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  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Sunday July 26 2020, @12:44PM (5 children)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Sunday July 26 2020, @12:44PM (#1026552)

    assumes everyone is extrovert because all the managers are

    Kind of a job description for manager, to be honest.

    We're an R&D shop with ~100 employees - there's a dedicated "engagement officer" who spends a good bit of his time/effort on "programs to bring us all together" - and he has about 3 Lieutenants who help out. They're basically licensed to spam one e-mail a day to promote engagement, and they have setup weekly meetings for people who want them.

    I used to firmly believe: "if I'm in a meeting, I will be 100% 'there' - engaged, computer closed, cell in pocket" at least as long as something resembling meaningful content is happening. Now, I'm becoming much more of a multi-tasker, since most of these meetings tend to have about 5% or less content of interest/value to/from me - but, I "appear" as present just as much as the rest of the attendees.

    --
    🌻🌻 [google.com]
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    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 1) by anubi on Sunday July 26 2020, @11:49PM (3 children)

    by anubi (2828) on Sunday July 26 2020, @11:49PM (#1026852) Journal

    Frustrates me. Wastes my time on trivial matters. My own feeling is my own stuff. It has to be right. Or it's worse than useless. I know what it's gotta do. And having a bunch of managers around is about as helpful as having a tax return due.

    If they worked for me, fine, but they work for someone else, and all they are is yet another faction that needs its ass kissed, lest it write me up for having a bad attitude as grounds for termination.

    If I didn't give a damn, it would be a lot easier.

    --
    "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
    • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday July 27 2020, @12:12AM

      by JoeMerchant (3937) on Monday July 27 2020, @12:12AM (#1026862)

      And having a bunch of managers around is about as helpful as having a tax return due.

      I find that depends on the size (and makeup) of the organization. Managers' best function is shielding their workers from the next level of management's scrutiny. The best manager (in my book) will get you your raises and promotions as you want them, keep your interactions with +1, +2 and higher levels of management down to a few minutes per quarter, and make sure you have everything you need to do the job properly, especially time.

      I did quit giving a damn about a lot of things about 5 years ago - I used to be VP of R&D at a small shop, had to have my hand in every aspect of everything. Now, in a bigger place, I've learned to kick back and let other departments do their jobs as they will - if that's poorly, it's not really my problem.

      If you're kissing management's ass, they're doing it way wrong (but that's all too common.)

      --
      🌻🌻 [google.com]
    • (Score: 1) by Sulla on Tuesday July 28 2020, @12:57AM (1 child)

      by Sulla (5173) on Tuesday July 28 2020, @12:57AM (#1027441) Journal

      Wow how could you? What do you mean you don't want to participate in the weekly or biweekly potluck or the extra 15+ min tacked onto every meeting for just chatting about the weather and our weekends?

      I'm all for getting to know the people in my unit who i work with extensively, it is useful for finding strong and weak points to better divide the load effeciently. I just don't like all the extra stuff that isn't value added. My managers allow it all to be counted as work time, but counting something as work time doesn't reduce the number of things I need to get done.

      --
      Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by DECbot on Thursday July 30 2020, @04:27PM

        by DECbot (832) on Thursday July 30 2020, @04:27PM (#1028754) Journal

        Not sure if it would work for you--nor that you could try it anytime soon, but I would be tempted to pile food on the plate, eat single most appetizing dish on the plate, find the person who made it and complement them, get seconds of the finished dish, and then excuse myself from the social event cause I have an urgent $THING that has to be done and I'm not sure if I'll have it ready and working to my expectations by the due date. Then take the plate back to my desk and enjoy lunch at my leisure. If you're repeatedly complementing the same person, next time find someone else that is easy to smalltalk to during the consumption of one dish before excusing yourself from the event. Then, you will appear to attempt to socialize but really do have other tasks that need to get done. That also tends to get the extrovert socialites to recognize that time is getting wasted and they should wrap it up and get back to their tasks.

        --
        cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
  • (Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Wednesday August 05 2020, @11:32AM

    by PiMuNu (3823) on Wednesday August 05 2020, @11:32AM (#1031643)

    Looks guilty. Clicks submit and closes laptop.