Co-workers | Piss and Moan

Into the groove

Post vacation observation: Getting back into the groove is difficult.

I am sure you have noticed for yourself that this is true.

You are away from the job, on vacation and enjoying yourself (for the most part) and then you have the reality that you have to go back to work when you return. This realization gets more difficult (for me) the longer the time is spent away from that responsiblity.

I have returned from a near two week vacation and the groove just isn’t happening. I find my mind wandering and thinking of other things I’d rather be doing, going, or not doing. LOL It seems making myself work and focus on tasks at work is a job in and of itself. I just don’t want to. It’s a groove I’d rather not have to get back into, quite frankly.

Raise your hand if you’re with me? Have you noticed this as a problem for yourself?

Day before

Posted on April 3 by backuphill

Alright, I am sure I am probably preaching to the chior here, but is it really necessary to go to work and actually do work the day before a vacation? Asking for a friend.

So, I am going on vacation to AZ tomorrow. I know, I know, I’ve said I wasn’t going to take vacations to see family and more and I really just wanna go play some place but it is what it is. Beside, I am taking my disc golf bag so I am hoping to get in a few rounds down there (that might make a little happier about not doing something I want to do).

Anyway, the question still stands. Is it a requirement to do work today?

I mean, everyone knows that people don’t actually work on the day before their vacation. Yes, they show up, they go through the motions but are they really doing anything of value?

I think from henceforth, the day before vacation should just be an automatic day off to prepare for vacation. Let’s be real. Our co-workers know we aren’t doing anything. The boss knows you aren’t doing anything. Heck, they don’t do anything when it’s their turn to take vacation. So, why do we all pretend we are doing something when we aren’t?

The day before vacation should also be an automatic vacation day, but not technically a vacation day (cuz we don’t want it to count against our actual vacation day allotment).

Make it so.

Left hanging

Posted on March 23 by backuphill

The current work world is filled with many frustrations. So numerous, in fact, that they can’t all be enumerated. Just the fact that I have to report to work each day is frustrating. But that is a discussion for another day…

Anyway, remote work obviously has it’s advantages and I really like it. However, the one aspect of remote work that I highly dislike is that co-workers are not all responsible about answering their IMs. Thus, when you are trying to get some help on a support ticket and a colleague leaves you hanging by leaving your message unread for extended periods of time is infuriating.

We are required to have TEAMS open at all time and visible (as in not hidden behind other windows) so that we can respond to teammates in a timely manner. We get alerts when someone has messaged us. The icon at the bottom of the screen in the task bar is a different color and blinks. So I am not sure what this particular co-worker’s problem is. It’s not like you can’t tell someone has messaged you, even if the window ends up buried behind other windows.

I know others have complained (as well as me) that messages get left sitting for long periods of time.

So, today I sent a message at 9:28am and I have sent a follow-up message to make the alerts trigger again at 10:19am. It’s been nearly an hour of no response. I finally received a response at 10:45am.

Hard to get work done, to help clients, with that kind of wait time from a co-worker, especially when you know they can see the message there waiting for them.

Do you hate it when you have to wait for a response from a co-worker? Does it infuriate you when you know they saw it and still don’t respond, even just to say “Let me check it out” or some kind of acknowledgement that they saw your message?

Bathroom hider

Posted on March 1 by backuphill

I have a co-worker who I have now determined to be a bathroom hider.

He isn’t a directly associated co-worker. He is in the same organization but on another team and I don’t work with him directly.

Anyway, I have noticed a trend with this guy. He goes to the bathroom on a pretty regular basis, like at least twice an hour (know this because he walks righ past my cube). When I have had occasion to enter the bathroom I have noticed he is parked in the farthest stall in the room (I know it’s him because of his rather distinctive shoes). The unusual thing about his bathroom visits is that he is quite obviously going in there to watch videos (no, not that kind…). I have heard them echoing throughout the space from outside the door but as soon as you open the door he silences what he is watching. After you have left the room, he unmutes again.

