I got in trouble at work because I sent an email to my manager about some new servers that were being installed, but didn’t appear we had access to the management console. I let her know the entire team will need access so we could properly support the machines. I was pulled into a conversation… How dare I presume my direct manager who only managed my team, have any idea what we do!
(Lost all respect for her that exact moment)
For documenting the accurate number of hours I worked, in a teaching lab. The department head didn’t believe that the lab I taught (as a grad student) needed the hours it was given. Keep in mind, I had to do everything for the lab: create the lab manual, design lab activities, get ethics approval, create lab lectures, setup and clean up the lab, and do all the marking.
Turns out, the department used that document to pay me. This was never explained to me, usually we just get paid the set amount of hours, and I was of the understanding that this was just an audit of my hours to justify what I was getting. Turns out I worked about an extra 30% of the hours set for that lab for the semester. As a result, the department couldn’t fully pay me until the following year because they didn’t have it in their budget to pay for that extra 30%.
I ended up getting an ear full from the department head, but he backed off when I told him I was simply doing what he asked and that I wasn’t inflating the numbers to get higher pay, since I had no idea they intended to pay me based on that audit.
Perhaps it’s coincidence, or perhaps it was petty revenge, but later that year at gathering of the faculty and grad students he announced that I had won a major scholarship (one that would’ve paid pretty well for a grad student), and had me stand up in the crowd along with the other winners. Then, immediately after the assembly, he runs up to our lab office to tell me he read the sheet wrong and I hadnt actually won the scholarship, he just read the wrong name. I spent the next few days shamefully having to explain to everyone that, no I didn’t get the award.
*edit: spelling mistakes.
I was originally hired as an Emergency Medical Technician by a hospital. After a few years the local Fire Department took over EMS. The only thing that changed is that the taxpayers had to pay to have our ambulances repainted and we all got new uniforms.
One day while driving my partner and I get flagged down; the man’s truck had caught fire. We could see visible flames between the cab and the box. My partner grabbed the fire extinguisher on the console and I ran around to the back and got the fire extinguisher from the rear compartment. We doused the flames before the engine arrived. We made our report on the radio and went back to the station to restock.
We were later told that the fire extinguishers should only be used if our vehicle was on fire, and not for civilians.
So, we were supposed to sit in Fire uniforms, in a Fire vehicle, and not put out a fire.
I’d demand that in writing.
I have never heard anyone being scolded for that but then again this is common sense from where i come from so everyone sorts recipients by importance. Edit: I don’t get what is so outrageous e.g. this order boss > colleagues > intern
Common sense? Certainly not. I never do that. I just add people as they come to my mind. Sometimes I order by how important the mail might be for them (which is roughly the same thing, usually). If I had to work in an environment where people are so self-absorbed that they determine their worth from the order of the names in the carbon copy recipients list of an email, I’d look for another place to work in.
So if you send email to the owner of the company and to your colleagues on same level you put boss at last spot if they come to your mind as last?
BTw read what i wrote, again. There is no mention of it being mandatory in my post . It’s similar thing to as when we used to hold door to next person so they don’t get smashed by it. edit> I don’t get what’s so enraging on voluntarily ordering recipient in the mail boss > colleagues > intern.Because it is inane bullshit. You receive the email no matter where on the array your fucking name is. It is complete and utter sociopathy to enforce hierarchical chest-thumping on it. Only people who’s work is so without value that they need to source it from pissing on others “below” them would care about it.
So if you send email to the owner of the compane and to your colleagues on same level you put boss at last spot if they come to your mind as last?
Exactly. That’s how I always did it and will keep doing it. Anything else sounds absolutely weird to me.
There is no mention of it being mandatory in my post
There kind of is. Because you make it sound like it’s not a written rule per se but still very much a social convention that people kind of expect you to follow.
It’s similar thing to as when we used to hold door to next person so they don’t get smashed by it. boss > colleagues > intern.
So this is where it gets really weird. What is that even supposed to mean? How is the position in the company relevant to holding doors? If there’s an intern behind me, I hold his door open. If it’s the boss I do the same. Just like I’d expect both of them to do the same for me and each other. What is your list even supposed to mean? You don’t hold doors for interns? Your boss doesn’t do it for you? What kind of sociopathic hellhole of a system do you work in? Do you participate in that?
I once worked in a company where my supervisor demanded I’d prepare coffee for him and completely lost it when I wanted to discuss how exactly that was part of my job as a researcher. His point was that his boss had always expected his orders to be followed, no questions asked, and he’d expect the same thing from me. Needless to say I left that fucker as soon as I had another contract available (and never prepared his fucking coffee). This kind of hierarchical thinking may be appropriate for the army but certainly not for an ordinary company.
No there’s nothing mandatory and i said i have never seen anyone get scolded for not doing it. It’s just common sense , it;'s being thought in communication courses etc just like when picking up phone you first say greetings, say company name, then your name. Because caller usually knows company and greetings but is having hard time catching your name if it;s first thing to they get “shot” at them upon you answering the phone call.
