudly about to release a curtain covering the project, cut to important guests gathered looking at her in anticipation. then her pulling the curtain down on her comically inappropriate design solution, then back to the visibly horrified guests (client crying, boss getting red faced and angrily shaking, parents confused and looking at each other thinking "where did we go wrong" ). then back to her, realizing that she has messed up, then to close shot of you smiling, knowing that she will never jack your project again.
more reality-based (but kinda passive-agressive) is to accept her suggestions, while clearly misunderstanding them, so that she has to keep explaining her bad ideas to no end.
unsolicited criticism / "assistance" of any kind from anyone your own level or lower...is a definite annoyance. thank g-d it doesn't happen to me these days. if i want you to help me out, ms interiors girl / sorority girl, i will ask you. if i don't ask you, stay at your desk and work.
also: office romances / flirting are a definite annoyance. once again, it's not around me now, but it was at bigger firms. well, it never HAPPENED to me (take one look and you'll know why) but it was AROUND me, and it was very annoying. it really affects professional judgment.
and for the record, i wasn't jealous, i've never worked with anyone i wanted to be more than friends with...nor have i ever thought i would. since sophomore year i have had a policy: i do not get involved with other architects. it has been a great policy.
rationalist:
if this girl is a glory hog, you might want to be careful about what you say / do to her. I have heard of this type of person resort to backstabbing and/or other, more severe types of revenge.
You should ignore her completely, and take any oppertunity to red line her work. Especially if your boss will see your red lines of her work.
For some the only answer to my questions the associate i work for seems to know is 'ok' and then he walks away. attention span: about 20 seconds.
example: (me) 'Do you realize that if we increase the carpark area in front of the building we'll no longer meet the surf. area requirements?' (him) answer: OK, then proceeds to walk away. then he comes back to me a couple of days later and goes: why is it that the surf. area of the building has been reduced?? EVERY SINGLE TIME. i swear i'm gonna lose my shit one day....
She generally seems like a really sweet girl, who is 100% clueless about office ettiquete, or that she may be getting a sweeter deal than others there and getting in my way when something good does come along. She quite obviously looks at me as someone who is only technical, because I happen to have more experience with CDs, so its pretty clear that she thinks of herself as more of a designer than me. So I'm sure she's being well meaning and not intentionally a 'glory hog', but it is still driving me up the wall. As to listening and then doing what I want to do, she doesn't even give me a chance to figure out what it is I want to do, but pounces on it the second its on my screen. Then once I get her to go away, its hard to figure out whether an ideas actually better or whether I just want to do anything but what she suggested.
okay, so we have this guy at my office who thinks he is a project manager, when in fact he is just an intern like the rest of us. although he has been working for a good 10 years longer than the rest of the interns, he is completly clueless about everything, but he really thinks he knows what he is doing. he sits all day with his bluetooth jammed in his ear and will answer and talk on it, instead of using a phone or telling people he's at work, he'll call them back. it's usually some friend of his and they talk about when they are going to go golfing. worse yet, he'll answer it when you are in the middle of talking to him. so annoying.
the worst is when you are unfortunate enough to get stuck with him on your project team, he'll totally take over and during the work day, he keeps a read-only of everyone's drawings open and he spends all day just chacking what you did and then yelling out things to change. i'll be drafting away, and then out of nowhere "hey that window whould be on layer a-glaz-ovhd and should be on linetype... and also this should be..." hey, buddy. i was getting there. calm down.
Are you sure that you, this woman, and your employer all have the same understanding about what her role is supposed to be and what her "level" is?
I've had similar experiences with interior designers in multiple firms. But sometimes it seems the situation arose because the interior designer either was - or thinks that he/she was - hired into a role with more authority and autonomy than the firms' interns and other younger staff, even when the interior designer was inexperienced and younger than the rest of the staff.
Interior designers don't really have the same typical slow trajectory as architects do, from entry-level intern, through the intern ranks, to a mid-level design and/or technical position, to associate and/or manager, etc., etc... Interior designers often enter firms at a higher level of autonomy and responsibility even when they're fresh out of school, then progress upward faster (though there's often less "upward" for them to go in the long run, if they stay in an architecture firm.)
