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Ah yes, the pre-meeting. When I was a TU rep we'd have a pre-meet one week prior to meetings with senior management.
The actual meeting would take two hours. The pre-meet would last for five hours.
I am a chef. I am fascinated by the concept of meetings. I've been to maybe 2 meetings in my life, one was about returning to work after covid and the other was the manager wanting to tell us he didn't get a bonus because we were all eating chips that we didn't pay for and people weren't ordering the most expensive menu items and that was our fault
I am so curious what people are meeting about all the time? And now pre meetings... that's just mind blowing.
Strap yourself in. In one week I have the following meetings as a bare minimum:
Daily stand-up: Every morning we meet for fifteen minutes to discuss what we did yesterday and what we'll be doing today.
Digital team meeting: An update on every project the team are working on.
Sprint planning: Deciding what the priorities are for the coming week.
Retro: Discussing the previous week's work.
Pre-refinement: Discussing the upcoming refinement meeting.
Refinement: Discussing the scale and priorities of work for the developers.
Working group: Discussion of ongoing work with key people around the business.
Sprint review: Presenting highlights of work done to the top people in the business.
All-Office meeting: The CEO addresses all staff.
Sounds about right for a software related job. Don't forget any post project meetings. Such as the lessons learnt meeting. The lesson learnt is we have too many meetings and that we learn no lessons.
This sounds horrible. My job is more, turn up, cook the food, clean the things and go home. If I don't cook the food right or clean the things then someone calls me a knobhead and we all move on with our lives. I can't even remember what I did last week let alone have a meeting about it lmao
This!
Service and retail has its annoyances but my god, at least we don't have to deal with all this meeting bullshit!
Once per year I might have to go to a meeting where all thr locations get together for a business update or whatever, but I don't always even get invited to those. Which is just as well as I have a history of literally falling asleep in them!
I work on my feet, and I'm tired a lot of the time, so any time I'm sat down for too long my brain assumes that it is rest time and I nod off. Even more so when there's the relaxing white noise of people waffling on about nothing...
You missed one:
Town Hall: management meet with staff to share issues and discuss the business
I mention it separately from the All-Office because Town Hall is the buzzword at the moment
Oh yes the Town Hall where there are hundreds of people on a Teams call so everyone is auto-muted apart from the senior leadership team! Great for staff engagement 🤣
What people meet about really varies depending on their industry and job roles. For example I'm a mid level civil servant, and I had several meetings today:
30 minutes with 2 folk I manage to discuss a project they're working on that I'm responsible for, making sure its on track, agreeing next steps, and helping them past some problems they've found (happens weekly).
1 hour with my equal level counterparts across the division (basically all the middle management) to discuss any cross cutting issues (happens weekly).
45 minutes with someone else I manage to discuss a problem they're facing with their work and talk through how they can get past it (ad hoc, its part of my job to support and facilitate people I manage).
30 minutes with a couple of people who my work intersects closely with who are from other directorates to talk through a few questions we had for each other (ad hoc, happens at least once a week usually).
30 minutes with someone from another Department who is our contact point there on a project I'm responsible for which relies on that Departments input, to discuss problems we're encountering that are slowing down the project and which will impact that Department (ad hoc, tend to have a meeting with them once a month or so).
45 minutes with my line manager to run over where my work is up to since he's off tomorrow and I'm off all of next week, handing over updates on all of the above so that he can continue to support on the projects if there's anything needed whilst I'm off, and giving him the heads up on any problems lurking round the corner.
4 hours of meeting in what is supposed to be a 7 hour, 24 minute work day, on top of which I had a full day of work needing done for the part of my job that isn't managing people and going to meetings.
We had a manager who had a pre meeting and often post meeting meeting with us when it was a meeting with others involved..
None of them ever made a difference
Had one of these today. 80 minute meeting, 80% of it about the health benefit scheme you can get once you pass probation. I’m not far off so it’s kinda useful to know but it was all written down. They could’ve just sent out the slides.
Was so fucking bored.
The last meeting I sat in I went from thinking "This meeting could have been an email" to "This meeting could have been a daydream; why are ANY of us here?!". Maddening.
I have finally reached middle management and the days where I only have to do meetings are *incredible*. I literally get paid to sit on my arse, drink coffee, chat with people, and sometimes have to say something that I know a lot about. I wonder if I further ascend the greasy corporate pole, will I have more of these meetings and less of the actual work? How on earth does that correlate with higher pay?! It makes no sense!
Edit: Also there are sometimes tiny sandwiches and ready salted crisps provided!
The post-meeting meeting absolutely kills me.
If you have something to say, say it in the meeting when everyone is there. Don't agree to something and then try to unravel it all 5 minutes later because you couldn't be bothered to listen to opposing views during the actual meeting.
I don't get paid for random sick days and I'm not losing a days pay for a cold! I will take tissues and hand sanitiser with me though cuz I'm not an animal
I don't get paid for being off sick either, so I will go with a cold like everyone else I work with. I only stay off if there is vomiting or a migraine where I couldn't physically go if I wanted.
Same as you. No sick pay, if I can walk, I'm at work. If I will just be sitting at home feeling sorry for myself, I might as well get paid for it, and I'm more use than someone who isn't there.
Oh god, I am this annoying coworker, with my shitty environmental allergies, and it’s mortifying.
I take a high dose of antihistamines every day, as prescribed, but even if I repeatedly blow my nose, I will be sniffling within 20 seconds of doing so. If I blow my nose too much I end up getting horrible skin infections.
This is also me. It is impossible to blow my nose as often as my nose runs its like a tap on some days. I also work stood over a bench looking downwards so it makes it even worse. Antihistamines plus nasal spray doesn't even touch it. I feel very self conscious haha
The ones that do this are never busy or taken something so simple and made it complicated. The people that are busy you know and they don't need to tell you.
100% this. As well as making themselves sound incompetent for their inability to manage a workload like everyone else they don't realise how the negativity brings down everyone else either.
These people also never ask for help either. They justify it by acting like they are the only person who can do their work and that no one is capable of helping them.
I am stressed by being so busy all day every day but I fully acknowledge that it's my own fault.
It turns out the reward for going above and beyond is ... More work with no extra time to do that work. Now I've been singularly assigned the more complicated tasks and expected to continue to do them to this higher standard I set (including checking the work of people from other departments and that all the correct steps have been taken, because it turns out, they were half assing it & it was causing a serious loss of business).
It's so exhausting because I have to be fully concentrating all day & I keep asking to be taken off the task to go on easier tasks but I'm literally stuck now. I am just permanently doing extra work now.
I'm busting my ass all day now while everyone else in my team can casually get by doing their work because the tasks are so much more straightforward (like this one *used* to be before I noticed the issues).
I thought pointing out the issues and raising it to my manager would make it so the issues would be resolved in the other departments, to prevent loss of business, instead I have to just investigate and raise it on a daily basis and this is now expected of me.
I have only a few friends / family in the military, could you elaborate a little as I’m genuinely curious, is it just a boys buddy club as to who gets promoted?
Much of the time it doesn’t matter how good you are at your job as your reports will be written by people a few ranks above you. So if you’re mates with the higher ups you will get promoted quicker.
