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.

Organisations and teams should have a recognisable culture that is understood and shared. One individual can’t and shouldn’t be able to thumb their nose at the working culture.

No manager should ever think an employee is indispensable. They won’t be and new blood might be just what you need.

I have worked in teams where the culture has been that you should be at your desk at 9 working and teams were presenteeism was not valued. That worked for the jobs we were doing. I also worked in a team blended from these two cultures and it causes problems. This is a culture clash.

As a manager you need to do some work with your team to define your team culture. Some of this will be set by the organisation and some by the work. Then you can agree the rules. Which can include defined time for food breaks or flexible time for food breaks. Not eating at your desk, but you will need to identify an area to eat in. Whatever the team thinks is right.

Ignoring this will store up problems for you. It is a management issue and you must deal with it. You have had complaints and you seem scared of her response. That implies she has behavioural issues you are ignoring too.

She doesn’t sound like a good team member, it’s unfair and should be dealt with.

If a team doesn’t get on or there is hostility, it really shows.

Has she logged on while eating at her desk and is she reading emails etc?

It doesn't matter does it?

The point is, she's turning other people away and preventing them from doing the job they turned up on time to do.

The point is, she's turning other people away and preventing them from doing the job they turned up on time to do

I guess you could turn it about and say is everyone else always available? No fag breaks? No personal calls?

I eat breakfast at my desk every morning but I go in early to allow for this, I'm ready to start work at the correct time and I'm a manager. Also, I'm responsible for my own time keeping, i dont have to start work the same time as everyone else. Sets a good example. Anyone who pulled a stunt like that would be pulled up smart ish, you need to tell her it's not acceptable and really not fair on the other staff

This takes me back to my thread about a colleague a couple of years back. You're getting very different responses than I did

I think you need to gently raise it with her. It's amazing how much resentment can build up in a team over little things like this. And other employees can feel really demotivated if they feel others are getting 'special treatment' or are allowed to get away with taking the piss. Eating whilst working is one thing, but it sounds like she's basically taking an extra 30 minute break each day if she's refusing to engage in work related stuff whilst she's eating. Tell her she has three options:

1. Eat breakfast at home.
2. Come into the office a bit earlier and eat before 9am.
3. Eat at her normal time but work simultaneously.

One thing I forgot to mention in my post above. You know when your child says 'oh George is allowed to stay up til 9pm on weekdays' or 'but Amy's allowed to go to the over 18s disco' and you say 'I don't care about what other kids are allowed to do, you do it my way because I set the rules'

That's the same for adults. You're the manager. You set the rules. Your staff obey them or talk to you if they need to change them because of life in general. Your kids don't set their own rules because it would be mayhem at home. If you let staff set rules to suit them without regard to their colleagues, it's mayhem at work.

It doesn't matter who else is taking the piss. You can work your way through them but I'm betting that, if you tell her she needs to come in at 8.30am to eat her breakfast so she's ready for her colleagues questions OR she eats whilst dealing with colleagues (if you're happy with that), then the popping out for a quick cigarette or making umpteen personal calls will start fading. Because they know you're watching and you're not afraid to deal with it.

By the way, a colleague of mine once said, on her retirement day that she was pleased everyone thought she was a great worker and would be missed. But that if ever she got to the stage where she thought the place couldn't operate without her she'd put her hands in a bowl of water, lift them out and see the gap. There wasn't any, of course, because the water rushes in to fill up the gap left by her hands being removed. Her way of reminding herself that work would cope perfectly well without her. There's no such thing as a top worker whose role can't be done as well by anyone else. You're just not employed them yet...

Just bloody manage the woman. All this back-and-forth about passive aggressive ways of doing it/avoiding it is frankly ridiculous.

Abouttoblow

Doesn’t surprise me, with the usual caveat that MN isn’t a single entity, usually these threads run along the theme of “well if they’re getting their job done, what does it matter”.

Sorry but this needs to be nipped in the bud. She maybe a fab worker but her actions are impacting on other people's ability to do their jobs, not being able to ask her a question until half nine. She clearly thinks she is above you and her other colleagues. You need to deal with this today and not with some generic email. Time to put on your big girl pants, otherwise your colleagues will (rightly) go over your head and go to your manager not only about the breakfast colleague but about there ineffective, poor manager.