Architects are taught in school that they'll probably be working on small fragments of projects, in subservient roles for at least a few years after graduation. But interior designers are taught that they'll pretty quickly be running the show - at least as far as it relates to interiors.
So, it may just be a bit of a culture clash. Or, it may be a situation in which somebody (could be either you or she) misunderstands this woman's intended "level" in the firm, or what amount of oversight and authority one of you is supposed to have over the other - if any. You seem to think that because you have more experience and have been there longer that you outrank her. Tha may be true. But she seems to think that she was hired as a designer and that you're more of a techie, and so she should direct you in areas of design intent. Maybe she's confused or overstepping her limits, but on the other hand she may have been told that's her role. My suggestion would be to have a brief, informal discussion with your boss or supervisor about what her involvement is intended to be on "your" projects.
In one firm I was hired as a designer and was told specifically that part of my job was to evaluate the work of production staff members Ben and Tom for compliance with the design intent of projects. Unfortunately Ben and Tom weren't informed of that. Both of them were twice my age and had been there forever and assumed anyone under 30 was hired to assist them. This caused a lot of trouble in the beginning - both because they would ask me to run errands for them and I'd get angry, and because I'd ask them to print details so I could redline them and they'd get angry. It took everybody sitting down with the manager and discussing exactly who was supposed to be doing what - and why - for it all to get smoothed out.
and here i thought an interior design degree meant you get to spend all day ordering new materials we will never be able to use or afford, mill through books and books of paint colors to only come up with the same uninspired paint scheme but not actually putting them into the drawings, take week long vacations when three projects are due leaving us arch. interns to not only do our job but the job of the interiors as well, and taking off every friday after that.
my apoligies to any interiors people on here. it's just our interiors person is a little nonresponsive sometimes.
if there is a designated interior designer in an architecture office and that person sees architecture as some kind of technical science and that person is supported by upper management for those views, get the fuck out of that office immedietely or tell the person to go get you some tile samples that would meet the code requirements and don't forget to add "stay with light colors, will you?".
I think you've got the situation, Formerlyunknown. She doesn't seem to realize that I'm a designer, too, not a 'production person', only I don't care about cabinets (although I happen to know how to lay them out, which she does not). She keeps trying to design the OUTSIDE of the buildings, which is what is pissing me off. I've resigned myself to the fact that she gets to go to meetings, and got business cards six months before me even though I'd been here longer, and generally has more autonomy. But I can't deal when she starts acting likes she's an architect, too.
I just want a way to talk to her without making it something our boss(es) need to be involved in. I truly believe she is just trying to make her job more interesting, and probably doesn't realize that she's taking away the only good parts of my job, so I don't want to be a total bitch about it.
rationalista,
its not really her problem and you are very observant about her condition. the behavior and authority of her is supported by bosses because with her, they are a full service architecture and interior design firm thus billing/profit making etc... it is really the set up of the firm. in best offices, design work is integrated so even the the guy vacuuming the floors and picking up the trash feels like he is contributing to the design that comes out of that office. well, the corporate office structures, pays more but takes out more too.
best way to come out of your situation is become good friends with her and level it out after drinking or partying whatever. probably you are right when you say she is trying to make her job more interesting. imagine if you girls unite and start to integrate your ideas together.
by the way, large offices are good places to cultivate realationships and rolodex if you want to venture your own show someday doing large projects.
to add my .02, i think you can add a little humor to the situation - nothing like that to get a serious message across, for example, when she draws up the facade of a building you can say 'thats great, but maybe i should handle this - I actually went to school for this'
if there is a designated interior designer in an architecture office and that person sees architecture as some kind of technical science and that person is supported by upper management for those views, get the fuck out of that office immedietely or tell the person to go get you some tile samples that would meet the code requirements and don't forget to add "stay with light colors, will you?".
Orhan, this is amazing and literally the truest thing I've ever read on Archinect. Reading stuff like this makes me want to kiss the floor of the office I left that environment for. Fuck that shit!