His bathroom visits last somewhere 10-15 minutes (think of that as between 20 and 30 minutes of lost productivity per hour).

I hope you aren’t thinking I am a creeper…I am not. I just notice things. I notice things that most people probably don’t. Details. I just happen to notice this stuff because he literally makes a trek past my cube at least four times per hour. But I am probably not the only one. I’ll bet his co-workers (people actually on his team) have noticed his afrequent absences too; however they may not know what he is doing during that time or where he is going.

So, just curious, do you have a person or people like this at your place of employment? Do you have a bathroom hider? A beverage hanger (someone who hangs out at the watercool or coffee pot to shoot the breeze)? A visiting ducker (a social butterfly who visits every cube/office to chat to avoid actual work)?

Yes, I made those all up. Got a better name for them?

Repeated conversations

Posted on February 17 by backuphill

Don’t you just hate repeating yourself? I seriously dislike having conversations that have been repeated over and over, like they are on “Repeat” or “Play Again” or “Restart” or “Remind” or whatever. Whether they are at work or at home, with a relative or a co-worker or even a client. I hate having to repeat something over and over.

Like, were you listening the first time? Did you hear what was said? Did you not get it or are you purposely just disregarding what we have talked about in the past.

Do you have a limit for how many times you will repeat yourself or do you just keep doing it? Do you have consequences for the person if you keep having to have the same conversation over and over again?

What do you think? Are you the repeater or the person who keeps need to be repeated to? How do you like these conversations?

Office lunch

Posted on December 14 by backuphill

Here’s a question for you. I probably should preface the question first with some background but I’ll just blurt it out first and then do a little backfilling.

Should the office holiday lunch be catered or “potluck-ish”?

OK, the backfill…so, the office has a holiday party (think office Christmas party, but you know, politics….) where we have a white elephant gift exchange and the managers provide (as in pay for) the lunch of pizza, garlic bread, salad, soda, etc. In the past, the activity took place at a pizza place and everyone travelled there to partake during the work day as it was only about 15 minutes from work. Then the world-wide panic happened and this practice was postponed for a couple years.

Keep in mind this shindig (at least the lunch part) is coming out of the managers’ pockets (there are three of them) because office funds can’t be used. We get paid for the time. They have always framed this as a “Thank you, for doing a great job all year” kind of deal.

So, this year they decided it would be held at the office in the conferences rooms (they can be combined into one large room) and they would provide the food. Like, literally, they would provide the food. They each brought part of the makings for a taco bar. So, in essence, the three managers provide all the potluck items. All of us then proceeded to go past the tables, buffet style, and put together out own plates. They also provided several different desserts. Most everything was from Costco and was either pre-made or prepped at their home prior to the gathering.

So, how should we feel?

Should we feel appreciated or should we feel like the managers “cheaped out”?

I understand it took effort and some expense on their part. I do feel appreciated to a degree, and yet I can’t help but feel the gesture was out of obligation rather than true appreciation. Does it have to be catered or lavish to get a true feeling of appreciation? I didn’t think so when it was at the pizza place. I don’t know. I just feel a little put out this year for some reason.

How would you feel?

Meeting fatigue

Posted on December 8 by backuphill

This week isn’t all that different from any other week, as far as work goes. I realize meetings are part of my job, but I didn’t realize that going to meetings IS my job. At least it feels that way many days.

I was looking back at my work calendar for this week and I added up the time scheduled for me to attend one sort of meeting or another. Altogether, I will have spent 8.5 hours of my 40 hour work week in a meeting. Granted, the week isn’t over so more could be added (or some, please please please, removed).

Do my supervisors understand that attending meetings keep from doing my ACTUAL job? You know, the areas and tasks and functions where I have expertise? That for every hour of time scheduled for attending a meeting that it probably (I’m estimating here) sets me back about two hours of productive time (provided I actually feel like being productive…see recent posts…I am doing effort less…)?