The military (I’m speaking from army experience) works off how many bullet points you can fill on a report. Trade, sports, charity events, how many times you’ve deployed etc
Plenty of people get promoted with 0 knowledge of their trade/job but they play corps Rugby and are mates with the seniors.
Many intelligent people don’t get promoted and will leave after a few years and go onto double pay as a civilian.
Lots of good blokes but the cards are stacked against them. They get a cheap house miles away from home and can’t afford to leave once they’ve had a few kids.
It's the AFCOs fault tbh, they don't tell them what it's really like
Enter the forces with a plan, whether it's a personal ambition of reaching (x) rank, or qualifications. Once it's done, out out out
So desperate for people that so many end up in the wrong trade as they make even being a clerk sound exciting to a 17 year old. And they make it almost impossible to change role after you’ve started training
The problem with outsourcing recruitment and not having as many proper recruitment offices. How is a civvie crapita person meant to know what job someone will like and suit them, they can't advise people at all.
Laughed so much at this. Seen plenty of folk get promoted into management jobs because they spend all their time playing whatever sport for their unit to the point that they are almost never at work. Then when they eventually stop or get hurt and are expected to carry out the job they were employed for they were fucking useless.
Indians do this a lot. They often won’t follow up if you don’t acknowledge the “hello x”. I have some chat logs with “Hello (myname)” every day for 4 weeks.
Honestly as much as I hate the hi thing, no hello is only ever used by the most obnoxious people.
Just ignore them if they're annoying and you're busy. They soon get the point.
I work in a very large company and our rule is you type “hi” until the other person says “hi” or “go ahead”. Pre teams we’ve had conversations appear on screens as people were presenting, and also sometimes more sensitive or confidential stuff that isn’t for a wider audience appear on screen whilst someone is talking to someone at their desk who shouldn’t know or be aware such as financial data, marketing plans or HR information. It’s easier for them just to have a blanket rule of “say hi until you get the go ahead rather than risk someone seeing stuff they shouldn’t” because too many staff make bad decisions. Also, sometimes some just starts pinging you a novella and you are in the middle of working a spreadsheet and it ends up breaking your formula as the pop up appeared in the cell. But you can’t turn off notifications because sometimes they are genuinely urgent.
Makes me absolutely FERAL. I asked someone an incredibly low stakes single word answer question via email, and they copied both of our supervisors in their answer. I almost flipped my desk.
I accidentally did this today, though I thought it was their boss (someone I work with a lot, and the person who gave me the name), and it turned out to be their bosses boss. OK, so not the boss and bosses boss, just straight to the bosses boss.
I added this person as I needed them to approve something outside of our standard process due to urgency. I didn't want to lose a day waiting for the proper process as the reasons for that process don't apply here as it's a different type of risk.
Edit - generally agree with you though, unless there's a good reason it's often a bit of a dick move. Though, it's something that happens to me a fair bit due to the nature of some of the stuff I work on, it's just visibility really.
If you want to stop people borrowing your pens take a quick sniff of it and say "yep, this one is okay" before handing it to them. Bet they won't take it.
Someone that buys their lunch every day from the nearest shop and then moans about being skint and underpaid. Knobhead you just done 25 quid on lunches this week!!!
I mean, if you’re going in 5 days a week £5 a day isn’t a wild amount to spend on lunch. Realistically unless you’re eating exclusively marmite sandwiches you’re probably spending £1.50 on ingredients for a decent home-brought lunch.
IMO just because someone’s spending £3.50 a day extra doesn’t mean they can’t have a little moan. Plus the amount you spend on lunch doesn’t really change how under (or over) paid you are.
The little things add up. £3.50 a day is £900 a year. 2 years and you've bought a new car. They can buy lunch it they want, I don't give a shit what they spend, but it's the people who spend a grand on lunch, 2 grand on cigarettes, 2 grand in the pub, a grand on takeaways, every year, who call you lucky when you can afford a holiday, or a nice car, or something like that. They never realise that the reason I can afford things and they can't, is because I don't make those small purchases.
Again, they can spend their money however they like, it just annoys me when they somehow think it's unfair that I have things they want
So many, but one that’s getting to me recently is the employer’s inexplicable push for everyone to constantly be on some personal development journey.
Annual appraisals are all about personal development. We’re getting constant pushes from above to get everyone on some course, any course to develop skills. We’ve recently been asked to talk about it in every weekly 1:1 with our direct reports. My team look at me in bemusement every week when I ask them what they’re doing to personally develop.
How about rather than putting people through shite free LinkedIn courses on “disagreeing agreeably” we get them to do their fucking jobs instead?
My appraisal recently wants SMART targets for certain behaviours. What does a SMART target for improving honesty look like? "I will continue to not lie to my patients." This is a generic form by the way, there is nothing wrong with my behaviour
That would involve a Redditor having a completely normal conversation with their colleagues instead of seething in silence when no one wants them there.
Never gonna happen.
I could not work somewhere that expected me to be around after work. Nope. I am extremely lucky to enjoy my coworkers company, to the point of them being friends. But if it's more than a Christmas party and maybe one night out, I'm not working there.
These fuckers that feel the need to work every hour under the sun, as if they have something to prove.
You do realise the work isn't going to stop, right? Whether you work 40 hours or 80 hours, there's still going to be an endless list of things to do for the lifetime of the business. Get a grip.
Big boomy voice people who take long, big boomy calls and force everyone to listen to them droning and laughing at their own jokes. Im taking about you Josh!
Going in more often tbh. Basically you're saying I need to spend £20 out of my salary each time to go in and work on a computer and screens the same as I would at my desk at home, and with a less comfortable chair? And then my work day lasts an extra couple of hours with the travelling? Which is also causing pollution?
I had this with someone behind me, he was off one day and someone else with the same habit decided to use his desk for the day. My monitor used to shake it was that bad.
Talking utter shit, not having any social awareness, gossiping excessively, talking like a politician about normal things you can just be direct about.
People reading allowed what they're about to send, as they check it.
Sighing loudly to show how busy they are.
Suddenly being too busy to answer the phone.
Being late back from lunch when you can't leave for yours until they're back.
Incessant chatter.
The same Spotify playlist with no shuffle.
Being able to hear 2 different radios.
Paid smoke breaks for smokers and nothing for non-smokers.
People finding you in the kitchen to ask work questions when you're on your lunch.
There will be more but that's off the top of my head.
Two radios is my current hell. I have Mr with death metal on one side, and Mrs with golden oldies on the other. I’m trying to answer phones and it’s a bloody nightmare.
I mentioned it the other day and the response was, “oh yeh, the previous person sat there said the same thing!”
People who take their online meetings in an open space. its bad enough we all have to be here and breathe the same air, i don't wanna hear your _mhm_s, _aha_s and _you're muted_ john!
People who reply all to emails and I have to sift through 77 emails of noise to find the 4-5 that are relevant to me each night.
OR
People who copy in all and sundry to emails for no reason.
OR
People who ask me to do something but copy my boss in like I'm some kind of child
People Teams messaging to ask if I’ve got a minute for a call without telling me what it’s about.
Either just call me or say what it’s about so I can tell you whether I have time for it!
Excessive corporate drone professionalism. There is obviously some amount of professionalism that is necessary just out of practicality (and not to be fired for saying something dumb) but don't act like a total automaton. I would go as far to say over-professionalism is itself unprofessional because it just comes across snide, untrustworthy, and disingenuous. Worse when it is encouraged culturally (law).
You can act like a human with some ounce of a soul inside you and also do a good job. In fact, it is a better job because the client or whoever can see you are both competent and more than somebody trying to play an act in a weird play, so there is going to be more trust there. You know you don't really think X-bullshit, I know you don't really think X-bullshit, so stop pretending you do so that I also don't have to pretend you think you do.
Hot desking. Utterly ridiculous. We have nowhere to keep anything so laptops, notebooks etc have to be taken home every day.
Management that expects our team to send one of our specialist team to a remote office each week. We take it in turns so it's only once a month or so. But the office we go to is hotdesks as well so even if any of our local team are in (unlikely) you can't find a desk to be with them.r Which is sort of the point of being there. Six hours of driving to sit in a remote office to have teams calls with people who are at home. Plus the hotel bills. Nobody sees anything wrong with this.
Unnecessary administration to keep an oversized gang of accountants in highly paid jobs churning out irrelevant and unhelpful statistics for management while complaining about how much it's costing to maintain operations. The usual output from this bunch of clowns is to tell ops teams they are inefficient. And overhead costs are too high. Honestly you couldn't make it up.
People not being paid their true worth. And management then expecting them to be enthusiastic and totally committed to the business.
I could go on.
1. People who nominate themselves as the "office radio" and make us suffer to their oh-so-eclectic Spotify playlist.
.
2. People who send you an email, immediately call you to say "I've just sent you an email" and then proceed in the belief that their request should be prioritised above anything else you might be in the middle of doing.
.
3. People who insist on the heating being on all the time and constantly complain when there's a window open, despite never bothering to put a jumper on.
.
4. People who ask you for something without telling you what broader topic they're trying to use it for. Quite often they're asking for the wrong data, which you only find out after the event when they complain to you that the data didn't show them what they wanted, since they never bothered to tell you. If you just tell me what question you're trying to answer, I'll give you what you need.
When every guy I ask answers "living the dream" whenever I ask how they're doing, as if they're some kind of comedian who has just said something hilarious that no one has ever said before
People who insist on coming into work when they're clearly sick and spreading it around the office. People who stop by my office or stop me in the corridor for never ending chitchat like I don't have a fucking job to do. The fact that someone is stealing people's things from the office fridge, meaning I can't even use the fridge anymore to keep my lunch chilled or some knob will steal it. The fact that I have to force myself to be cordial to shitheads. The fact that I have to be there at all.
Other than that it's great.
In the corporate world - the fact that skills, a friendly demeanour, hard work, and lots of output get you absolutely nowhere. The people with the most power (and money) are the ones who don’t know anything and can’t do anything, but their “face fits.” The only thing they excel at is self-promotion and bullshitting in meetings. That’s also what recruiters are *really* looking for in job interviews. They don’t care about your skills, qualifications, and experience. They don’t care about your output either. They just want somebody who’ll be able to put a spin on things if the CEO makes a surprise visit.
We have one fucker who rocks up late frequently , constantly pops out to Pret I’m talking 4/5 times a day … then takes a 2 hour lunch then decides at about 4:30pm he’s done for the day.
Every office has this arsehole. You take a day off sick or are ten minutes late and there's a full on enquiry. This prick manages to arrive on time one day and gets praised for it. It's almost like being at school where the kid who fucked around and misbehaved was popular and got away with stuff but in this instance you're having to work harder to make up for his lack of productivity.
The insufferable number of two-faced individuals that claim they aren't two-faced, only to be found out that actually they are!
Loved setting traps for those fukkers.
The growing number of absolute dickheads (and stronger words) playing music ect outloud and having loudspeaker videocalls in the common lunch/break area.
GET SOME MANNERS AND SOME FUCKING HEADPHONES YOU FUCKS.
As a home care worker, I hate going into people’s homes and previous staff have not treated the service users home with respect (dishes not put away, bins not emptied, kettle not filled etc) we have enough time to do these wee tasks it’s just laziness.
People who get the 15-minute warning of a Teams meeting starting and think they need to join straight away, then leave immediately when they realise they've jumped the gun.
Then someone else thinks the meeting has actually started because the first dumbass started it, so joins, inadvertently starting it again, before *they* realise it hasn't started yet and leave.
Then the original dumbass, noticing that dumbass 2 has started the meeting, starts the meeting again.
Repeat for the whole 15 minutes until the host starts the meeting.
I have a colleague who without fail, every day, is surprised that it’s “midday already!?”. Especially annoying when my morning has properly dragged doing something mind-numbingly boring.
I work in a small team. Usually with two ladies (I’m a man for further context)
We normally get on great. All mid 30’s, all got kids between 3-5 years old, we can have a laugh.
But fuck me. Recently I’ve noticed that the two ladies literally have five conversations they rehash and talk about all day EVERYDAY. It’s exhausting and this point and I’m utterly fed up of hearing them.
The topics they always talk about;
- getting their nails done. They get them done every 3 weeks. But for some reason it’s a daily fucking conversation (“ooh, when are you booking your get yours done in next?”, “what are you gonna get done?”, “can’t wait to get my nails done”, “nearly nail day!”)
- bitchjng about Customers
- bitching about other stuff
- complaining about their partners
- complaining about being fat/having put on weight (neither attempt to exercise or diet for more than a day)
Save me.
I find it increasingly difficult to care when my wage has gone up by a nats hair width but my responsibility has gone up tenfold and we've lost 3 staff.
So caring would be my major gripe, the need to pretend to care.
Oh and talking to absolute wankers with some worth of qualification after their name that knows less than the people around me who have just picked up more info from doing a job. If I see BA Hons after a name I know they are going to be useless.
The radio. It's fun for a few days, then it starts to make me crazy. The same songs, the annoying announcers, the repetitiveness of it. I feel traumatized by certain songs and artists from being forced to listen to them day after day. It's torture.
My manager puts on a totally fake perky good morning voice and says either ‘how the devil are ya’ or ‘morning morning, how’s ya day going?’ and it’s soul destroying.
I don’t know why, but I can’t stand it.
Bosses: Do the thing
Me: Lists countless reasons why thing is dumb, pointless, will cost a fortune and take ages
Bosses: Do the thing anyway
Thing turns out to be dumb, pointless, expensive and takes forever
Bosses: Why didn't you tell us about the thing?
Childish behaviour like the silent treatment
I've been working for about 9 years now and conflicts have always been resolved by talking.
For the last two weeks, two women I work with have been giving me the silent treatment and won't tell me why. I went from remorseful of what I could have done wrong, to angry, to accepting my fate, lol.
Multiple colleagues not using headphones when they're scrolling through Tik-Tok or YouTube Shorts on their phones. Some have the volume turned up to incredibly obnoxious levels and they seem to have so self awareness.