The Department of Standardization has formed a joint AIA committee to oversee the standardization of rightful job responsibilities of “Architecturalized Standardizers†and “Identifiers of Decor†in a mixed environment. As Standardizers of the highest repute, by our own natural selection, we have, by right established the standardization higherarchy in it’s purest form as extablished by our illustrious fore standard bearers. It is a time great importance for the Standardizers. Please notify your nearest AIA president of our selected repute by the standard of our will. Manifest power by our natural willed selection! So be it!!!
The technical architect (my superior) sleeps. If you approach him to ask him a question whilst he sleeps, he will wake up, grab a pencil and pretend to jot down some notes before looking up to answer your question. He is also is a big fan of the "OK" and "Sure" answers, especially when still groggy from a nap.
The managing architect (my superior) leaves every day at 3:00 for "meetings". He also often has 2 1/2 hour "meetings" every day at lunch. When pressed on the issue he will also say that he comes in early every day. "Early" actually means 8:00 instead of 8:30... So I guess that equals out.
Sometimes these actions provide quite a bit of entertainment. I mean, we think of new ways to wake up Mr. TechArch every day. I've taken to accidentally dropping Sweets Catalogs when I pass his desk. It's also fun to see how close you can get to him before asking your question. One of the interns got in and behind his chair once.
The only problem is that subordinates get blamed when their work doesn't get done. So we have to get both their and our work finished.
Don't even ask why the two of them still have jobs. Everyone in the firm, including the partners, know the antics of these two senior architects. I'm seriously confounded by that... But it comes down to politics and who is drinking buddies with who.
Office Annoyances
time to vent people: I can't handle this....
what annoys you about your co-workers? cell phone answering? body odour? breath? wardrobe malfunctions? loud chewing? Let's hear it.
I work in a small, very open office and our middle aged interior lady (thankfully is unaware of archinect) clears her fecking throat evey two minutes. If I could put the the noise she produces into prose I would, but trust me it sounds like the muffled death of a small animal or something. Holy crap she just did it three times last sentace.
two people in my very small office clip their fingernails during the day.
the clipper noise give me the creeps. i think its nasty to do that anywhere other than the privacy of your own bathroom.
we have a computer with internet radio access connected to speakers that play throughout the office. the people who have taken control of it play 80's "new wave", classical, country, or one particular alanis morisette album. anytime anyone but those 2 people change it to something else, it's mysteriously changed back within an hour. i don't perticularly like any of the 3 types of music listed above (especially country) and I despise alanis, so I spend most of my days under headphones. then i get teased for wearing headphones all the time!
One of the people I'm working with asks my opinion (when our project manager isn't here), and then proceeds to do something else anyway. Why was my opinion necessary? Were you just making absolutely sure not to do what I wanted?
This is also the same person that, when I gave her some redlines, told me, "I'm just not going to do that." And she gets away with it! Would that we ALL had the power to refuse work that way.
I fucking hate Alanis Morrissette. I would stab my eardrums out if I had to work in your office, bryan4arch.
okay, so i am sitting here wearing a pressed shirt and pressed black bress pants, freshly shined black shoes and because me and one of my co-workers have this tie-thursday thing, a pretty awesome vest and tie.
the guy sitting across from me is wearing a shirt that can best be described as doilley meets crochet meets beach wear. what? yes there are large open spaces throughout. what? yes i can see large patches of skin through these open weaves. and at one unfortunate instance today i am pretty sure i saw nipple. >>yuck!<< somehow i fail to see how this falls into the "business professional" guidelines, but no one seems to care that he is just spf 50 sunblock and a mai thai away from the beach.
unplug the computer, hide the cables, bryan...
...
That's hilarious Pete, almost as funny as myriam using double letter madness to describe Morrrrrrissssssetttttte. ;-)
most annoying thing in my office? my view is of a huge parking lot.
...at least I sit by a window, though...
oh, and i have a throat clearer here too. he does it after every thing he says. he is our ca person and marked up my set before it goes out for bid with such helpful redlines like "how will this detail work: hint-not very well" but then failed to provide what he thought would be a better solution. and of course, i get the set back yesterday afternoon and he is on vacation until next wednesday.
i'm with y'all on Morrissette. makes me agro just thinking about 'jagged little pill'.
