Avoiding work
I started this post on March 17th, 2018. I wonder what was happening and what I was thinking at the time … ?
In the spirit of openness and sharing, please comment below on the ways you’ve seen other people avoiding work or shirking responsibilities.
My dad told me of a manager he knew, who would walk around with a pad and pen, looking focused and busy. Most people would pass him by and leave him to his task as he busied himself around the office, unknowing that it was all a ruse – he had nowhere to be or nothing to do. If he looked busy, people would think him busy and leave him alone.
That is avoiding work. What about you … what have you seen (or done)?
Here are a few replies through Twitter:
You mean, like finding ironing fascinating when there’s boring stuff to be done?
— Emma Duke-Williams (@Emmadw) May 29, 2018
Eat the frog https://t.co/h0rOff02BK
— James Clay (@jamesclay) May 29, 2018
I think this post has taken on a new meaning in light of the lockdown, the global pandemic and many many people working at home in the largest work-at-home experiment ever. Whereas before we had colleagues and managers observing our behaviour and attendance, we are now (hopefully) being trusted my those same people to be performing as needed without the physical observations.
Note: I hope you are being trusted to work at home, and that the oversight or micromanagement or technology solutions to monitor activity are not being used against you … that we are all in a results-orientated environment instead of process or attendance.
Here are a couple of articles about not working at work: