To think this is petty

[MrsKQ]

I work in a office and pop and see my friend in her office probably once a day for 5 minutes.
I don’t get a break in the morning or afternoon, only my lunch break. I only share an office with one other colleague who I don’t have much in common with.
We are not allowed to use our phones which is fine and most websites on the internet are blocked including the news.
I recently got pulled up for going to my friends office for a chat.
AIBU to wonder why this is such an issue if my work is getting done and at a good standard?
I can’t see the problem of having 5 minutes away from my computer and speaking to a colleague?!!

If you want to chat to a friend then do it at dinner time!

If you are visiting on your lunch break then no big deal but on work time its a no.

Sounds a miserable place to work
Op but is it really 5 minutes though?

They don’t sound like a company I’d want to work for. Incredibly petty and not the best way to get the most out of your staff. I encourage my staff (who work from home) to meet up for coffee and cake with peers once a fortnight or so. Traveling is paid.

Pulled up by who? Do they also time your loo breaks?

'Work wise' sadly, yes you are being unreasonable.

So, so miserable though and work places like this will not see much loyalty or longevity from their staff.

Probably some piss taker ruined it for everyone else previously.

Penggg - the petty thing is this has come from the MD and senior manager.
I honestly think I am more proactive when I get up stretch my legs and have a chat for 5 minutes. Sitting behind the same desk for 8 hours is pretty miserable!

Technically, as you say you are working with a computer, you should be taking regular shirt breaks away from your computer. See guidance from HSE:
“The HSE suggest that short, frequent breaks are better than less frequent longer breaks, so a 5-10 minute break after 50-60 minutes is better than a 20 minute break every 3 hours.”
However, in an employers eyes these short breaks should be spent doing other work that does not require a computer (filing/photocopying etc).
Honestly, never worked anywhere that has been that strict about not allowing a few minutes down time outside of a lunch break!
Do any of your co-workers smoke?!

It doesn't sound much fun where you work. But is it really 5 minutes?

I've got a friend who's always complaining she's being told off by her boss for chatting too much and she's regularly outraged by it. From the sounds of things she barely does anything but chat. I'd never say that to her but it I'm sure it wouldn't be such an issue if it wasn't a regular thing.

You know you're getting your work done and your boss sounds like a stick in the mud. But sometimes these things seem different depending on one's perspective.

Hmm.

The thing is, when you go to see her, is it really only five minutes?

Are you chatting/laughing and distracting others who may be working?

Do you always go to see her? Never the other way round? If she’s behind on her work has she blamed it on you interrupting her?

These things are often about perception not necessarily about what is actually happening.

Stretching your legs by going the long way round to the loo, going for a drink etc are all fine, but if a particular manager passes you at a certain time every day and sees you leaning in your friend’s desk chatting you could see how it could be misinterpreted.

I’d keep the chats to lunchtime for now, keep your head down and find another way to clear your head.

In my experience, there would be no problem with a hard working focussed employee having a regular five minute chat with another colleague.

A renowned shirker with poor productivity would be another matter entirely.

Sounds miserable. If it's really only 5 minutes I honestly don't see the problem if you're generally quite productive.

My work set up is the same as yours and it’s also frowned upon. Which is fine, you’re there to work etc etc but it’s really petty and miserable too. I have a lot of internal ‘talking to people’ to do in my job (not as formal as meetings but lots of communication), I tend to do this face to face where I can do I can get out of my office for a bit!

Could it be that your friend has complained about you distracting her? Is it really just 5 minutes?

So lucky my as you are doing it on your lunch break-I assume this is what you meat-I don't see any issue.

It does sound pretty bad, this is not an advice but my experience, I would look for another job frankly. If a company starts being petty about 5mn, it means I arrive on the dot and leave on the dot, take all legal breaks but that's not a life. I hate being treated like a school kid.

In the meantime, there's nothing you can do apart taking all your lunch break!

If it is only five minutes, then unreasonable. And could it have been about a work related matter?

Sounds like a miserable place to work.

I work in a office and pop and see my friend in her office probably once a day for 5 minutes. I don’t get a break in the morning or afternoon, only my lunch break. I only share an office with one other colleague who I don’t have much in common with.

We are not allowed to use our phones which is fine and most websites on the internet are blocked including the news. I recently got pulled up for going to my friends office for a chat. AIBU to wonder why this is such an issue if my work is getting done and at a good standard?

I can’t see the problem of having 5 minutes away from my computer and speaking to a colleague?!!

I think this would be quite commonplace in most workplaces. (For it to be frowned upon to be seen chatting too much in work's time.)

As has been said, if your manager passes and sees you gasbagging every time he/she passes, it's no wonder you are being pulled up. And like several other posters, I find it hard to believe it's five minutes.

Who cares if your 'work is done' - the manager who keeps seeing you chatting, must think you obviously haven't got enough to do.

Nowhere I have ever worked has ever tolerated timewasting, slacking, pissing about, and too much chit-chat. It's not the 'miserable places' to work that are like this; it's the professional, productive workplaces, with professional, hard working staff and management.

As I said, every place I have ever worked is like this. This is why I don't believe people who claim they are allowed to surf the internet whilst at work, and their boss is cool with it as long as their work is done. Bollocks. No legitimate employer will allow that.

The people on the internet/ message forums for many hours of the day are not at work. (I am not saying they have no job, but they are not at work, when they are pissing around for many hours on the internet! No way!)

YABU @MrsKQ ...

I'm assuming you work for the same company? Is she on her lunch break at the same time? If not then yes yabu and that will be why you've been pulled up

I suspect it's not 5 minutes though.

I work in an office where there is constant chit chat. The worst offenders spend half an hour or more away from their desks yapping.

And then they all wonder why there are work backlogs...

This is why I don't believe people who claim they are allowed to surf the internet whilst at work, and their boss is cool with it as long as their work is done. Bollocks. No legitimate employer will allow that.

Really? Well my perfectly legitimate, multi-national employer does. We also check out each other's online shopping purchases, have occasional long lunches or (frequently!) a couple of cheeky drinks in work hours - shock horror! I'm truly saddened how many people work at places that treat them like children rather than responsible adults capable of doing a good job and managing their own workload.

Some of you work in strange offices! I have worked public and private sector and we are never clocked watched like that.

My current workplace is crap yeah but there are no core hours and people come and go, get coffee, get breakfast whenever.

Our CEO in fact states that as long as we do our hours and complete our deliverables, he doesn’t care how / where we work.

Agile working is the new working world...I think a lot of managers find the idea of staff working from home terrifying as they can’t control / micro manage them!

When I work from home, I have the television on, text my friends and occasionally post on Mumsnet - on my personal mobile. I also get my work done...

This idea that we all have to be working constantly is mad. I have quiet days in my job. I’m not constantly working when there isn’t anything to do.