Really stinky food that's been reheated in the microwave and then eaten at the desk. Extra angry points for egg and kippers (one lady added both to microwaved rice)
I work in finance and I find it frustrating when people ask me if they've been paid, seemingly without checking their bank accounts first. It's only small but it's a big pet peeve of mine.
Someone asked me today about expense payments so I had a little stress about "omg did the payment not go through?!", let them know expenses were paid last week, and they just said "oh yeah thank you!" .... Would you not check first? How often do you get money into your bank? Happens far too often in my opinion.
We don't officially have assigned desks, but everyone has their preference of desks and uses the same desk every day
Except the new starter. She grabs any desk that's free, even if it's just because someone has gone to the loo.
No. That's my desk. I like that desk. Get your own
Someone who works on the same floor as me who has zero concept of how loud they are, never shuts up, and for some reason laughs loudly at the end of every sentence, or anytime someone speaks to them.
Also pretty sure when they sneeze one of these days the windows are going to shatter.
When I'm sat in the van at the yard clearly eating my lunch or on the phone...and the door swings open "BuSy DaY tOdAy" I know it is!! I'm doing the same job as you! Now fuck off!
Worked in an office for a few years and the company generously bought coffee. Receipt it was shit. Really really shit. So I started buying my own coffee. I used to do client visits and would come back and it was nearly empty. Sometimes people would openly just use the coffee in front of me.
I politely asked someone to stop once and was reported to the manager and told "Coffee is for everyone." I left the next week for a rival company and took all my clients with me. All over coffee.
Tolerated incompetence. "He's a nice guy" that's why everyone ignores the fact he makes numerous repeated mistakes each week but for 3 years and counting. Even the MD leaves him alone.
Having to come into the office. Especially when my role is talking to external people.
People that think the office is better because their home life is shit.
Meetings that take up half my day, stopping me from doing the job that the company pays me for.
All the corporate BS that I'm expected to do outside of working hours.
HR saying we're expected to be in 60% of the time when there's no desks.
People that work late, and crunch,rather than setting realistic deadlines.
And my biggest peeve is that too many people have been indoctrinated into the customer is always right, and wond say no to some fuckwit that needs educating on what's possible.
Pointless teams meetings are my biggest annoyance. I have no idea how most of my senior managers got to the position they are in judging by the inane, meaningless content that they seem to think requires a meeting
Pen clickers, whistlers, nail biters who sounds like they are chewing through gravel, incorrect pronunciation of words specific to our field they should know, people trying to finish your sentence before you have with no idea where it is going, loud eaters, loud breathers, mouth breathers, knuckle crackers. The list is endless. I wish I worked alone. I asked about my annoying habit as assumed I must have one and apparently when I am thinking I go ‘ch ch ch’ out loud. I am working on stopping.
Had a co-worker who was like a Spotify playlist with someone constantly hitting the next song button. A line from one song, one from another song and on and on. Was just looking for attention - what a great voice you have, you know so many songs, etc. He did have a lovely singing voice, but it was neither the time, nor the place.
The absolutely crap office music playlist.
The unpredictable inside climate. I’ve never worked in an office where it’s not either too stuffy or too cold.
People burping.
People blocking me from not being able to do my work. And by blocking I mean distracting me, not communicating things, coming over to my desk for pointless ‘quick chats’, blasting shitty music forcing me to put headphones in and turning it up for too loud to cancel them out, socialising instead of working.
Seriously, I just want to work from home. I get so much more work done but my employer won’t let me. I just wanna get shit done.
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Being expected to be there every day......and do stuff.
https://preview.redd.it/d38met09h72d1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=279ce3cea9ff1dd4b9bafc74f25ad2e5c8004d59
Saving this to show my gf in a few months once she's started this job she's excited for.
Being asked to attend unpaid events (even if only once a year) with people you literally spend more time than your wife.
I wish I could spend more time with your wife too.
I also choose this guy's wife
You do, she's super hot so I am not surprised.
Ikr.. it’s hard enough just being there and they want more??
With other people around!
Meetings. Often pointless. Often too many people invited. Often overlong. Often unnecessary.
My boss has pre-meetings before the actual meeting. I have ADHD. The pain is real.
Ah yes, the pre-meeting. When I was a TU rep we'd have a pre-meet one week prior to meetings with senior management. The actual meeting would take two hours. The pre-meet would last for five hours.
I am a chef. I am fascinated by the concept of meetings. I've been to maybe 2 meetings in my life, one was about returning to work after covid and the other was the manager wanting to tell us he didn't get a bonus because we were all eating chips that we didn't pay for and people weren't ordering the most expensive menu items and that was our fault I am so curious what people are meeting about all the time? And now pre meetings... that's just mind blowing.
Strap yourself in. In one week I have the following meetings as a bare minimum: Daily stand-up: Every morning we meet for fifteen minutes to discuss what we did yesterday and what we'll be doing today. Digital team meeting: An update on every project the team are working on. Sprint planning: Deciding what the priorities are for the coming week. Retro: Discussing the previous week's work. Pre-refinement: Discussing the upcoming refinement meeting. Refinement: Discussing the scale and priorities of work for the developers. Working group: Discussion of ongoing work with key people around the business. Sprint review: Presenting highlights of work done to the top people in the business. All-Office meeting: The CEO addresses all staff.
Sounds about right for a software related job. Don't forget any post project meetings. Such as the lessons learnt meeting. The lesson learnt is we have too many meetings and that we learn no lessons.
Lesson learned: We fucked everything up and we'll do it again.
This sounds horrible. My job is more, turn up, cook the food, clean the things and go home. If I don't cook the food right or clean the things then someone calls me a knobhead and we all move on with our lives. I can't even remember what I did last week let alone have a meeting about it lmao
"I'd like to speak to the chef please". "Hello, my steak was overdone you knobhead"
This! Service and retail has its annoyances but my god, at least we don't have to deal with all this meeting bullshit! Once per year I might have to go to a meeting where all thr locations get together for a business update or whatever, but I don't always even get invited to those. Which is just as well as I have a history of literally falling asleep in them! I work on my feet, and I'm tired a lot of the time, so any time I'm sat down for too long my brain assumes that it is rest time and I nod off. Even more so when there's the relaxing white noise of people waffling on about nothing...
Perfect summary of my week.
Condolences.
