How to deal with overenthusiastic colleagues?
Discussion
dibbers006 said:
We've all worked with them.
The... I don't sleep much / don't have kids / am a nightowl / can't manage a work-life balance so commit to 14xhour days etc.
What are the tactics to employ when you have that eager puppy alongside who constantly works and devalues everyone elses contribution by simply working all the hours under the sun.
If anything, they often burn out faster, and are redoing a lot of work because they rush it through / are under so much pressure they must do the overtime, must finish for a clean desk in the morning etc etc.
But whether their overwork is of a ratio value or not, they still have a habit of 'looking busy'.
Ideally anyone above has their number, but interested to hear other experiences of Captain Commitment.
I am not sure the answer but ever since COVID I have seen an increasing number of signatures with 'I work flexibly at a time that suits me, please do not feel the need to respond immediately' or some other sThe... I don't sleep much / don't have kids / am a nightowl / can't manage a work-life balance so commit to 14xhour days etc.
What are the tactics to employ when you have that eager puppy alongside who constantly works and devalues everyone elses contribution by simply working all the hours under the sun.
If anything, they often burn out faster, and are redoing a lot of work because they rush it through / are under so much pressure they must do the overtime, must finish for a clean desk in the morning etc etc.
But whether their overwork is of a ratio value or not, they still have a habit of 'looking busy'.
Ideally anyone above has their number, but interested to hear other experiences of Captain Commitment.
t. Most of these people I know to be the masters of wasting time when they were in the office: getting involved with meetings not much to do with them and lots of chatter/micro managing. The people who were efficient before rarely have these signatures for some reason...(Yes, I appreciate it is great to be able to take an extra long lunch and work a bit later but I have the suspicion lots of it is 'guilt emails'...)
dibbers006 said:
Ah yes, the complete opposite of the eager beavers.
Those suddenly with the freedom (and assumed power) of home work.
Who make a big song and dance when they are working but are mysteriously quiet on the friday of a Bank Holiday.
Cc'ing every man and his dog into the smallest achievement.
Yeah, I suppose the group of people I am getting at are trying their best to appear eager but lots of people they are extremely lazy as you say (the opposite). I don't know many people truly working 4+hrs extra a day above their contracted hours (genuinely and consistently) that are not very senior roles (even then, 10 max might be more normal)Those suddenly with the freedom (and assumed power) of home work.
Who make a big song and dance when they are working but are mysteriously quiet on the friday of a Bank Holiday.
Cc'ing every man and his dog into the smallest achievement.
dibbers006 said:
We've all worked with them.
The... I don't sleep much / don't have kids / am a nightowl / can't manage a work-life balance so commit to 14xhour days etc.
What are the tactics to employ when you have that eager puppy alongside who constantly works and devalues everyone elses contribution by simply working all the hours under the sun.
.
Rip the piss out of them.The... I don't sleep much / don't have kids / am a nightowl / can't manage a work-life balance so commit to 14xhour days etc.
What are the tactics to employ when you have that eager puppy alongside who constantly works and devalues everyone elses contribution by simply working all the hours under the sun.
.
When we have had one on shift, we take the mick until they realise and start to fit in. Its an age old skill of close nit teams that seems to have been lost in the new generation for fear of hurting someone feelings but helps in the long term.
Just be careful it doesn't spiral in to bullying.
I tend to send emails at odd times, I often dip out of work early or start late during the week to do the school run and then make the hours up (and more) a couple of evenings per week where I’ll work until late (11ish).
Those evenings where nobody is pestering me are when I tend to send the admin type emails or delegate requests to my team and clear my inbox.
I don’t expect anyone else to work hours like that and certainly don’t expect any kind of immediate reply.
Those evenings where nobody is pestering me are when I tend to send the admin type emails or delegate requests to my team and clear my inbox.
I don’t expect anyone else to work hours like that and certainly don’t expect any kind of immediate reply.
I'm always on, I'm no mid twenties eager beaver, I do a job that spans multiple timezones and stakeholders, I often hand stuff out across EMEA at times that others may find odd, but that's the job I signed up for, and wouldn't have it any other way, why would you resent or want to curtail someone ?
dibbers006 said:
We've all worked with them.
The... I don't sleep much / don't have kids / am a nightowl / can't manage a work-life balance so commit to 14xhour days etc.
What are the tactics to employ when you have that eager puppy alongside who constantly works and devalues everyone elses contribution by simply working all the hours under the sun.
If anything, they often burn out faster, and are redoing a lot of work because they rush it through / are under so much pressure they must do the overtime, must finish for a clean desk in the morning etc etc.
But whether their overwork is of a ratio value or not, they still have a habit of 'looking busy'.
Ideally anyone above has their number, but interested to hear other experiences of Captain Commitment.
Just get on with your job and leave them alone to get on with theirs, now that's an idea you might want to take on board. The... I don't sleep much / don't have kids / am a nightowl / can't manage a work-life balance so commit to 14xhour days etc.
What are the tactics to employ when you have that eager puppy alongside who constantly works and devalues everyone elses contribution by simply working all the hours under the sun.
If anything, they often burn out faster, and are redoing a lot of work because they rush it through / are under so much pressure they must do the overtime, must finish for a clean desk in the morning etc etc.
But whether their overwork is of a ratio value or not, they still have a habit of 'looking busy'.
