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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

People who complain they are snowed under but do SFA

26 replies

MrsMaxwell · 30/01/2018 18:08

Is it just me or does anyone else have colleagues who constantly rush around brow beaten and complaining they are snowed under and unable to take on any more work when they are actually doing sweet FA.

Example, colleague constantly teetering in the edge of a nervous breakdown typical day involves “working from home” but never getting the workload down —or logging on— “popping in” to see her parents for two hours, phoning up to see is anyone needs anything from the shops on the way back and returning an hour later, regularly popping off for an hour or so to feed pets, gets to work and spends 1/2 hour on a personal call, then finds we are out of tea bags as after all that needs a cup of tea and disappears for 45 minutes to buy some but whenever questioned about whether she has done x,y,z gets very stroppy and almost tearful so everyone shuts up.

This is a manager who is very popular and gentle, works hard apparently. Feels like the emprorers new clothes to me. If you tell everyone how busy you are enough they believe you are busy.

Is this normal as there are several people at work like this, and several people who do quietly work their arses off.

OP posts:
DancingOnRainbows · 30/01/2018 18:13

We have one that does sweet fa although she doesn't moan she's busy. She's no need to as the rest of us are forced to do her share! We wish management would stop doing sweet fa about her!

Original poster
MrsMaxwell · 30/01/2018 18:15

They are always the people that take their full 6 months sick leave too Hmm

OP posts:
TheCowWentMoo · 30/01/2018 18:22

I've a colleague who goes on and on about how busy she is, how she's so overworked and regularly misses her lunch, how no one else pulls their weight. Yet she never actually does any of the work she's supposed to do, I spend my entire life desperately trying to do the work I am supposed to so, which is completely dependent on her without any input from hre. I think if she spent less time moaning and rolling her eyes at people who ask her about the work then she might actually be less busy.
She has also not once missed her lunch, but does spend a lot of it moaning about how busy she is at lunch and as she doesn't do anything else anyway I think it just rolls into one.

feral · 30/01/2018 18:33

We have one who wfh a lot but if you check the system activity log she's done nowt.

I've no idea why they let her get away with it. Makes me crackers.

BooFuckingHooToYou · 30/01/2018 18:41

Is the manager delivering what she’s supposed to be delivering? Managing the department well?

I appreciate you say she isn’t get the workload down but this is a touchy subject for me as I was once accused of “doing nothing” as a manager. In reality I led the department from being loss making to being £xm profit making in 18 months. Some of the staff (in another department) mentioned to senior management I appeared to do nothing. I was managing the department and doing a bloody good job, even if I wasn’t always doing the donkey work myself.

Original poster
MrsMaxwell · 30/01/2018 18:47

Compared to others in same position (including me) the output is severely reduced and a lot of stuff not recorded.

OP posts:
Sparklesocks · 30/01/2018 18:49

I used to work in the City and the sales guys in my department were responsible for getting new accounts in and keeping clients happy. All men. They did absolutely nothing for most of the day, but the bosses just turned a blind eye as they were the ‘money source’ as it were.

Occasionally they’d land an account or get a good renewal and that would be enough for them to do nothing for 2-3 weeks. They’d go out for long boozy ‘client lunches’ with vague clients and then tell bosses they hadn’t won the account, but they’d tried!! Meanwhile i’d overhear them bragging about how they’d just go out by themselves or their mates posing as clients..

Meanwhile I busted my bum doing all the processing and ops and would have to listen to all their weak ‘lad’ banter.

I know a lot of people in similar roles work very hard but their targets were so low they didn’t need to. Funnily enough i know longer work there!

Ophelialovescats · 30/01/2018 18:50

I have this problem with a colleague . She has the same amount of work as everyone in our small workspace. We all cope but I am finding her constant complaining and stressing is affecting my happiness at work. Can anyone advice how to deal with this please ?
Should mention it to our manager?

