About breakfast at work

[WishingILivedOnAnIsland]

Every day without fail one of our senior administrators comes in on time, gets herself settled, then spends 10 minutes in the kitchen constructing a complicated bowlful of breakfast. She takes the bowl to her desk and slowly eats in the open plan office until around 9:30am. She then signals the start of her work day by returning her bowl to the kitchen. Anyone who approaches her regarding work prior to The Bowl’s Return is met with a withering look and an ‘excuse me I am eating my breakfast’ as though they’ve walked into her own kitchen out of hours and demanded a favour.

I’m her manager and I’m starting to get complaints. Both about her commandeering an additional 30 odd minutes break, and also about the tart rebuke she gives anyone who dares interrupt her morning ritual.

Here’s the thing- I don’t really care that she does this as in every other way she is a sensational employee. She is a proud set-in-her-ways kind of person and wont respond well to negative feedback. It would be a disaster if she quit and we had to replace her with a mediocre employee whose only advantage is that they eat their breakfast at home.

So AIBU to let this breakfast nonsense play on? My colleagues seem to think so and are salty with me for my inaction thus far.

I hate hearing people eat cereal.
I would ask to come in at 9.30am so I didn't have to listen to it if you were my manager.

I think that “sensational” employees are hard to come by. I would say to her that you don’t mind her eating her breakfast at her desk but maybe that she just be helpful to those asking for help during this period. Good managers keep the right staff happy. If others are good enough to receive the same treatment they will get it.

Its an odd one.

I eat my breakfast at work - i cant eat when i first get up - but i eat as soon as i get to the office & also will be working - going through & replying to emails, runnjng reports etc, so i feel its acceptable to not take it as a break.
I also speak to colleagues about work at the same time.

Not doing anything/not working at the same time, well, thats just taking the piss a bit.
That would actually annoy me - why should i be working when shes not?

But, i get where your coming from that actually this is a good worker, and sometimes 1 good worker doing 20-30 mins less work a day is better than 2 bad workers doing their full hours.

Unfortunately i think as its been mentioned by others, your gonna have to say something. Its not fair if other staff have noticed and actively see her getting 30 mins extra break a day. They should also be allowed this same break - she flaunted it in front of others and now its bit her in the bum.

Omg that's ridiculous. I was about to decent her as I have my breakfast at work. But I work while I'm eating it, check my emails before I wack my porridge in the microwave. I'm in earlier than I need to be anyway and have my own office so it doesn't disturb anyone.

If this is an office environment and she eats cold, non-smelly food while she starts up her computer and reads through fresh emails, I don’t see the problem.

In offices people generally want to read through their emails, check their agendas and plan their priorities in the first 30 minutes if the day. I’m surprised her coworkers aren’t doing this too. What is going on that they need her undivided attention immediately?

I’d say, just give her some feedback and say you have no issues with her eating but as she starts work at 9, if someone needs her she should do the work.
Say it’s been raised to you and you wouldn’t want any her to get reputation

There is no I in team. Maybe part of her success is her colleagues helping her when she needs it (providing information she needs to do her job, communicating with her). Maybe her colleagues would perform better and also be 'sensational' if she was a team player and cooperated in the same manner when they need stuff from her.

The issue is not her eating breakfast but her attitude. Speak to her about that.

She’s taking the fucking piss. How does it take half an hour to eat a bowl of cereal anyway?

I’d have no problem with her eating at her desk I suppose but it is working time and her refusing to deal with work related queries is not acceptable

It's a difficult one this. I can see how it pisses people off but it seems like, qualitatively, she produces the work expected if she's a sensational employee. If you 'time and motion' her, she will probably do the set hours but, out of resentment, work less productively. If she's getting the work done, I'd tend to leave her be and say to the others that she's meeting her targets so must work very efficiently.

I’d be sending an email to all staff. Could you be reminded that eating at your desk is only permissible during a designated break. Or Please only use break times to eat, preferably in the staffroom/kitchen/wherever.
Or something similar.

I take breakfast to work. I start work at 8:30am. A group of us are often eating and drinking a cuppa from 7:30 onwards (I prefer this to miss the traffic). It would not be acceptable for us to eat during our work time. It is even frowned upon if people arrive at 8:30 and go and make a brew to take to their workspace. They can take on at this time as long as it is made before 8:30 but from 9am no hot drinks in work spaces as they are classrooms. Same goes for when the kids have left. No going to make a brew until clock off time. There are thing to be done until that time.

I’m astounded at the number of managers on this site asking for basic management advice. For goodness sake grow a pair and tell her to have her breakfast in her own time.