Ideally anyone above has their number, but interested to hear other experiences of Captain Commitment.
dibbers006 said:
If anything, they often burn out faster, and are redoing a lot of work because they rush it through / are under so much pressure they must do the overtime, must finish for a clean desk in the morning etc etc.
Is your problem that they work too much - or that the work they do isn't very good?The latter is a valid complaint - irrespective as to how much they do. The former...
Driver101 said:
Wills2 said:
Just get on with your job and leave them alone to get on with theirs, now that's an idea you might want to take on board.
This. Start getting into a battle with people at your work or try to undermine them and it will blow up in your face.
Understand it can be frustrating and people are idiosyncratic.
I used to work with a chap who fits the bill. He didn’t work in my team so I had no direct involvement in his work.
He was single, with limited interests outside work. He’d always be in the office past 8pm and would work at least one of the days over the weekend. He lived for work. Problem was he had zero understanding of profitability. He was producing work far beyond what was required and what was being paid for. A client requests a one page summary report which should take a few hours, he’d spend all week producing a huge report but charge for the short report that was requested.
His billings were lower than the people working their contracted hours. In the end he lost his job, they tried to manage him, but he struggled to produce what was being asked of him.
He was single, with limited interests outside work. He’d always be in the office past 8pm and would work at least one of the days over the weekend. He lived for work. Problem was he had zero understanding of profitability. He was producing work far beyond what was required and what was being paid for. A client requests a one page summary report which should take a few hours, he’d spend all week producing a huge report but charge for the short report that was requested.
His billings were lower than the people working their contracted hours. In the end he lost his job, they tried to manage him, but he struggled to produce what was being asked of him.
Cyder said:
I tend to send emails at odd times, I often dip out of work early or start late during the week to do the school run and then make the hours up (and more) a couple of evenings per week where I’ll work until late (11ish).
Those evenings where nobody is pestering me are when I tend to send the admin type emails or delegate requests to my team and clear my inbox.
I don’t expect anyone else to work hours like that and certainly don’t expect any kind of immediate reply.
Same here.Those evenings where nobody is pestering me are when I tend to send the admin type emails or delegate requests to my team and clear my inbox.
I don’t expect anyone else to work hours like that and certainly don’t expect any kind of immediate reply.
I regularly have domestic/personal/other things that need attending to during ‘office hours’ and I tend to work my fastest and most efficiently late at night, so I’ll often be ploughing though a load of work or clearing my inbox at 10/11pm at night, or sometimes for a couple of hours on a weekend.
It may give the impression to others that I’m working ‘all hours’ but that certainly isn’t my intention, nor do I do many additional hours per week.
Most weeks I probably just do my 37.5 hours, but if anything needs me to spend a bit more time to make sure it’s done, and done properly, I’ll do it.
JQ said:
I used to work with a chap who fits the bill. He didn’t work in my team so I had no direct involvement in his work.
He was single, with limited interests outside work. He’d always be in the office past 8pm and would work at least one of the days over the weekend. He lived for work. Problem was he had zero understanding of profitability. He was producing work far beyond what was required and what was being paid for. A client requests a one page summary report which should take a few hours, he’d spend all week producing a huge report but charge for the short report that was requested.
His billings were lower than the people working their contracted hours. In the end he lost his job, they tried to manage him, but he struggled to produce what was being asked of him.
Experienced similar just last year. I'd said to the person, who was getting stressed with "too much work", to focus on what's needed and leave other things alone. They just couldn't. I'd get emails asking if I'd considered x or y about something - all good questions but not critical and would likely generate a load more work. They resigned in the end as work got too much. Even on their last day they were working full throttle. It's hard to say to someone "you're working too hard" but the outcome here was someone who actually ended up unwell.He was single, with limited interests outside work. He’d always be in the office past 8pm and would work at least one of the days over the weekend. He lived for work. Problem was he had zero understanding of profitability. He was producing work far beyond what was required and what was being paid for. A client requests a one page summary report which should take a few hours, he’d spend all week producing a huge report but charge for the short report that was requested.
His billings were lower than the people working their contracted hours. In the end he lost his job, they tried to manage him, but he struggled to produce what was being asked of him.
Lord Marylebone said:
Same here.
Most weeks I probably just do my 37.5 hours, but if anything needs me to spend a bit more time to make sure it’s done, and done properly, I’ll do it.
but do you though? really?Most weeks I probably just do my 37.5 hours, but if anything needs me to spend a bit more time to make sure it’s done, and done properly, I’ll do it.
Everybody says it, everyone says 'I do whatever hours is necessary', but no one really does.
I struggle to understand how someone working in an office (pre covid) does more than 40 hours a week. IMHO they are filling the hours with meetings that they don't need to be at, and procrastination of Olympic levels. Whilst hanging around at the end of the day ensuring that they are the last to leave. Committed eh?
Most people put stuff off until they 'have' to get it done. Then maybe a long day will be required, but other than that work days are manageable well inside the contracted hours.
Maybe if you are very conscientious and manage a reasonably large department I could see that you'd have a lot to do but it's the futility of it all that gets me. The lack of meaning. It's sometimes why I think younger up and coming staff get the bigger roles because they haven't yet worked out that working in a corporate is utterly meaningless. But hey the pay and Perks are good.
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