OK one more....
the throat clearer talks about her 'diet' non stop. What she can eat, when she can eat. how she can eat. Tell me about how she has to eat 57 grams of raw pumpkin seeds every day or some shit.
Today she told me about how she 'broke down' and gave into her craving to eat the skin from roast chicken on sunday.
I so badly want to say to her one of these days: "I don't care about your fucking diet, why don't you try just going for a run!"
The office-speak people use around here really gets to me.
for example:
"Circle back" (ie "I think we need to circle back on your last point about egress requirements," etc)
"Close the loop" (similar to above)
"Check-in" ("How about we do a check-in in 5 at my desk?")
The last one is especially prevalent.
The worst one I heard recently was "braindump", and "download," like "Let's check in in 5 and I'll do a braindump/download to you about my meeting with X client." The baby boomer crowd especially likes "download."
i crack my fingers all day. i think it's only fair to acknowledge things i do that must annoy the hell out of my co-workers. i try not, but call me al green, 'cause i can't stop.
There is a guy in my office who conducts nearly every phone conversation he has on speakerphone, at a fairly high volume. And we just moved into a new office in which everyone sits in the same space. So we can all pretty much hear every word he says. Not only is it annoying if you are actually trying to have a conversation on your own phone, can you imagine calling this guy?
The Gossip. Can everybody please stop talking ish about each other. The problem is they all come to me. Dont people have lives outside of the office?
i sit right next to a throat clearer... also does this weird humming thing at the end of every phone conversation "...hummmmm...goodbye"
also a serial document destroyer, both actual pieces of paper and .dwgs. he seems to think that whipping through paper sets hard enough to rip pages will make him a better architect. i'm also the one who gets to fix autocad files he ruins. he can transpose half of a floorplan while trying to print it with such ease!!!!
Public character assassinations
Setting someone up for a fall
Mental trespassing
Back stabbing
Most is all very trivial at the end of the day considering people who are suffering from war, disease, physical and mental abuse...
The Department of Standardization has the standard form available for the standard fee at your area AIA office, as deemed necessary by that AIA president (allow 3 weeks delivery at that office), for those of you above that wish to more perfectly standardize your standard coworkers. It is a known and quantifyable fact that the Department has the right and the ability to assess and adjust, as required, all standardizers to a more perfect standard. Please fill out your forms and include your name and the name of your coworker and send to this department. Concerned Standardizers, allow a known time for adjustment of yourself and your coworker to a higher and purer level of standardization.
The pure Standard be known!!!!
oh i so agree with cf,
but i must say i used to work with a guy who would maybe twice a day sit back in his chair, start hacking from the back of his throat a bit then get his tonsils in the righ position to hork up a big bit of lung gunk (a chronic smoker) into a waiting tissue. then smacked his lips and got back to work...
this was a very disturbing thing for me. i was still just past 25 and had never seen this kind of ritual before....a trip to china changed my mind about the limits of personal hygiene and appropriate locations of enacting said personal thingies...now it seems almost cute...;-)
i work next to a guy who, every time he is finishing a phone conversation, says, "alrighty, buh bye" I didn't really notice at first, but now it's become a long pronounced "buuuuh bye" i hear about 20 times a day. i'd rather choke on hot coals then hear it again
Department of Standardization current inoperation programs:
Mr. &^!@$&^!$(: Breath will be Standardized
Ms. (*(^!()^: PMS outbursts will be Standardized
Mr. *&%(&*@#_*(): Standard deodorant will be issued
Mr. (*%!(^(!*$: Standard curtailment of mental trespassing
Ms. (*&(^$(*^#@$(: Standard bra will be issued
Ms. )*&$&!()&: Full Restandardization of mental/architecturalization standards after a non-standard and complete deprogramming in Cancun, Mexico
We've got a nail clipper at my office, too. So gross! We shuffled the desks recently and another intern got his desk when he left and found a bunch of old clippings all over the place.
There was another guy that I used to work with that had this annoying tick where every time he was talking he would randomly turn down the corners of his mouth in a wierd grimmace. But maybe that's just tourette's.