The issue isn't the breakfast it's her doing jack shit while she's eating it - you're her manager so you're going to have to pull her up on it and inform her as per the terms of her contract her day begins at 9am, not 9.30am, so in future she will have to be actively working from 9am whether she's eating or not. If she quits over that she's a psycho.

I think if you are concerned about the team feeings and her reaction then decide what rules fit the whole team (and work environment that fits the work) and make it for all - eating at desks, personal calls et al. Then you have set your expectations and everyone can abide by them.

The woman's behaviour is persistent unwanted conduct, especially her rebuke to others who come into the kitchen. So it should be tackled.

the first and most important issue is her refusal to engage with colleagues until the Ritual of the Breakfast has been completed. that one’s easy. you just need to ask for a meeting, and advise her that this isn’t working out for the team, and that she needs to address this issue as a priority. you’re grownups - this is not a difficult conversation.

as for the time taken? well, that more depends on where you work, and what the accepted business practice is within the company. is it 9-5 with an hour for lunch? any paid breaks? shift work? out of hours cover/overtime? flexi-time? core hours?

i second what @Teddybear45 said upthread - OP, spend a bit of time observing the rest of your team. who has fag breaks, or always makes the tea, or always ‘breaks’ some tech so it takes an hour to use the photocopier. dental appointments, GP appointments, childcare nightmares, early starters and early leavers. who spends an hour every afternoon researching their next holiday? anyone got a side thing with ebay? who always asks for more to do, and who is happy to stretch tasks?

all this information, taken alongside your business needs and the contractual obligations of your team members, is a good starting point when considering whether the team as a whole needs a review, or whether Breakfast Brenda dropping the Do Not Disturb nonsense is sufficient.

this isn’t news to you, but no member of your team should be irreplaceable. who else has access to all the training materials for new starters? are there any tasks particular to Breakfast Brenda (that maybe are closely guarded and Mysterious) that could form part of a redistribution of work to ensure the competence of your whole team?

if, as you say, the issue of not being snarly at others when Breakfasting may be enough to tip the hand of someone who may not financially need to be there, you should really be looking at a contingency plan.

how involved is your manager in your day-to-day? if you are genuinely not sure how to address this, you should probably talk to them. better that you raise it, than a disgruntled member of your team.

ultimately, life would be much, much easier if there weren’t so many fucking people in it. godspeed, OP. i don’t miss managing people one little bit.

Sending a general email to all staff won't work. She's been doing this for ages and it's been acceptable, she won't stop for an email as won't think it includes her.
I too am surprised how many managers have to ask basic questions on here.

Ok, If I was one of her colleagues and OP didn't stop her I would go to her superior to complain about her lack of managing the situation, or I'd be taking it to a union. That's 2.5 hours a week that colleagues are doing that she isn't, she'd complain if her wages were docked.

OP, you need to manage it's what you are paid to do.

You should have stopped this from developing into a routine. If one does it and gets away with it well, why not everyone. I had a similar issue years ago, just locked the kitchen until tea time or if a staff member had a special need. If you have team meetings why not just ask what time everyone thinks is start of work time. I had to do this when staff started having 20/30 min chats when arriving at work and basically starting work late. Some who had front of house rolls couldn't take this liberty so it was easily stamped out.

The OP has said that the employee is productive and gets her work done to a high standard so I doubt she is actually doing less than everyone else overall. I'm sure others have random breaks throughout the day or spend time chatting etc when maybe this lady doesn't. It all equals out and as long as the work is done it's fine.

The real issue is the rudeness which needs to be addressed.

I’m not stunned by managers asking for advice. I am stunned by the number of managers who treat their reports like recalcitrant children. A locked kitchen, ffs?

People behave according to how they’re treated. Treat your team like adults who are capable of managing their own workload and taking responsibility for meeting their objectives and that’s how they’ll behave. Treat them like naughty kids who will misbehave given half a chance and that’s what you’ll get because the adults will walk.

"or introduce a no eating at desk policy. "

Whenever there's a thread like this someone suggests punishing everyone for something that one person has done. If other people eating at their desk, for example during their official breaks, doesn't cause problems then don't introduce a no eating at desk policy as it wouldn't be fair.

So what ARE you actually going to do?

"Ok, If I was one of her colleagues and OP didn't stop her I would go to her superior to complain about her lack of managing the situation, or I'd be taking it to a union. "

What? Do you think unions bother with time wasting telltales like you. And going to your boss's boss to complain about your boss not disciplining a colleague is pathetic as well.

Ha this made me proper laugh out loud 😂😂

"She works less hours for the same money."

But she's more efficient than the others so she actually does more work than them for the same money.