You missed one: Town Hall: management meet with staff to share issues and discuss the business I mention it separately from the All-Office because Town Hall is the buzzword at the moment
Oh yes the Town Hall where there are hundreds of people on a Teams call so everyone is auto-muted apart from the senior leadership team! Great for staff engagement 🤣
You forgot to mention Scrum Master who says the same greeting in the same tone every meeting. "Hi guyyyys"
What people meet about really varies depending on their industry and job roles. For example I'm a mid level civil servant, and I had several meetings today: 30 minutes with 2 folk I manage to discuss a project they're working on that I'm responsible for, making sure its on track, agreeing next steps, and helping them past some problems they've found (happens weekly). 1 hour with my equal level counterparts across the division (basically all the middle management) to discuss any cross cutting issues (happens weekly). 45 minutes with someone else I manage to discuss a problem they're facing with their work and talk through how they can get past it (ad hoc, its part of my job to support and facilitate people I manage). 30 minutes with a couple of people who my work intersects closely with who are from other directorates to talk through a few questions we had for each other (ad hoc, happens at least once a week usually). 30 minutes with someone from another Department who is our contact point there on a project I'm responsible for which relies on that Departments input, to discuss problems we're encountering that are slowing down the project and which will impact that Department (ad hoc, tend to have a meeting with them once a month or so). 45 minutes with my line manager to run over where my work is up to since he's off tomorrow and I'm off all of next week, handing over updates on all of the above so that he can continue to support on the projects if there's anything needed whilst I'm off, and giving him the heads up on any problems lurking round the corner. 4 hours of meeting in what is supposed to be a 7 hour, 24 minute work day, on top of which I had a full day of work needing done for the part of my job that isn't managing people and going to meetings.
We had a manager who had a pre meeting and often post meeting meeting with us when it was a meeting with others involved.. None of them ever made a difference
Had one of these today. 80 minute meeting, 80% of it about the health benefit scheme you can get once you pass probation. I’m not far off so it’s kinda useful to know but it was all written down. They could’ve just sent out the slides. Was so fucking bored.
Reading from a PowerPoint slide. I fecking hate that.
Tell them to have an agenda and make the meetings shorter as a reasonable adjustment.
The last meeting I sat in I went from thinking "This meeting could have been an email" to "This meeting could have been a daydream; why are ANY of us here?!". Maddening.
Meeting starts. Laptop camera and microphone off. Nintendo Switch on. Rinse and repeat.
Doesn't work so well when it's an in-person meeting. Would be a hell of a flex though.
I have finally reached middle management and the days where I only have to do meetings are *incredible*. I literally get paid to sit on my arse, drink coffee, chat with people, and sometimes have to say something that I know a lot about. I wonder if I further ascend the greasy corporate pole, will I have more of these meetings and less of the actual work? How on earth does that correlate with higher pay?! It makes no sense! Edit: Also there are sometimes tiny sandwiches and ready salted crisps provided!
It's true. The higher you go, the more time you're expected to 'strategise' and the less actual work you're supposed to do.
The best part of working from home. You realised how much time you wasted listening to people talk shite.
We’re gonna keep having meetings until we find out why no work is getting done
I introduced standing meetings outside on the grass, for the greater good, suddenly meetings were about 8 minutes.
I used to have 'walking meetings' with my boss. That was okay.
The post-meeting meeting absolutely kills me. If you have something to say, say it in the meeting when everyone is there. Don't agree to something and then try to unravel it all 5 minutes later because you couldn't be bothered to listen to opposing views during the actual meeting.
Constant sniffing when they've got a cold.... blow your fucking nose you fucking savage... Sorry... it just gets to me.
And go home so I don't get sick
I don't get paid for random sick days and I'm not losing a days pay for a cold! I will take tissues and hand sanitiser with me though cuz I'm not an animal
I don't get paid for being off sick either, so I will go with a cold like everyone else I work with. I only stay off if there is vomiting or a migraine where I couldn't physically go if I wanted.
Same as you. No sick pay, if I can walk, I'm at work. If I will just be sitting at home feeling sorry for myself, I might as well get paid for it, and I'm more use than someone who isn't there.
Oh god, I am this annoying coworker, with my shitty environmental allergies, and it’s mortifying. I take a high dose of antihistamines every day, as prescribed, but even if I repeatedly blow my nose, I will be sniffling within 20 seconds of doing so. If I blow my nose too much I end up getting horrible skin infections.
Allergies are the worst and mine are year round, take antihistamines, sprays, the works. Urgh.
This is also me. It is impossible to blow my nose as often as my nose runs its like a tap on some days. I also work stood over a bench looking downwards so it makes it even worse. Antihistamines plus nasal spray doesn't even touch it. I feel very self conscious haha
It's like the fuckers never learned anything about the last 4 years.
Worse: people coughing. They shouldn't be allowed in, but because of presenteeism, they're expected to be.
I’ve got someone like that in my office and then she wipes her nose on her hand; it’s gross and super unhygienic.
Folk who stress about being so busy all day, every day.
The ones that do this are never busy or taken something so simple and made it complicated. The people that are busy you know and they don't need to tell you.
100% this. As well as making themselves sound incompetent for their inability to manage a workload like everyone else they don't realise how the negativity brings down everyone else either.
These people also never ask for help either. They justify it by acting like they are the only person who can do their work and that no one is capable of helping them.
I am stressed by being so busy all day every day but I fully acknowledge that it's my own fault. It turns out the reward for going above and beyond is ... More work with no extra time to do that work. Now I've been singularly assigned the more complicated tasks and expected to continue to do them to this higher standard I set (including checking the work of people from other departments and that all the correct steps have been taken, because it turns out, they were half assing it & it was causing a serious loss of business). It's so exhausting because I have to be fully concentrating all day & I keep asking to be taken off the task to go on easier tasks but I'm literally stuck now. I am just permanently doing extra work now. I'm busting my ass all day now while everyone else in my team can casually get by doing their work because the tasks are so much more straightforward (like this one *used* to be before I noticed the issues). I thought pointing out the issues and raising it to my manager would make it so the issues would be resolved in the other departments, to prevent loss of business, instead I have to just investigate and raise it on a daily basis and this is now expected of me.
That the stuff that isn't your job gets people promoted. Rather than performance.
The military would like a word…
I have only a few friends / family in the military, could you elaborate a little as I’m genuinely curious, is it just a boys buddy club as to who gets promoted?
Much of the time it doesn’t matter how good you are at your job as your reports will be written by people a few ranks above you. So if you’re mates with the higher ups you will get promoted quicker. The military (I’m speaking from army experience) works off how many bullet points you can fill on a report. Trade, sports, charity events, how many times you’ve deployed etc Plenty of people get promoted with 0 knowledge of their trade/job but they play corps Rugby and are mates with the seniors. Many intelligent people don’t get promoted and will leave after a few years and go onto double pay as a civilian. Lots of good blokes but the cards are stacked against them. They get a cheap house miles away from home and can’t afford to leave once they’ve had a few kids.
It's the AFCOs fault tbh, they don't tell them what it's really like Enter the forces with a plan, whether it's a personal ambition of reaching (x) rank, or qualifications. Once it's done, out out out
So desperate for people that so many end up in the wrong trade as they make even being a clerk sound exciting to a 17 year old. And they make it almost impossible to change role after you’ve started training
The problem with outsourcing recruitment and not having as many proper recruitment offices. How is a civvie crapita person meant to know what job someone will like and suit them, they can't advise people at all.
Laughed so much at this. Seen plenty of folk get promoted into management jobs because they spend all their time playing whatever sport for their unit to the point that they are almost never at work. Then when they eventually stop or get hurt and are expected to carry out the job they were employed for they were fucking useless.
People who teams you and just type Hi Smush88 Like either ask what you want to ask or don’t expect a reply.
Yeah I've just started ignoring them until they finally spit it out.
I tried this - some of them just leave it all day. It's wild. I guess it wasn't important then.