Ophelialovescats · 30/01/2018 18:52

Ps; I am new to the department too so need to thread carefully.

Lexie1970 · 30/01/2018 19:04

I feel your pain OP... my colleague has her computer on and ready to go half hour after her start time - prior to that she has to go to the loo, back to her desk to brush her hair and then back to kitchen to make a cup of tea.. Has to have her lunch on the dot of 12 otherwise she feels ill (didn’t notice a problem for staff Christmas lunch when we ate at 1.30!!) wastes time making tea as she makes drink and then asks each person individually what they would like and then brings each cup individually to the staff member...

She can’t possibly do anything extra as she has far too much work to do... the other one huffs and puffs and can’t possibly speak to a client on the phone because she has just sent a long email.... clearly client couldn’t fucking understand it which is why he is ringing!!

Some days I hate where I work!!

babycham75 · 30/01/2018 19:07

We have one. Claims she's the best, asks patients to nominate her for awards, belittles other people and swears constantly, and gets away with because of her aggressive nature and personal circumstances

isseywithcats · 30/01/2018 19:08

yep we have one at our place we are cleaners and she manages to only clean half the restaurant, misses major bits out, gets away with murder and still complains we are all overworked, yes the rest of us are because we are doing her work as well as our own on her days off

StealthPolarBear · 30/01/2018 19:12

Ah these people!!

crackerjacket · 30/01/2018 19:12

We've one too.

Claims she knows it all, knows jack shit. And she's only temporary!

Ophelialovescats · 30/01/2018 19:14

Help!!
Do I discuss with manager?
She's been in the job for about 4 years do our manager must know !

whoareyoukidding · 30/01/2018 19:21

We have one like this too: complains all day that she's stressed out - making security badges for people - and spends so long complaining to everyone about her stress that she barely has time to make her 5 badges per day!

whoareyoukidding · 30/01/2018 19:22

I think that some people really resent having to work for their money and see it as a personal insult that they have to turn up every day.

BaffledMummy · 30/01/2018 19:25

You’re all luck to have one...I sometimes feel like my entire company is full of them.

Original poster
MrsMaxwell · 30/01/2018 20:38

I have no idea what to do about them - they are mood hoovers though Sad

OP posts:
MrTrebus · 30/01/2018 20:51

They always get caught out in the end, keep the faith!

SleightOfMind · 30/01/2018 20:58

Our is just terribly precious about his work. Will waste ages querying and contesting any changes I request.
Then has no time to do the rest of the things I need from him. Acts terribly stressed and flustered by it all.
Exhausting but I only have to deal with him occasionally.

He’s young and has promise but my goodness he’s hard work.

Original poster
MrsMaxwell · 30/01/2018 21:20

They run around like blue arsed flies but produce fucking nothing.

OP posts:
UghFletcher · 30/01/2018 21:41

There's three of these in my team.
All flustered, overworked, have no time
Yet have the time to overrun on team conference calls where they love the sound of their own voice 😑

Their time will come.
A senior manager has grassed one of them up for strolling in at 9:30 and leaving at 2 everyday - they aren't on part time hours 🤦🏻‍♀️

FittonTower · 30/01/2018 21:49

I worked in a organisation that was almost entirely staffed by the "competitively busy". All of them produced almost nothing. The place has shut now but it was exhausting working there listening to people whinge and moan about how busy they were. I now work in a place where everyone is legitimately run off their feet and it's fun, cheerful and very efficient.
Competitively busy people are the lazy worst

sonjadog · 30/01/2018 21:53

I have one of these at work. I used to give him advice on how to improve efficiency, but I them realized he doesn't want to improve, he wants to complain.

I was in one Sunday afternoon a while back to do a couple of hours´ work. He was also there to "work". In the 2 hours I was there, he made a cup of coffee, read the paper, had a go in the massage chair (yes, we have one at work!), and then when I left he was having an afternoon nap at his desk. So he went into work on a Sunday and did... nothing.