Last thing is typo from smartphone, holding door and order of recipient in email doesn’t belong to the same sentence. .
there’s nothing mandatory
It’s just common sense
It’s bewildering to me how you don’t see the contradiction here. If you say it’s common sense then it’s so ingrained into your work culture that it might not be mandatory but still very well part of the unwritten laws governing how you work together. Not being scolded for not following it does not mean that people will not talk about it behind your back. These rules are the foundation of mobbing and bullying. None of that is an official rule but it can very well be considered mandatory if you say it’s common sense to follow it.
it;'s being thought in communication courses etc just like when picking up phone you first say greetings, say company name, then your name.
I was never taught any of this and I also don’t do that. Company name first? Never did that and never had anybody mention to me that I should change my behaviour in that regard.
Everything you say sounds weird as fuck to me. Would you mind telling me what country you’re from?
Wrong. Boss ALWAYS goes in the “To” field regardless of who the message is addressed to. You don’t want them to receive a copy of the email rather than the original! /s
I got in trouble for eating chips too loudly. One of my coworkers complained to management and they had my supervisor lecture me about respecting boundaries in the workplace. The thing is that the supervisor thought it was stupid too but he still had to do it.
Meh, I can understand it to an extent. Depends on the severity.
Someone at my workplace, rather than having a meal in their break, just keep crunching raw carrots at their desk for hours on end. I don’t think I’d complain to management if I was sitting close, but I’d sure as hell ask to be moved somewhere far, far away from the carrot nutcase.
Just use Bcc instead
I was written up for being too pessimistic. It was about 8 years ago, I was a project manager at a small retail company. I was in a small meeting with my boss and the owner of the company. I was telling the owner all the possible risks associated with this new project I was given, the major one being that we didn’t have enough time to complete everything by the owner imposed deadline. Calling out risks is literally one of the main responsibilities of being a project manager. Also the meeting went fine, no one got upset, it seemed everyone understood. A few days later I get called into HRs office with a write up for basically being a Debbie Downer. I was told to be more positive with my updates and stay away from any bad news. I was in total shock! A few days later I put my notice in and found a new job making twice as much. So it all worked out in the end. Thanks for the motivation Todd!
hr being involved sounds like middle management butt hurt.
in most companies formal interactions, like writing people up, have to go through HR. Tha you can write people up in the US for such silly things is truly remarkable though. In my country writing someone up is only valid, if they violated the terms of their contract or disobeyed proper and legal procedures. While i guess you could write “has to be positive all the time” in the contract or company regulations it would not hold in court.
I was interviewing for a job as a movie theater manager.
In my neck of the woods there’s a limited number of movie theaters, and everyone knows everyone else. So I was interviewing for the job when I’m told
“we heard through the grapevine that after you were fired from your last job you broke into the office and did something unspeakable on the carpet.”
I still ended up getting the job.
This is why I detest towns.
I mean, this was when I was living in a suburb of Cleveland OH. it’s not really a town thing so much as it’s an industry thing. I spent 20 years running movie theaters. I worked for all the chains, both national and local. Between managers and projectionists, everyone knew everyone else.
Cleveland OH
Where is that?
Which is where exactly?
I guess just the fact that there are mails with six people in cc is an indication for how bad the order of command is.
There was a super insecure manager a bunch of years ago. I didn’t report to him, but occasionally worked alongside him.
I had been working with one of our customers for a few weeks on a feature they had requested. It was something out-of-the-box, so understandably, if you didn’t know the context, it would be rather confusing.
Manager is set to run a meeting with them, and asks for my help as the technical expert. No problem. We get into the meeting, and the customer asks some technical questions. Before I can get a word in edgewise, Manager proceeds to pull the most inane shit out of his ass for a good 10 minutes–clearly knowing nothing that’s going on, but not letting that stop him. After the customer is sufficiently confused, and Manager is starting to look a little panicked, he finally turns to me.
I figure I’ll try to save him some face, so I start my reply with, “I’m not entirely sure, but are you asking…”, repeating their question back. The customer is clearly relieved that I know what they’re asking, and I provide the answers. Crisis averted! The meeting ends and I head back to my desk feeling good.
Until Manager storms up to my desk and proceeds to scream at me, “IF YOU’RE NOT ABSOLUTELY SURE ABOUT SOMETHING, DON’T ANSWER! NONE OF THIS ‘I’M NOT SURE’ BULLSHIT! NEXT TIME THINK ABOUT WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE FOR US!” and storms off. Nice projection, asshole.
I was new enough to not have the presence of mind to respond, so nothing came of it (though he was demoted not long after–possibly the shittiest manager I’ve ever known) so it all worked out in the end.
My take away from the “you have to be sure” projection part tells me he thought he knew what he was talking about