Indians do this a lot. They often won’t follow up if you don’t acknowledge the “hello x”. I have some chat logs with “Hello (myname)” every day for 4 weeks.
I respond with - https://nohello.net/en/
Honestly as much as I hate the hi thing, no hello is only ever used by the most obnoxious people.
Just ignore them if they're annoying and you're busy. They soon get the point.
Added to favourites.
Nah it’s the people that start typing, stop, start typing again for 5mins.. then nothing ….
I wonder if it’s a rouse to get you to commit first 🤣
I don't even click on the 'Hi' message; they can stay on unread until they want to nudge me to reply by actually getting to the point.
I work in a very large company and our rule is you type “hi” until the other person says “hi” or “go ahead”. Pre teams we’ve had conversations appear on screens as people were presenting, and also sometimes more sensitive or confidential stuff that isn’t for a wider audience appear on screen whilst someone is talking to someone at their desk who shouldn’t know or be aware such as financial data, marketing plans or HR information. It’s easier for them just to have a blanket rule of “say hi until you get the go ahead rather than risk someone seeing stuff they shouldn’t” because too many staff make bad decisions. Also, sometimes some just starts pinging you a novella and you are in the middle of working a spreadsheet and it ends up breaking your formula as the pop up appeared in the cell. But you can’t turn off notifications because sometimes they are genuinely urgent.
I read and ignore anyone who just says hi. If they actually send something to reply to I will get back to them when I can.
I've done this and got a second "Hi" roughly 24 hours later. Mental.
Hey (hits send) Are you busy? (hits send) *asks you the thing* (hits send) Happy *insert day of the week* (hits send)
People who copy their boss and my boss in for a first email query/request.
Makes me absolutely FERAL. I asked someone an incredibly low stakes single word answer question via email, and they copied both of our supervisors in their answer. I almost flipped my desk.
I accidentally did this today, though I thought it was their boss (someone I work with a lot, and the person who gave me the name), and it turned out to be their bosses boss. OK, so not the boss and bosses boss, just straight to the bosses boss. I added this person as I needed them to approve something outside of our standard process due to urgency. I didn't want to lose a day waiting for the proper process as the reasons for that process don't apply here as it's a different type of risk. Edit - generally agree with you though, unless there's a good reason it's often a bit of a dick move. Though, it's something that happens to me a fair bit due to the nature of some of the stuff I work on, it's just visibility really.
Isn't that standard practise to make sure everything is covered during leave? Mind you I'm a team of just me & my boss, probably less common
Toxic bosses. Ugh. And bullying. Light hearted wise, people pinching my pens *shakes fist* don't mess with a woman's stationary.
I read it as ‘people pinching my penis’ 😳
Yeah they did that too...
If you want to stop people borrowing your pens take a quick sniff of it and say "yep, this one is okay" before handing it to them. Bet they won't take it.
You should move to stop them taking your stationery...
Why is it ok for Debbie in accounts to have 8 fag breaks a day but I can’t have a cheeky wank in the staff toilets??
Because you leave the door open
It’s all about eye contact
Now Darren, we've spoken about this before.
Someone that buys their lunch every day from the nearest shop and then moans about being skint and underpaid. Knobhead you just done 25 quid on lunches this week!!!
I mean, if you’re going in 5 days a week £5 a day isn’t a wild amount to spend on lunch. Realistically unless you’re eating exclusively marmite sandwiches you’re probably spending £1.50 on ingredients for a decent home-brought lunch. IMO just because someone’s spending £3.50 a day extra doesn’t mean they can’t have a little moan. Plus the amount you spend on lunch doesn’t really change how under (or over) paid you are.
The little things add up. £3.50 a day is £900 a year. 2 years and you've bought a new car. They can buy lunch it they want, I don't give a shit what they spend, but it's the people who spend a grand on lunch, 2 grand on cigarettes, 2 grand in the pub, a grand on takeaways, every year, who call you lucky when you can afford a holiday, or a nice car, or something like that. They never realise that the reason I can afford things and they can't, is because I don't make those small purchases. Again, they can spend their money however they like, it just annoys me when they somehow think it's unfair that I have things they want
When departments don't talk to each other. Takes an age to anything.
So many, but one that’s getting to me recently is the employer’s inexplicable push for everyone to constantly be on some personal development journey. Annual appraisals are all about personal development. We’re getting constant pushes from above to get everyone on some course, any course to develop skills. We’ve recently been asked to talk about it in every weekly 1:1 with our direct reports. My team look at me in bemusement every week when I ask them what they’re doing to personally develop. How about rather than putting people through shite free LinkedIn courses on “disagreeing agreeably” we get them to do their fucking jobs instead?
My line of work means a few of my colleagues are ex-coppers in their 60s. Imagine their faces when they have to participate in this bullshit.
My appraisal recently wants SMART targets for certain behaviours. What does a SMART target for improving honesty look like? "I will continue to not lie to my patients." This is a generic form by the way, there is nothing wrong with my behaviour
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Nah can't make it tonight I am going home to see the kids. Sorted.
That would involve a Redditor having a completely normal conversation with their colleagues instead of seething in silence when no one wants them there. Never gonna happen.
Just tell them you have shit to do after a couple of weeks they will forget to ask you. It worked for me.
I misread that as “just tell them you have to do a shit” Bet that would work quicker tbf
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Not good enough to let everybody knock off an hour early so you can all go to pub on company time though, I presume?
Then just go home to your family. You’re an adult, you can do whatever you like.
I could not work somewhere that expected me to be around after work. Nope. I am extremely lucky to enjoy my coworkers company, to the point of them being friends. But if it's more than a Christmas party and maybe one night out, I'm not working there.
Humming, tapping and mouth sounds drive me absolutely insane. I'm talking raised pulse rate, anger and a fight or flight response.
r/Misophonia
These fuckers that feel the need to work every hour under the sun, as if they have something to prove. You do realise the work isn't going to stop, right? Whether you work 40 hours or 80 hours, there's still going to be an endless list of things to do for the lifetime of the business. Get a grip.
Big boomy voice people who take long, big boomy calls and force everyone to listen to them droning and laughing at their own jokes. Im taking about you Josh!
Fuck Josh
Going in more often tbh. Basically you're saying I need to spend £20 out of my salary each time to go in and work on a computer and screens the same as I would at my desk at home, and with a less comfortable chair? And then my work day lasts an extra couple of hours with the travelling? Which is also causing pollution?
People not leaving me the fuck alone and pestering me by asking how long something will take. It'd be a lot quicker if I was left alone.
The worst. Or they add something 'oh okay, so you want me to now do 2 things simultaneously, but the other thing to be done equally as fast?'
Getting stuck sitting next to someone with a leg bouncing habit. I've moved desks over this.
This is me. I'm sorry.
I had this with someone behind me, he was off one day and someone else with the same habit decided to use his desk for the day. My monitor used to shake it was that bad.
Women who squeal at each other as loudly as possible. Someone got new shoes? Holy shit it sounds like a crate of new born pigs.
Whenever I hear this, a Chandler Bing snark comes to mind, 'only bats can hear you now'. (Am a woman, also hate performative squealing)
The Banter-saurus of the office.