Actually, I’d be interested to know whether her colleagues absolutely HAVE to speak to her then, or whether they’re trying to make a point.

What @bingbongnoise said

Me too @JacquesHammer.

Also by saying you don’t want to deal with this because she’s a good team member is like saying the other team members work isn’t as good. If you genuinely feel like that it needs dealing with too.

You may appeal to her proud side with a “the more junior staff look up to you and working our work hours is important” shpiel but bottom line yes you need to do something.

If she’s getting the work done, they I see no issue.

She's not though, is she? She's sat eating her breakfast and refusing to engage with anyone else - she's essentially getting an extra thirty minutes paid break a week.

And your comment about smoke breaks/personal calls - plenty of places don't allow either. Where I am, if you want to smoke, you do it before/after work or on your designated break. You can't just wander off and smoke whenever you fancy. Same with personal calls - no mobiles at all on the shop floor. If there's an emergency people can contact you on the shop phone.

No way would it be acceptable for people to wander off and make personal phone calls, eat breakfast or smoke when they're supposed to be working.

*thirty minutes paid break a day, even.

Wow so basically this woman can do whatever she wants but it's ok because she's a valuable worker. I really hope this is a reverse otherwise you really are coming across as a crap manager if people are complaining to you about her. What if everyone did this in a morning?

You need to tell her to come in early if she wants to eat breakfast at work or eat it at home.

It's a difficult one. I'm of the view that giving more latitude when a person merits it is often the most practical choice, but you do have to factor in the impact it might be having on other staff too. It matters much less when someone's work only impacts them, but if she's admin, she's very interconnected isn't she? Not like someone who can just be left on their own to do their work and isn't needed by other people during that time.

If people are actually asking her questions she refuses to answer for a portion of her working day, that has to be factored into her performance assessment, and it sounds like you're not really doing that. What happens to the stuff she doesn't deal with pre 9.30, does someone else get lumbered or does the person needing her assistance have to wait?

I would also think carefully about the availability of complainants as well, since the major issue here appears to be other people's reactions more than the employee's performance. Fair enough if none of them ever take any time at all, but tbh if someone spending half an hour a day fucking around and is completely available and excellent the rest of the time... well, the reality is they'll be more available than a lot of other people.

@SleepingStandingUp It started as a quick muesli bar in one hand while typing with the other but over years has evolved to what we have today.

I can see how based on this one anecdote I seem completely wet but I promise I have no issues dealing with poor work performance in the team.

It's not about the time, she is as productive as two regular workers. She trains juniors, her written work is flawless, she understands the business and the clients, she finishes her own work like a machine and then looks around to see where she can pitch in with other people's work. She has made improvements to our processes that save time and money. In an emergency she is there, working overtime without complaint. She is popular with and valued by the whole team not just me. I just don't see the point in nit-picking someone who goes above and beyond in so many ways over one eccentricity.

Likewise I'm happy for people to take smoke breaks, call their babysitters, go out for coffees as long as they do their work. I am not going to set a clock watching culture and she will rightfully feel picked on if I single her out.

I'm concerned that she will leave over something small because she has a long commute and I know enough about her personal circumstances to know she doesn't need the income.

But I think the majority here is right in that I ABU for overlooking how rude she is when people interrupt her. There's no need for that, and I'm in the wrong for indulging that.

Of course it's poor management to ignore complaints from other members of staff!

She isn't ignoring the complaints; she's trying to find the optimal method of dealing with them.

What a storm in a tea cup. If she’s getting the work done, they I see no issue. But then I’m far more of a fan of a flexible working environment than rigidity.

By all means I would discuss her attitude regarding staff members approaching her, but the rest is a non-entity.

Completely agree. We need to move away from the ridiculous idea that a job is to sit at a desk from 9-5 rather than to actually do the job. I couldn't give a toss what hours my team are working as long as they do their job.

The only thing wrong here is the employee refusing to engage in work matters from 9-9:30. Eating breakfast is irrelevant.

P.S. You sound like a bloody good manager. If I worked for you, you'd get great results because you'd treat me like a professional.