Do other jobs require this much time in meetings? I mean, jobs that aren’t a supervisory type job. We all know supervisors spend lots of time in meetings because they don’t actually have a job or job functions. But that is neither here nor there.

My point is, how much time do you spend in meetings each week? Is this normal, to spend the equivalent of an entire work day in meetings each week?

Least productive

Posted on December 2 by backuphill

What day of the week do you find you are the least productive at work?

I am finding that my least productive day is not one that I would expect. After a crazy busy week (most weeks) and I finally get a day to be productive that happens to fall on a Friday…yeah, that’s my least productive day.

Not because I am thinking of the weekend plans or trying to give myself that stupid buzz-word, “self-care.” I am just out of motivation.

By the end of the week, I could care less if I get anything done.

I am sure my employer would hate to hear that. I actually don’t like to hear it because I really have a ton to do (catch up on email, start projects, complete unfinished projects, etc). But, I just can’t get myself to do any of it. I look at what I have to do, my list of things to do, and all the other stuff sitting on my desk and I just can’t.

Is this normal? To just run out of productive steam at the end of the week?

Flavored coffee

Posted on September 27 by backuphill

Why oh why?

Let me clarify, if you want to put flavored creamer into your coffee I think that is perfectly acceptable. However, flavoring the actual coffee grounds seems like weird practice. Mostly because I have now seen some of the strangest combinations of flavors in the office I work in.

I have co-workers who apparently like to try different kinds of flavored coffee. I have mentioned one of these in the past. I have yet come across another completely weird and out of character coffee flavor, at least I think so.

When you think of Death Wish Coffee Company’s coffee you envision an ultra-strong, no frills, no nonsense kind of coffee (at least I do). I have had their original coffee and it was strong and hit the spot. I liked it because it lived up to it’s name.

But, the other day I was at the office coffee maker when I saw someone had use a coffee pod that was a Death Wish Coffee Company’s Pumpkin Chai flavored coffee.

Image. Destoyed. Busted. Deflated.

Frilly, trend-following, wimpy coffee. At least that was what suddenly came across my mind.

I know because I said something to someone about it and magically a pod appeared on my desk later in the day with a note saying to “Try it.”

I did. Opinion not changed. Thankfully the chai flavor was stronger than the pumpkin, but overall wasn’t impressed.

I went out to their website and see that this appears to be the only flavored offereing. Sure, they have other “flavors” but they are more like the original with variations on strength and blends.

Anyway, have you seen this stuff? Tried it? Do you think it holds with the percieved image of the company?

Cheaped out

Posted on July 20 by backuphill

“Tradition” has been (or will be) broken. Actually, I am not sure how much of a tradition it is but I do know it is an annual occurrence that has taken place for at least as long as I have been with this organization. I am sure it started way before I became employed here.

The annual company/department picnic is today. Only it isn’t going to be a picnic today…

The picnic hasn’t really happened, of course, over the last several years because, ya know, covid. People freak out if you’re in too close proximity even when outdoors so it didn’t happen. But this year, the powers that be decided it was alright to have it again. As such, we will be headed to the park later this afternoon.

But, here’s the thing. It isn’t really going to be a picnic.

In the past, the managers have provided all the spread for a picnic lunch. Sandwiches, fruit, veggies, chips, drinks, etc. were all included with this time away from the office and official duties. People brought chairs and hung out in a relaxing atmostphere and got to know each other in a different setting.

This year, the managers have cheaped out. This year it isn’t a lunch so much as a snack time. Chips and cookies are the highlight of the menu this year. So, for most people, they will have to have a lunch of some kind before heading to the picnic.

Not sure why there has been a change from what was done in the past, but this is rather anticlimatic. Are we supposed to look forward to this? Doesn’t really seem like a celebration of another support year completed before moving into another school year support cycle. It almost seems more like an obligatory afterthought.

I guess I should just temper the complaint with the fact that I won’t have to be working during that time. But I would be much happier if they would feed me a regular lunch like in the past…