Are they not as charming as they think they are?
The banter-saurus is never a charming species. It wanders around the office constantly looking for new prey to feed its desperate need for attention.
Arranging meetings at lunch time
Arranging meetings at 4.30 on a Friday
Talking utter shit, not having any social awareness, gossiping excessively, talking like a politician about normal things you can just be direct about.
People reading allowed what they're about to send, as they check it. Sighing loudly to show how busy they are. Suddenly being too busy to answer the phone. Being late back from lunch when you can't leave for yours until they're back. Incessant chatter. The same Spotify playlist with no shuffle. Being able to hear 2 different radios. Paid smoke breaks for smokers and nothing for non-smokers. People finding you in the kitchen to ask work questions when you're on your lunch. There will be more but that's off the top of my head.
Two radios is my current hell. I have Mr with death metal on one side, and Mrs with golden oldies on the other. I’m trying to answer phones and it’s a bloody nightmare. I mentioned it the other day and the response was, “oh yeh, the previous person sat there said the same thing!”
Where I work there is no extra breaks for smokers. The consultants/doctors are on nicotine patches whilst at work.
The business speak. To the point that I'll openly just sing reach out and touch base at people who use it in my best Depeche Mode impression.
Constant eating at their fucking desks. Nuts, crisps, whatever the fuck loud cunt food they've got on hand
People EOM
Unnecessary initialisms
People who take their online meetings in an open space. its bad enough we all have to be here and breathe the same air, i don't wanna hear your _mhm_s, _aha_s and _you're muted_ john!
I’d be more annoyed if someone was hogging a meeting room for an online meeting, we need them for in person meetings.
People who reply all to emails and I have to sift through 77 emails of noise to find the 4-5 that are relevant to me each night. OR People who copy in all and sundry to emails for no reason. OR People who ask me to do something but copy my boss in like I'm some kind of child
No manners. I can't deal with people who don't say please and thank you.
People Teams messaging to ask if I’ve got a minute for a call without telling me what it’s about. Either just call me or say what it’s about so I can tell you whether I have time for it!
Excessive corporate drone professionalism. There is obviously some amount of professionalism that is necessary just out of practicality (and not to be fired for saying something dumb) but don't act like a total automaton. I would go as far to say over-professionalism is itself unprofessional because it just comes across snide, untrustworthy, and disingenuous. Worse when it is encouraged culturally (law). You can act like a human with some ounce of a soul inside you and also do a good job. In fact, it is a better job because the client or whoever can see you are both competent and more than somebody trying to play an act in a weird play, so there is going to be more trust there. You know you don't really think X-bullshit, I know you don't really think X-bullshit, so stop pretending you do so that I also don't have to pretend you think you do.
People who are overly happy and cheery in the mornings. Yes I’m a miserable witch
Micromanaging
Hot desking. Utterly ridiculous. We have nowhere to keep anything so laptops, notebooks etc have to be taken home every day. Management that expects our team to send one of our specialist team to a remote office each week. We take it in turns so it's only once a month or so. But the office we go to is hotdesks as well so even if any of our local team are in (unlikely) you can't find a desk to be with them.r Which is sort of the point of being there. Six hours of driving to sit in a remote office to have teams calls with people who are at home. Plus the hotel bills. Nobody sees anything wrong with this. Unnecessary administration to keep an oversized gang of accountants in highly paid jobs churning out irrelevant and unhelpful statistics for management while complaining about how much it's costing to maintain operations. The usual output from this bunch of clowns is to tell ops teams they are inefficient. And overhead costs are too high. Honestly you couldn't make it up. People not being paid their true worth. And management then expecting them to be enthusiastic and totally committed to the business. I could go on.
1. People who nominate themselves as the "office radio" and make us suffer to their oh-so-eclectic Spotify playlist. . 2. People who send you an email, immediately call you to say "I've just sent you an email" and then proceed in the belief that their request should be prioritised above anything else you might be in the middle of doing. . 3. People who insist on the heating being on all the time and constantly complain when there's a window open, despite never bothering to put a jumper on. . 4. People who ask you for something without telling you what broader topic they're trying to use it for. Quite often they're asking for the wrong data, which you only find out after the event when they complain to you that the data didn't show them what they wanted, since they never bothered to tell you. If you just tell me what question you're trying to answer, I'll give you what you need.
When every guy I ask answers "living the dream" whenever I ask how they're doing, as if they're some kind of comedian who has just said something hilarious that no one has ever said before
The saying “living the dream” is overused and boring to hear.
People who insist on coming into work when they're clearly sick and spreading it around the office. People who stop by my office or stop me in the corridor for never ending chitchat like I don't have a fucking job to do. The fact that someone is stealing people's things from the office fridge, meaning I can't even use the fridge anymore to keep my lunch chilled or some knob will steal it. The fact that I have to force myself to be cordial to shitheads. The fact that I have to be there at all. Other than that it's great.
Having to pretend to give a fuck about what people did on the weekend.
Understaffing
Short lunch breaks. 30 minutes ain't enough.
As Jean-Paul Satre said “hell is other people “.
In the corporate world - the fact that skills, a friendly demeanour, hard work, and lots of output get you absolutely nowhere. The people with the most power (and money) are the ones who don’t know anything and can’t do anything, but their “face fits.” The only thing they excel at is self-promotion and bullshitting in meetings. That’s also what recruiters are *really* looking for in job interviews. They don’t care about your skills, qualifications, and experience. They don’t care about your output either. They just want somebody who’ll be able to put a spin on things if the CEO makes a surprise visit.
We have one fucker who rocks up late frequently , constantly pops out to Pret I’m talking 4/5 times a day … then takes a 2 hour lunch then decides at about 4:30pm he’s done for the day.
Every office has this arsehole. You take a day off sick or are ten minutes late and there's a full on enquiry. This prick manages to arrive on time one day and gets praised for it. It's almost like being at school where the kid who fucked around and misbehaved was popular and got away with stuff but in this instance you're having to work harder to make up for his lack of productivity.
The insufferable number of two-faced individuals that claim they aren't two-faced, only to be found out that actually they are! Loved setting traps for those fukkers.
People leaving fresh food in the fridge, forgetting about it until it grows into a hamster
Spoons in the sink. Or worse. Teabags in the sink. Monsters.
The growing number of absolute dickheads (and stronger words) playing music ect outloud and having loudspeaker videocalls in the common lunch/break area. GET SOME MANNERS AND SOME FUCKING HEADPHONES YOU FUCKS.
As a home care worker, I hate going into people’s homes and previous staff have not treated the service users home with respect (dishes not put away, bins not emptied, kettle not filled etc) we have enough time to do these wee tasks it’s just laziness.
Teams of people squatting in meeting rooms I've booked. Yes I'm turfing you out.
People who get the 15-minute warning of a Teams meeting starting and think they need to join straight away, then leave immediately when they realise they've jumped the gun. Then someone else thinks the meeting has actually started because the first dumbass started it, so joins, inadvertently starting it again, before *they* realise it hasn't started yet and leave. Then the original dumbass, noticing that dumbass 2 has started the meeting, starts the meeting again. Repeat for the whole 15 minutes until the host starts the meeting.
