Final week we mentioned territorial conduct at work and listed here are 12 of my favourite tales you shared.
1. The Rolodex
I labored with a supervisor that stored buyer info in a Rolodex to stop anybody else from making calls to them. And I imply a basic Rolodex, the large spinning factor that had index playing cards with hand written notes. It was stored in a locked drawer, so if the supervisor was sick or on trip, then no calls have been made and no cash was made.
She utterly refused to enter the knowledge into the CRM, or to permit anybody to else to enter the knowledge. She even tried to stroll out with the Rolodex on her final day.
2. The teabags
I labored at an organization that offered free filtered water and low. Teabags, nonetheless, have been stored by the workplace supervisor in his desk, and also you have been required to indicate your used teabag to get a brand new one.
I’m not a tea drinker, so I by no means came upon how, say, a brand new worker might get their first teabag.
3. The copiers
After I first began out in my business 20-something years in the past, it was a small tech division of three. I, as an mid-20s feminine, was grateful to have two form 50s/60s gents as my mentors. One was our boss, and the opposite was our community man. A couple of 12 months into my tenure, I observed {that a} constant concern we stored having was that nobody knew what the title of their nearest copier was after they tried to print. I proposed we modified the names of the copiers from “Copier 289729” to “BldgX-Room123-Copier” in our weekly assembly.
Instantly the community man was livid. He hated this concept. It meant that every time we moved the copiers, we must replace the title. (We moved 5 – 6 of them a 12 months.) Boss agreed with me and I applied the change. It was a powerful success with the staff, and we obtained a variety of reward for making this transformation.
However the community man stored bringing it up … first weekly for some time, then month-to-month, and settled on 2-3 occasions a 12 months . He nonetheless hated it and thought it was a horrible concept. It didn’t have an effect on him in any respect, thoughts you. I managed the copiers. He arrange the unique system 15 years in the past, however my predecessor after which I had been managing them for the final 5+ years after I proposed the change.
Three years after we modified the copier names, our boss retired. I used to be the interim whereas they slowly and unsuccessfully seemed for a substitute, after which after two years I used to be employed because the substitute. The division expanded. Any time we employed a brand new particular person, he pulled them apart and — with out naming names or detailing the historical past — would “pop quiz” the brand new hires by saying, “If you happen to had the selection, what would you title the copiers? ‘Copier 289729’ or ‘BldgX-Room23-Copier’?” He was not comfortable that all of them agreed with me.
Come to search out out, he didn’t restrict his quizzing to our division. He had additionally shaken down all of the division managers, together with any new managers employed over time, and requested them the identical query. After I left that org to go to greener pastures, he additionally sprung it on my substitute. It had been 15 years since we modified the copier names and he by no means let it go.
What made it more unusual was that in any other case he was a really pleasant and useful man.
4. The toilet
I labored at a household firm that took up the entire ground of an workplace constructing. For some cause, there have been no loos within the workplace. All 60 staff needed to stroll to a different ground to make use of a public restroom.
Nicely, I finally discovered that there have been “govt loos” just for The Household. It was the wildest energy play. 4 guys took the mens and womens loos and transformed them into a large, glamorous lavatory for their very own private use. All us plebians have been informed that there simply wasn’t a toilet on the entire ground because of some weird constructing design flaw and we needed to take the steps to the general public use loos within the foyer.
5. The contacts
I had a boss one time who made me arrange a LinkedIn after which insisted that I run by any contact together with her earlier than I accepted any connection. Which was completely nobody. I couldn’t make any connections in business or she would accuse me of job looking and freak out.
After I lastly wised as much as her abuse, the very first thing I did was add/accepted a bunch of individuals as “take again my identification” second.
6. The visitors cone
Years in the past, I labored with a visitors cone hoarder. We didn’t have assigned parking, however we had a parking zone that was acceptable for the quantity of individuals within the constructing. But, we had one lady who stored a kind of massive cones in her automobile. After I say cone, it was a dirty, beat up orange cone that she confiscated from a building website.
