The bosses are gone, now what?
Should I go gallivanting around or work?
What have you guys and gals done when your bosses have left for vacation?
by
sgoman5674
asked 2 years ago
I was the boss, so this is hard to answer. I can tell you that there were always tattlers, so you might want to consider that in your efforts today. Trust no one.
It used to just crack me up, the number of people that would want to "just tell me something, in private" that would turn out to be "did you know what Joe did while you were gone?" Please note. I use the name Joe as a place holder, and because troublemakers are often named Joe. Well, unless they're named Jolene, anyway.
She is right. My boss it out, but there is still someone to narc on you. The one to tattle on me is the idiot engineer who I am still trying to figure out HOW he graduated from Texas A&M and got his PE. I can't wait until my boss is back, I am getting stressed out by his absence.
Enjoy the reduction in micro-management, nagging, squeaky-wheel oiling, and do some of the things that really need doing
@tygerdave: Its funny that your boss micro-manages. Mine does the exact opposite. I have immense freedom here when he's around... When he leaves, I have one particular person breathing down my back... I much prefer when my boss isn't away...
And I'm not sure about you all, but there is some decent goofing-off in office whether our supervisors are here or not. :P
We goof off all the time in my office. It is so nice to work in my office.
I have one of those USB missile launchers attached to my PC. When my boss first saw it, he asked me if it worked. As proof, I shot him with it.
@sgoman5674: That's how things are in my section of the office. And my boss just thinks its funny.
The only real rule is not to disturb someone if they have headphones on or are in a meeting. I can respect that. :P
Order in Chinese and enjoy the time to REALLY get things done. We always cranked up the tunes just a little bit louder.
But by all means, get something accomplished so the little tattle pants won't have a leg to stand on.
have you noticed the ones that love the boss being gone the most are the ones who going running to them when they get back?
@gigi889: Actually, even though I don't know who was or was not happiest while I was traveling, I can tell you that the ones who came running with stories were often the least productive, and the most likely to have actually done things that I didn't much care for while I wasn't monitoring. I'm sure that this isn't a surprise to anyone, either.
@shrdlu: Would have figured the same, but couldn't confirm it without experience.
(Aside: PMing you with two questions, hope that's all right. Feel free to delete or ignore if it ain't.)
@gwintner: Anyone is always welcome to PM me, with the caveat that you'll probably need to tell me here that you've done so. I look at Wooterville once a day to see if what they have is something that I want (you never know, sometimes it happens), and only check for PMs if the mood strikes me. It strikes less often than once a week, mostly, so what you did is precisely the right thing to do. In addition, I still have notification turned on for if someone mentions me by name (because I'm a stunning masochist, since it ends up going to two email addresses).
[Edit] Post again when you've actually done it. I just checked now, but will be gone for a while or so.
I concur with the do work and relax philosophy. When I used to consult, when the client was away, it was much more about having fewer meetings to attend than having less supervision. I think I worked later on several occasions, simply because I was taking a more leisurely place (and I was more relaxed too).
Having managed a team before, I have been disappointed in my team members "not tattling" on a guy who had evidently been napping frequently during work. The guy's performance was poor regardless, and we had to reassign him, not even knowing that this was happening. What irked me wasn't so much his failure to contribute to the project, but the fact that our project was behind and his teammates were putting in overtime and cancelling personal plans to help get things done. When the consequences of not working are your own, that's one thing -- when you're hurting the other people in your team, that's another story.
I can see both sides of the coin on this one... I've been the leader who had to reprimand, punish, etc., which is not fun. I never minded funny, harmless pranks, but just wasting time is rather dumb.
On the flip-side, I've a long, long history with many a ruckus attributed to my name (whether or not I was actually the culprit)... One of my personal favourites was the classic "Office" tribute of putting the stapler in a bowl of green Jell-o. Duct-taping all the stuff to the ceiling is fun (don't do it with furniture though - gorilla glue apparently doesn't come off easily). Wrapping everything in your boss's office in wrapping paper (or newspaper, because it's cheaper) is a really fun one. A really cool one that requires a ton of work, but I did it long ago for a supervisor's birthday, was to transform his cubicle into a castle, by use of styrofoam and cardboards box panels, compliments of a nearby FedEx office's recycling bin.
My thought is have fun, within reason :) Keep it light.
@arosiriak: Well whenever we get a package that contains "Bags of Texas Air" we put those in his desk. He doesn't have a cubicle so that won't work.
I have rotated his display on his monitor so everything was upside down. That was funny.
I thought about throwing pencils into the ceiling above his desk, but I don't want them fall out onto his head and stab him. I did that in high school in my English class. My teacher was not happy with me.
@arosiriak: We would've gotten a whopper of "waste and fraud" lecture for abusing the office supplies in such a manner. My boss was a very strict "by the book" kind of woman. She loved me like a little sister but, darn it, she was born with a stick in her backside. Worse thing I ever did to her was string every single paper clip of hers together and then snake them back into her paper clip holder.
Her office windows opened on to the rest of the office. We'd go in early every morning closing them just enough so she could not quite see what monkeyshines were going on. About half way thru the day, out she'd come with one eyebrow raised, giving us all the "I know what you've done, you rascals," look and open them back up.