My biggest annoyance at our office is that someone always pees on the toilet seat and doesn't wipe it up. It is so disgusting! He also gets pee sprinkles on the floor. He must just stand there and hope he gets it in the bowl - is it that hard for guys to aim? Sick.
Firm principal wears mules on a regular basis.
cf, you've won me over to this standardization thing. can you standardize the attitude of obnoxious, self-righteous, egocentric ex's?
Here is one. . .
I am working at an airport managing a bunch of fitout projects. Anyho, I sit across from a guy who has a aid-dog. He is in a wheel chair so he needs his dog to assist him. The dog sits right beside my chair. So, far, this is not big deal right. But, the dog smells to high heaven. I don't think the dog has had a bath in months. I feel sorry for it. The other issue is the guy is a solidarity leader for the local union and everyone has these "pow-wow" sessions by his desk. So, between the dog stench and the twenty people that come by to chat I manage to get dick done. Other people around me have resorted to ear plugs because they do not want to piss off the union. Great. Oh, and to top that off they are expanding the airport and installing piles and seismic upgrades to the structural walls adjacent to our office. So, the union is having more "pow-wow" sessions next to be to formally complain about the noise. Yippy. Good thing my contract ends this month and I am outy-five-thousand.
I just hate having to explain the Barking Noise of My Secretary's to clients....but damn they just won't listen and seem to know when I'm on the Phone.....better yet is the howling when a the fire department and assorted other emergency people come prading up the street and howling goes into high gear....Actually most clients find it humerous cause they know my boys.
I once worked with an enormous woman who sat around eating all day while bragging about how she stole her fiance from her (then) best friend. No class. Just a disgusting beast.
grrrrrrrrrrrr! I've just started working on a project with asks-questions-but-doesn't-want-answers girl. To give some context, she is my age, but not anywhere near my experience level. Plus she went to school for interiors, not even architecture. Design opportunities aren't exactly a dime a dozen for people my age, and she already gets more than average because she's the only interiors person in the office. Now, when I am working on something, if she happens to glance over, she automatically comes over and starts telling me what to fucking do! Excuse me, could you give me a goddamn chance here? Do you have to take EVERYTHING for yourself? You're not even fucking qualified for this shit, bitch. You go and do your job and don't try to take the few good bits of mine away from me.
But seriously, if anyone has some suggestions on how I can deal with this, without the hatred and obscenities contained in the above rant, it would be greatly appreciated.
demonstrate your prowess on one of the tasks assigned to her...
rationalist, go machiavellian on her ass and crush her.
what if you "let" her steal one of your projects, but gave her a fake and completely inappropriate set of criteria. you might want to film a montage of you slyly manipulating her and of her gleefully doing everything wrong. then, you arrange a gala event around the unveiling of the finished project ensuring that your bosses, clients and her parents are in attendance. then a medium shot of her proudly about to release a curtain covering the project, cut to important guests gathered looking at her in anticipation. then her pulling the curtain down on her comically inappropriate design solution, then back to the visibly horrified guests (client crying, boss getting red faced and angrily shaking, parents confused and looking at each other thinking "where did we go wrong" ). then back to her, realizing that she has messed up, then to close shot of you smiling, knowing that she will never jack your project again.
more reality-based (but kinda passive-agressive) is to accept her suggestions, while clearly misunderstanding them, so that she has to keep explaining her bad ideas to no end.
I would'nt crush her - but tell her that you have a crush on her. That may or may not keep her away.
Seriously, when I have/had that situation, I llisten politiely and then do what I wanted to do anyway.
unsolicited criticism / "assistance" of any kind from anyone your own level or lower...is a definite annoyance. thank g-d it doesn't happen to me these days. if i want you to help me out, ms interiors girl / sorority girl, i will ask you. if i don't ask you, stay at your desk and work.
also: office romances / flirting are a definite annoyance. once again, it's not around me now, but it was at bigger firms. well, it never HAPPENED to me (take one look and you'll know why) but it was AROUND me, and it was very annoying. it really affects professional judgment.
and for the record, i wasn't jealous, i've never worked with anyone i wanted to be more than friends with...nor have i ever thought i would. since sophomore year i have had a policy: i do not get involved with other architects. it has been a great policy.
rationalist:
if this girl is a glory hog, you might want to be careful about what you say / do to her. I have heard of this type of person resort to backstabbing and/or other, more severe types of revenge.
