New manager keeps disturbing me with irrelevant things every time I’m on my phone :/

[Ghostpost]

I was employed before her, and have been here a couple of months. We’re in a research type environement and everything is really laid back with phones, work hours, days off etc. Everyone knows work gets done, deadlines are met so everyone is happy that the place is so flexible around family life.

She’s been here 3 days and has mentioned twice if I have enough work to keep me busy (😒).. I’m an adult and I know what I need to do. And although it would be really easy to take the piss here, I have been working incredibly hard to make a difference to our department.

I’ve noticed today she keeps coming and disturbing me every time I’m on my phone reading twitter or whatever. She’s making me feel like a school child not being allowed on my phone. She’s looked over at me a few times already whilst I’m typing this.

If I wasn’t working she would have a point to make, but I refuse to be micromanaged like this, as I’m not a child. It’s making me uncomfortable.

@Ghostpost
Second look. 1 hour since last time. Maybe might have exaggerated the every 15 mins 🤔. I actually joined her on her THIRD tea break at 11.

😂 I find the amount of tea breaks in some UK places ridiculous. And I bet people (especially in this thread) find them tooootally normal and don’t count tea breaks as being disruptive to their workflow. And that tea break is probably 5 min each time. Oh and don’t forget the biscuits or the cake somebody brought in. 🙄

People should just mind their own business, both literally and figuratively! Hypocrites.

Literally a few minutes every 10/15 mins

If this equates to 2 minutes every 15 minute and it’s a 7.5 hour working day, you’re not working for 8 minutes every hour, times that by 7.5 hours in a day and it’s 60 minutes you’re not working every day but being paid for. 🙄

People should just mind their own business, both literally and figuratively! Hypocrites.

Yes I agree. This thread made me think about my mobile phone usage, but I don’t think it’s that bad. The fact she’s come to me every time I’ve been looking at it made me suspicious. Again this morning I was asked if I had enough work to keep me busy. Wonder if she expects me to send her a list of stuff I’ve done each day. Weirdo.

it’s 60 minutes you’re not working every day but being paid for. 🙄

Like the hour and 1.5 hour lunches people go on too? Except I look at my phone and mostly work through my lunches or have shorter lunches. Odd job.

@Ghostpost is she doing this only to you? Honestly I’d ask her why she keeps asking you that. Let her explain herself. I’d have to bite my tongue not to mention her constant tea breaks though.

Again this morning I was asked if I had enough work to keep me busy. Wonder if she expects me to send her a list of stuff I’ve done each day. Weirdo.

Nah you're on a wind up. Not being bollocked for something doesn't mean it's ok to do. And if the company ever goes under you'll be first out of the door.

I think it's faux outrage on your part because I can't believe someone would be so flippant about their manager clearly having an issue with what they are doing.

Regardless of whether you think you have the right to not work, in the current job market doing something your manager clearly has an issue with is a bit stupid.

She's probably biding her time and giving you a chance to stop shirking but will pull you in for a chat / warning at some point.

I would suggest you don't ignore her hints Ghostpost. She's being really clear by approaching you whenever you're on your phone. You can ignore it, but expect it to bite you in the bum.

I am feeling a bit picked on actually which is why I posted here. There is another team member who has the same title as me, but she’s much more experienced (more than NM) and is being given her own section to do projects. Every time the new manager (NM) talks to her, she says “I know your really busy with all your emails to catch up and other jobs”...being all nicey nice because she needs her for help.

I need to challenge her on this comment. I will say something next time she says it.

People are allowed an hour for lunch - it's not included in paid hours ...

OP I happen to work in a very similar environment (academia) but your phone useage is hugely excessive and unjustifiable. However you word it as the culture. The culture only works because it swings both ways - employees don't take the piss, and crucially work unpaid overtime when required. In return employers are happy to be flexible because it helps retain staff and makes for a comfortable work environment.

BUT YOU ARE TAKING THE PISS!

The funny thing is, the other girl messes around and tea breaks her way through the day too. Maybe because I’m not as senior, I’m being pulled up on little things.🤔

I've only ever worked in environments where there is too much work and not enough people to do it, so this is a completely alien concept to me. There is no "finished" where I work. I might deliver one of my projects, but there'll be at least three others at various stages to return to, plus a myriad other stuff. The culture where I work is fairly relaxed in that we chat for a few minutes here and there, sometimes while working if happens to be something that doesn't require intense concentration, we can use our phones within reason (a few minutes every 10-15 would definitely be considered unreasonable!), make a cuppa whenever we want etc. But any of those things regularly happening to excess - as the OP's phone usage would be in our environment - would be addressed by the relevant manager.

I think I'm too entrenched in working environments where there is always something else to be done to be able to fully wrap my head around one that appears to be "this and no more is what you are expected to deliver".

Maybe, but it sounds more like you are taking the piss tbh.