We tend to keep things a little crazy around here, but make sure to keep the time wasted in check. Here's a few things from the last few weeks :)
"Team-Building Time" - Printable Board Game: http://tinyurl.com/2e3a9pb
Dead Ducky: http://tinyurl.com/272nefb
Co-Worker Robot Man: http://tinyurl.com/26e8sks
Co-Worker Welcoming Committee: http://tinyurl.com/24j4uzt
Co-Worker Welcoming Committee Pt. 2: http://tinyurl.com/27l5hj3
Co-Worker Send-Off: http://tinyurl.com/2dmjj2t
Nothing too insane, but we do like to mess with each other :)
three words - Rubber Band Wars
(all shots have to be banked off something, no shots above mid-chest, and no full force shots)
We tend to find rubber bands in the strangest of places.
@theoneill555: I like it. I'm borrowing that idea. Thanks!
I'm a complete slave driver. Unfortunately for the employees below me, I never take vacation.
@mmaurice01: Before I started working from home exclusively, the cubefarm I was in had some nerf-style darts that floated around. Every so often, you would hear the thwfpt of a dart flying overhead, and sometimes you might even get hit. It was fun, for a while, then someone important got hit by mistake. Sadly, I did not see the darts again.
In terms of the original question, and this isn't directed at the OP since their office / job doesn't sound oppressive, if you feel like mischief beyond a harmless prank or a brief nerf / rubber band war, be it not working or working significantly less, then maybe the real question for you should be "Should I look for a new job?" If not having your boss around is a huge relief, then start looking for a new boss or a way to get away from your current one. If you might be able to work from home, show your boss how much better you work without him!
@apfrehm: While I can respect your statements, I love my job and my office. We're all good-hearted, joking, laughing kind of people. We just like to have fun. So, please don't think that just because we goof off a little that we must be unsatisfied in our jobs...
I do however agree that if you dislike your boss that much, it may be time to rethink things...
@apfrehm: No I love my boss. His family and mine are fairly close and the atmosphere is really great at work.
The only thing I can't stand about the job is the commute, about 1 hour and 15 minutes each way.
@sgoman5674: That's exactly why I work from home. The office environment was great, but my bosses are in a different state and a different country, and my office is a 45-60 minute drive without traffic, and nothing I do can't be done remotely.
Comments on the job change weren't directed at you or mmaurice01, and I'm certainly not against goofing off a bit at work. Happy workers are (often) productive workers. More directed towards anyone that feels a huge amount of relief if their boss is out sick for the day.
@apfrehm: have you read this book? http://www.amazon.com/Remarkable-Boost-Morale-Improve-Results/dp/0786866020/ref=pd_cp_b_1 excellent book about having fun at work. Relax it won't kill you.
@lavikinga: I've got no issue with the people who have legitimate concerns and don't care for the extremes of frivolity... As I said, I can totally see where many people would have a fit about being wasteful. My ventures typically involved almost nothing of the office's supplies, so I was not to be blamed for any squandering of company resources. And I typically pulled the pranks off-the-clock.
The only real exceptions would be the rubber band wars... Those were typically very spontaneous, and as often as not, the bosses were totally in on those :)
Now the work situation is such that I'm still the one inciting things, but I'm far more justified in doing so. And I'd have to agree that a happy worker is far more likely to do good work than an unhappy one. Just keep it all within reason, and all is good.
@arosiriak: OH! It wasn't meant as a criticism. I was in charge of office supplies and would get so much grief for "waste" amongst our fellow workers. Busy office used a lot of stuff. It got so bad, we finally began bringing own own crap from home.
I wish I could be a fly on the wall when they finally move the heavy all filing cabinets we had where I used to work. I know for a fact there must be well over a 1000 rubber bands behind them.
Every one in the office knew any bent over body=target. Had a lot of broad bottomed women where I worked. You could call it a target rich environment ;)
I really wish I could show you the memo that got sent out at work (years ago) about rubber band shooting. The memo came from the division head, and stated how terribly shocked he was that such behavior was occurring, and that it must cease immediately. Of course...
1. The memo was a direct result of a non-combatant being struck. Oh, and that NC was a visiting VP...
2. The person firing the offending missile had never ever fired one before, and came no where near his attended target.
3. The rest of us hollered the second he let fly (we didn't know who it had hit at the time), and he got hit with a barrage from all directions.
4. Uh-oh. We all noticed that someone we didn't know had been hit.
On the other hand, the person who taught me how to shoot? Yep. You guessed it. The division head, and author of the memo.
I loved rubber band shooting. I have more stories, but I'll stop for now.
@shrdlu: I never mastered the single hand shooting. Always a Two-hand method girl, but baby, those things could sting if I pulled just right.
@lavikinga: Single hand shooting is for people that want to be shot many times while they try to reload. You're doing it right, in my book.
@shrdlu: I don't know about that... I had some good rapid-fire bouts in which one-handed shooting definitely fit the bill just fine. The aiming was always far easier and more accurate too. I have not had enough rubber band wars in my life of late... Guess what's gonna happen tomorrow! :)
I like to sneak up on the dogs while they are sleeping and tickle their paws. Sometimes they twitch several times before waking up. Then we all have a good laugh, do the happy dance, then straight back to work!
@faughtey: I do that to my dog. I can go for about 5 minutes before she fully wakes up.
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