You should ignore her completely, and take any oppertunity to red line her work. Especially if your boss will see your red lines of her work.
For some the only answer to my questions the associate i work for seems to know is 'ok' and then he walks away. attention span: about 20 seconds.
example: (me) 'Do you realize that if we increase the carpark area in front of the building we'll no longer meet the surf. area requirements?' (him) answer: OK, then proceeds to walk away. then he comes back to me a couple of days later and goes: why is it that the surf. area of the building has been reduced?? EVERY SINGLE TIME. i swear i'm gonna lose my shit one day....
She generally seems like a really sweet girl, who is 100% clueless about office ettiquete, or that she may be getting a sweeter deal than others there and getting in my way when something good does come along. She quite obviously looks at me as someone who is only technical, because I happen to have more experience with CDs, so its pretty clear that she thinks of herself as more of a designer than me. So I'm sure she's being well meaning and not intentionally a 'glory hog', but it is still driving me up the wall. As to listening and then doing what I want to do, she doesn't even give me a chance to figure out what it is I want to do, but pounces on it the second its on my screen. Then once I get her to go away, its hard to figure out whether an ideas actually better or whether I just want to do anything but what she suggested.
okay, so we have this guy at my office who thinks he is a project manager, when in fact he is just an intern like the rest of us. although he has been working for a good 10 years longer than the rest of the interns, he is completly clueless about everything, but he really thinks he knows what he is doing. he sits all day with his bluetooth jammed in his ear and will answer and talk on it, instead of using a phone or telling people he's at work, he'll call them back. it's usually some friend of his and they talk about when they are going to go golfing. worse yet, he'll answer it when you are in the middle of talking to him. so annoying.
the worst is when you are unfortunate enough to get stuck with him on your project team, he'll totally take over and during the work day, he keeps a read-only of everyone's drawings open and he spends all day just chacking what you did and then yelling out things to change. i'll be drafting away, and then out of nowhere "hey that window whould be on layer a-glaz-ovhd and should be on linetype... and also this should be..." hey, buddy. i was getting there. calm down.
Are you sure that you, this woman, and your employer all have the same understanding about what her role is supposed to be and what her "level" is?
I've had similar experiences with interior designers in multiple firms. But sometimes it seems the situation arose because the interior designer either was - or thinks that he/she was - hired into a role with more authority and autonomy than the firms' interns and other younger staff, even when the interior designer was inexperienced and younger than the rest of the staff.
Interior designers don't really have the same typical slow trajectory as architects do, from entry-level intern, through the intern ranks, to a mid-level design and/or technical position, to associate and/or manager, etc., etc... Interior designers often enter firms at a higher level of autonomy and responsibility even when they're fresh out of school, then progress upward faster (though there's often less "upward" for them to go in the long run, if they stay in an architecture firm.)
Architects are taught in school that they'll probably be working on small fragments of projects, in subservient roles for at least a few years after graduation. But interior designers are taught that they'll pretty quickly be running the show - at least as far as it relates to interiors.
So, it may just be a bit of a culture clash. Or, it may be a situation in which somebody (could be either you or she) misunderstands this woman's intended "level" in the firm, or what amount of oversight and authority one of you is supposed to have over the other - if any. You seem to think that because you have more experience and have been there longer that you outrank her. Tha may be true. But she seems to think that she was hired as a designer and that you're more of a techie, and so she should direct you in areas of design intent. Maybe she's confused or overstepping her limits, but on the other hand she may have been told that's her role. My suggestion would be to have a brief, informal discussion with your boss or supervisor about what her involvement is intended to be on "your" projects.