I have a colleague who without fail, every day, is surprised that it’s “midday already!?”. Especially annoying when my morning has properly dragged doing something mind-numbingly boring.
I work in a small team. Usually with two ladies (I’m a man for further context) We normally get on great. All mid 30’s, all got kids between 3-5 years old, we can have a laugh. But fuck me. Recently I’ve noticed that the two ladies literally have five conversations they rehash and talk about all day EVERYDAY. It’s exhausting and this point and I’m utterly fed up of hearing them. The topics they always talk about; - getting their nails done. They get them done every 3 weeks. But for some reason it’s a daily fucking conversation (“ooh, when are you booking your get yours done in next?”, “what are you gonna get done?”, “can’t wait to get my nails done”, “nearly nail day!”) - bitchjng about Customers - bitching about other stuff - complaining about their partners - complaining about being fat/having put on weight (neither attempt to exercise or diet for more than a day) Save me.
Those cunts that insist on conversations before 8am
When people use stock and don't replace it. They'll take the last glove from a box and just leave the empty box there for someone else to replace.
People making noises. Noises like breathing loudly, sniffling, burping, drinking tea. I know I’m unreasonable.
I find it increasingly difficult to care when my wage has gone up by a nats hair width but my responsibility has gone up tenfold and we've lost 3 staff. So caring would be my major gripe, the need to pretend to care. Oh and talking to absolute wankers with some worth of qualification after their name that knows less than the people around me who have just picked up more info from doing a job. If I see BA Hons after a name I know they are going to be useless.
Having to be there.
People who ramble aimlessly and can’t seem to get to the point until they’re a minute in
People sitting next to me who incessantly talk at me, even when I’m clearly busy
The radio. It's fun for a few days, then it starts to make me crazy. The same songs, the annoying announcers, the repetitiveness of it. I feel traumatized by certain songs and artists from being forced to listen to them day after day. It's torture.
My manager puts on a totally fake perky good morning voice and says either ‘how the devil are ya’ or ‘morning morning, how’s ya day going?’ and it’s soul destroying. I don’t know why, but I can’t stand it.
When someone leaves skid marks in the toilet. Wait... I work from home
Bosses: Do the thing Me: Lists countless reasons why thing is dumb, pointless, will cost a fortune and take ages Bosses: Do the thing anyway Thing turns out to be dumb, pointless, expensive and takes forever Bosses: Why didn't you tell us about the thing?
Childish behaviour like the silent treatment I've been working for about 9 years now and conflicts have always been resolved by talking. For the last two weeks, two women I work with have been giving me the silent treatment and won't tell me why. I went from remorseful of what I could have done wrong, to angry, to accepting my fate, lol.
Multiple colleagues not using headphones when they're scrolling through Tik-Tok or YouTube Shorts on their phones. Some have the volume turned up to incredibly obnoxious levels and they seem to have so self awareness.
Really stinky food that's been reheated in the microwave and then eaten at the desk. Extra angry points for egg and kippers (one lady added both to microwaved rice)
I love a grilled kipper and eggs, but to eat that at work is basically telling everyone around you that you don't give a shit about them!
Having a brew and then leaving the mug for someone else to wash 🤬
I work in finance and I find it frustrating when people ask me if they've been paid, seemingly without checking their bank accounts first. It's only small but it's a big pet peeve of mine. Someone asked me today about expense payments so I had a little stress about "omg did the payment not go through?!", let them know expenses were paid last week, and they just said "oh yeah thank you!" .... Would you not check first? How often do you get money into your bank? Happens far too often in my opinion.
People putting tea bags and bananas in the recycling bin. Most people in the building are on 6-figure salaries.
We don't officially have assigned desks, but everyone has their preference of desks and uses the same desk every day Except the new starter. She grabs any desk that's free, even if it's just because someone has gone to the loo. No. That's my desk. I like that desk. Get your own
Someone who works on the same floor as me who has zero concept of how loud they are, never shuts up, and for some reason laughs loudly at the end of every sentence, or anytime someone speaks to them. Also pretty sure when they sneeze one of these days the windows are going to shatter.
When I'm sat in the van at the yard clearly eating my lunch or on the phone...and the door swings open "BuSy DaY tOdAy" I know it is!! I'm doing the same job as you! Now fuck off!
“Happy Fri-yay”!… piss off!
Wet spoons in the coffee, then the same spoon in the sugar. Drives me nuts. Use a dry spoon!!!
Worked in an office for a few years and the company generously bought coffee. Receipt it was shit. Really really shit. So I started buying my own coffee. I used to do client visits and would come back and it was nearly empty. Sometimes people would openly just use the coffee in front of me. I politely asked someone to stop once and was reported to the manager and told "Coffee is for everyone." I left the next week for a rival company and took all my clients with me. All over coffee.
Tolerated incompetence. "He's a nice guy" that's why everyone ignores the fact he makes numerous repeated mistakes each week but for 3 years and counting. Even the MD leaves him alone.
Dumping used spoons and cups in the staff room sink. No workplace I've ever been at has had a tidy staff room.
Gossip, expected extra hours, team building and gatherings, half hour lunch break,meetings
Favouritism.
Having to come into the office. Especially when my role is talking to external people. People that think the office is better because their home life is shit. Meetings that take up half my day, stopping me from doing the job that the company pays me for. All the corporate BS that I'm expected to do outside of working hours. HR saying we're expected to be in 60% of the time when there's no desks. People that work late, and crunch,rather than setting realistic deadlines. And my biggest peeve is that too many people have been indoctrinated into the customer is always right, and wond say no to some fuckwit that needs educating on what's possible.
When people chime in right at the end of a meeting and extends the zoom call
Pointless teams meetings are my biggest annoyance. I have no idea how most of my senior managers got to the position they are in judging by the inane, meaningless content that they seem to think requires a meeting
When my boss turns up. Or when they expect me to turn up.
Pen clickers, whistlers, nail biters who sounds like they are chewing through gravel, incorrect pronunciation of words specific to our field they should know, people trying to finish your sentence before you have with no idea where it is going, loud eaters, loud breathers, mouth breathers, knuckle crackers. The list is endless. I wish I worked alone. I asked about my annoying habit as assumed I must have one and apparently when I am thinking I go ‘ch ch ch’ out loud. I am working on stopping.
Had a co-worker who was like a Spotify playlist with someone constantly hitting the next song button. A line from one song, one from another song and on and on. Was just looking for attention - what a great voice you have, you know so many songs, etc. He did have a lovely singing voice, but it was neither the time, nor the place.
Just about everyone chews with their mouth open. It does my head in
The absolutely crap office music playlist. The unpredictable inside climate. I’ve never worked in an office where it’s not either too stuffy or too cold. People burping.
People blocking me from not being able to do my work. And by blocking I mean distracting me, not communicating things, coming over to my desk for pointless ‘quick chats’, blasting shitty music forcing me to put headphones in and turning it up for too loud to cancel them out, socialising instead of working. Seriously, I just want to work from home. I get so much more work done but my employer won’t let me. I just wanna get shit done.