If there's a team member with the same title as you (presumably paid the same) who is being given work in preference to you, even though their manager is acknowledging they're really busy - you can pretty much assume your seen as flakey and not pulling your weight. Your manager sounds like they're trying to address this workload imbalance.

I think I would ask her about this next time she asks you something. If you do a lot of work outside hours or you do it intensively at times, she may not realize this if she has only been there a short time. So while you know that you are currently in a quiet period and that you have done a lot of work in a short time previously and will be doing that again in the not so distant future, she has only seen the you who sits around doing not too much.

I work in a similar area, combining research with teaching. In my experience: there are plenty of times where you HAVE to be fully concentrating on whatever you're doing: you don't go on Twitter while you're giving a lecture, or doing fieldwork, and you would quite rightly be reprimanded if it was found that you were doing this. At other times - when you're 'writing up' or doing statistical analyses - it's a bit more ambiguous: research can be a 'piecework' type of job, where you have to produce specific items - e.g. publishable papers - but it doesn't have to be done in a standard 9-5 routine. You are likely to find that it takes a very large amount of your time, but if you choose to spend time in the normal 'workday' on social media, and then to be up till midnight working on your home computer, then it's up to you so long as you get the necessary jobs done. I get the impression both that your manager is being unnecessarily suspicious and rigid AND that you're spending a bit too much time on your phone. Something else occurs to me, however: it may be that the manager is concerned not so much about the time you spend on the phone, but about potential safeguarding and security issues related to it. She may be concerned about the possibility of your sending off photographs of colleagues, students and perhaps even research participants without their permission; and/or about whether this could be compromising the security of sensitive data (a major preoccupation in research management, especially since GDPR). I would try to put your phone away most of the time anyway, and see whether the manager continues to try to 'micromanage' you or whether it's specific to phone use.

@Ghostpost
The funny thing is, the other girl messes around and tea breaks her way through the day too. Maybe because I’m not as senior, I’m being pulled up on little things.🤔

Yeah that’s not cool. I wonder what would happen if you got up and checked your phone in the break room like if you’re going to get tea? Take your tea cup or water glass with you. I’m not saying you should make a permanent behaviour pattern shift, but to just try it and see if the NM tries to interrupt you. If you’re performing a behaviour that’s analogue to hers, she may back down.

I’m just curious about this but I really think it’s a problem of her not being able to see her way of taking breaks are the same as your methods.

Why not check with your old manager, informally, if there is a problem with the quantity and quality of your work.

@zzzzzzzz12345

Best post on the thread.

I am feeling a bit picked on actually which is why I posted here. There is another team member who has the same title as me, but she’s much more experienced (more than NM) and is being given her own section to do projects. Every time the new manager (NM) talks to her, she says “I know your really busy with all your emails to catch up and other jobs”...being all nicey nice because she needs her for help.

Surely, this is motivation for you to put the graft in and get the same level of respect.

This is so funny.

All the folk saying it doesn't matter how much you fart about throughout the day, if you get the work done and saying you shouldn't be expected to find work to do are boxing my head. If there wasn't extra work to be done, why does new manager keep offering this to you?

If this is the "culture" and usual "office vibe" and a handful of people are in an office spending every 10-15 mins tossing it off, one of those people appears to be dispensable to the company. What profitable company in their right mind would want to pay a whole full time wage for no reason??

Anyone else desperate for OP to speak to top management and get clarification on this???? Pleaaaase.

Even if they say NM is in the wrong and OP should be entitled not to be "interrupted with irrelevant things, when she is on her phone" (lol), I just need to know at this point!

If you’re comparing yourself to other people and your being treated differently then them that’s an issue. If they take 1.5 hour lunches and aren’t pulled up on it and you waste 1 hour a day on your phone I agree it’s the same difference. However, you’ll probably not be thanked for bring up everyone’s indiscretions and potentially making your work place a much stricter affair.

@zzzzzzzz12345

Couldn’t read more than a few pages as it’s clear most people think you are being a CF, but from an HR perspective it sounds to me like she’s been prewarned about you and is taking the informal approach first (as she should) hoping you take the hint. Don’t wait for her to make it formal.

100%

Every time they are giving work to someone else who is already busy and you aren't offering to help they have more and more reason to believe you are not a team player.

She's giving you an opportunity to be seen as a valuable employee and you're throwing it back in her face. So you're now on her radar, rightly so.

If anything happens to the business and they need to streamline, her job will be safe and yours will not.

I think it sounds like she's letting you know, very gently, how she wants things to be. Like it or not, she's the manager. It might be worth you clarifying things with her, but I'd watch your step.

it’s clear most people think you are being a CF, but from an HR perspective it sounds to me like she’s been prewarned about you and is taking the informal approach first (as she should) hoping you take the hint. Don’t wait for her to make it formal.

Yup!