In one firm I was hired as a designer and was told specifically that part of my job was to evaluate the work of production staff members Ben and Tom for compliance with the design intent of projects. Unfortunately Ben and Tom weren't informed of that. Both of them were twice my age and had been there forever and assumed anyone under 30 was hired to assist them. This caused a lot of trouble in the beginning - both because they would ask me to run errands for them and I'd get angry, and because I'd ask them to print details so I could redline them and they'd get angry. It took everybody sitting down with the manager and discussing exactly who was supposed to be doing what - and why - for it all to get smoothed out.
and here i thought an interior design degree meant you get to spend all day ordering new materials we will never be able to use or afford, mill through books and books of paint colors to only come up with the same uninspired paint scheme but not actually putting them into the drawings, take week long vacations when three projects are due leaving us arch. interns to not only do our job but the job of the interiors as well, and taking off every friday after that.
my apoligies to any interiors people on here. it's just our interiors person is a little nonresponsive sometimes.
if there is a designated interior designer in an architecture office and that person sees architecture as some kind of technical science and that person is supported by upper management for those views, get the fuck out of that office immedietely or tell the person to go get you some tile samples that would meet the code requirements and don't forget to add "stay with light colors, will you?".
I think you've got the situation, Formerlyunknown. She doesn't seem to realize that I'm a designer, too, not a 'production person', only I don't care about cabinets (although I happen to know how to lay them out, which she does not). She keeps trying to design the OUTSIDE of the buildings, which is what is pissing me off. I've resigned myself to the fact that she gets to go to meetings, and got business cards six months before me even though I'd been here longer, and generally has more autonomy. But I can't deal when she starts acting likes she's an architect, too.
I just want a way to talk to her without making it something our boss(es) need to be involved in. I truly believe she is just trying to make her job more interesting, and probably doesn't realize that she's taking away the only good parts of my job, so I don't want to be a total bitch about it.
rationalista,
its not really her problem and you are very observant about her condition. the behavior and authority of her is supported by bosses because with her, they are a full service architecture and interior design firm thus billing/profit making etc... it is really the set up of the firm. in best offices, design work is integrated so even the the guy vacuuming the floors and picking up the trash feels like he is contributing to the design that comes out of that office. well, the corporate office structures, pays more but takes out more too.
best way to come out of your situation is become good friends with her and level it out after drinking or partying whatever. probably you are right when you say she is trying to make her job more interesting. imagine if you girls unite and start to integrate your ideas together.
by the way, large offices are good places to cultivate realationships and rolodex if you want to venture your own show someday doing large projects.
to add my .02, i think you can add a little humor to the situation - nothing like that to get a serious message across, for example, when she draws up the facade of a building you can say 'thats great, but maybe i should handle this - I actually went to school for this'
ditto with the "OK" or "Sure" response to each and every question.
Orhan, this is amazing and literally the truest thing I've ever read on Archinect. Reading stuff like this makes me want to kiss the floor of the office I left that environment for. Fuck that shit!
the variation of short attention span that I'm used to:
eyes glazing over after 15-30 seconds, followed by body language that clearly communicates that subject has something he/she needs to do immediately.
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My project manager is constantly trying to remove the head from the bobble head CAD monkey on my desk.
.mm
No I don't, and why the hell are you posting on archinect? Damn.
The technical architect (my superior) sleeps. If you approach him to ask him a question whilst he sleeps, he will wake up, grab a pencil and pretend to jot down some notes before looking up to answer your question. He is also is a big fan of the "OK" and "Sure" answers, especially when still groggy from a nap.
The managing architect (my superior) leaves every day at 3:00 for "meetings". He also often has 2 1/2 hour "meetings" every day at lunch. When pressed on the issue he will also say that he comes in early every day. "Early" actually means 8:00 instead of 8:30... So I guess that equals out.
Sometimes these actions provide quite a bit of entertainment. I mean, we think of new ways to wake up Mr. TechArch every day. I've taken to accidentally dropping Sweets Catalogs when I pass his desk. It's also fun to see how close you can get to him before asking your question. One of the interns got in and behind his chair once.
The only problem is that subordinates get blamed when their work doesn't get done. So we have to get both their and our work finished.
Don't even ask why the two of them still have jobs. Everyone in the firm, including the partners, know the antics of these two senior architects. I'm seriously confounded by that... But it comes down to politics and who is drinking buddies with who.
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