She was one of many earliest arrivers so naturally she would get one of many coveted entrance row areas. When she would depart for an errand or for lunch, she would put the cone within the house stopping anybody from getting that alternative spot.
It drove everybody loopy with the entitlement, but the CEO wouldn’t put his foot down as a result of this lady was a poisonous shrew and he didn’t need to take care of it. I finally left for lots of causes that have been a results of weak management. The cone state of affairs was simply one of many signs.
7. The fridges
My previous division had a workers room for 2 distinct groups, one bigger basic one and a smaller specialist one. There was one fridge, however the smaller group felt there wasn’t sufficient house for them in order that they, between themselves, personally saved up cash to purchase a second fridge only for them.
Utilizing the Gray Fridge and Not The Black One is a key level in induction excursions for brand spanking new workers members within the different group, as placing your milk within the black fridge is a assured solution to have your stuff thrown away. If somebody is discovered to be utilizing the unsuitable fridge, they’re lectured after which ignored by the whole specialist group for the remainder of their time within the division.
8. The van
Two departments shared a pair of labor vans for driving to program websites. Earlier than I used to be employed, apparently issues with Mr. O (from the opposite division) at all times having the van led to the creation of a sign-out calendar.
Mr. O would signal out one van for on daily basis on the calendar, no matter programming duties. So everybody else would signal out the opposite one, and if it wasn’t accessible would go to Mr. O and ask if it was okay to make use of “his” van (to, ya know, do truly work duties). He was a retired instructor who had come out of retirement to do that job, very gentle and “beneficiant.” His reply was at all times, “Oh positive, child, that’s high-quality.”
Years later, I talked with some individuals who had labored in his division. He insisted on driving one colleague to her packages and selecting her up, so he might hold the van. And apparently each morning he would drive to work in his personal car, then get within the work van to drive to get himself espresso, then drive again. WTH?
9. The parking spots
I as soon as labored in a longish constructing with entrances on both finish. Individuals tended to park by the door they used. However just one finish of the parking zone had timber, so through the summer time individuals who may often use the west door would park on the east facet of the lot so they might park within the shade. Individuals who have been officed on the east finish have been *livid.* These have been their timber. How dare you park below them and steal the shade that rightfully belonged to them?
10. The pods
My first job out of faculty had cubicles arrange in units of 4 the place you’d have low partitions inside your pod and excessive partitions exterior of that pod. My boss, who labored just a few pods over, determined that every time somebody moved out, he ought to transfer in. Each time anybody else left, he put desktoys on it to assert it, and whoever allotted desks (possibly him?) assumed these have been already taken (there was stuff on them in spite of everything) and put new individuals elsewhere.
By the point I obtained there, he’d claimed a complete four-desk pod for his personal megadesk lined in stuff. I don’t know if he used any of them, however they have been nice for displaying his many tchotchkes.
11. The ability leases
I labored with somebody who used to handle facility leases – weddings, bridal showers, and conferences – at my museum. These tasks have been taken away from him as a result of he had little interest in them and had a lot work he couldn’t handle them if he wished to. They have been assigned to me.
He stored these tasks on his LinkedIn. Not solely did board members who adopted his account thought that our rental program success was because of his efforts, however he incessantly used his account to advertise our rental program. Which might have been pretty if he had truly forwarded the inquiries to me or responded to them in any respect.
I requested if he might edit his LinkedIn as a result of it was legitimately creating hardship, however he refused and mentioned it was unlawful for the group to observe his social media exercise, and our board believed him.
So during my time there, I simply needed to settle for the truth that we’d get these horribly detrimental evaluations as a result of he wouldn’t change his LinkedIn.
12. The reagent
Somebody in a lab I as soon as labored in had an indication above their lab bench: “Certainly one of these reagents isn’t what it says on the label.” It stopped the stealing.