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.

A few minutes every 10 minutes?!

This has GOT to be a pisstake or reverse. How old are you op? Surely you know that that is a ridiculous amount of time to be on your phone rather than working?

Are you on probation still? Because if I was your manager you’d be gone. How incredibly unprofessional, no matter how easy going the work place is.

You know you’re being paid to work, right?

If you spent less time on your phone then work would get done quicker and you would be more productive. If you look at your phone for a couple of minutes every 15 minutes, you're probably losing 10 minutes each hour not doing work. That equates to a lot of missed work in a week! Assuming you work 35 hours and you spend 10 minutes each hour on your phone, in a week you'll miss over 5 hours of work!! If I was your new manager I'd expect you to put your phone down and work to tighter deadlines or dock your wages by 15%...

Your new manager may have been brought in to change the work culture so step away from your phone and look busy.
fwiw I've worked across large corporates and small charities - none of them had a culture where you could check Twitter or personal emails. I don't think it's common at all.

A few minutes. I would take that to mean 5.
Every ten minutes.
So you’re doing sweet FA for half your time at work? Start looking for a new job OP.

Checking your emails quickly is one thing - making a lengthy post on MN is quite another!

And what is this "pro-employer" stance? Managers are employees too, and also have to be careful about their phone use. It's not them v us. You may not one to seize on the one single post in support of you OP but take into account the others too.

Jesus Christ wtf is the world coming to! She is your manager, have some respect for her AND your employer. Lunch break and tea break social media time- work time is WORK TIME. HTH.

If you spent less time on your phone then work would get done quicker and you would be more productive.

The OP says that 'work gets done, deadlines are met'.

I agree with pps, these threads bring out some real po-faced jobsworthiness. Of course there are loads of different work environments, but the OP is best placed to judge what hers is like. In my last office job, it was quite normal for someone (including managerial staff) to do things like show people something of interest/amusing on social media etc. Work got done and deadlines met there too.

dock your wages by 15% Och, away.

@Chewbecca do you not think that OP is totally taking the piss? Have you seen her update?

I use my phone when I want through the day. I'm in a really small quiet office but no one cares. It's a get the work done type place. I don't think it's that unusual. We all work very hard.

I'm assuming you're quite young OP. When I started work, you wouldn't dream of putting your feet up on the desk and reading a book if you'd finished all the work you'd been set - you'd find something else to do. There's usually something that can be done in a quiet period.

Now I work with some young people who blatantly play games on their phones while they waiting to be given a new task. All I can assume is that they're happy to stay at a junior level until they retire because they won't be getting a promotion anytime soon.

I assume you feel the same way

I have no issue with phone use at work if it's reasonable - but every ten/fifteen minutes is taking the piss, surely?

I can totally understand doing it while you wait for the kettle to boil, or while you're on hold, or in between tasks occasionally, but 4-5 times an hour is hardly reasonable - that's a huge chunk out of your working day.

I doubt you'd be happy to have your salary reduced accordingly. Stop taking the piss!

If you're on your phone for a few minutes every 10-15 minutes then that's at least a third of your time!

If you have that amount of time to spare then your hours should be cut down by a third. Went do you think you should be paid for arsing around?

The OP says that 'work gets done, deadlines are met'.

OP didn't say WHO gets the work done, bet it's not them

They say they're laid back with hours and days off so long as the work gets done. So, can you not just get it done quicker, and go home earlier if that's the case?

Tbh, there's probably a reason she manages the team now. Maybe the big bosses weren't happy about what was allowed to go on, and want things to change.

Go on your phone in your break and at lunchtime if you wish.. but work during work time. I would never expect to be paid for sitting on Twitter all day!

If we literally are talking about spending a few (3?) minutes in every 10, yes, I'd agree that is likely be taking the piss.

This can't be real! Please point me towards the job where you get paid to MN like the OP, though!

How can you work very hard if you keep stopping to use your phone?

If you didn't use your phone you'd get even MORE work done!

You're not being micromanaged, OP, you're being performance managed. Expect more of it and the quality/volume of your output to be scrutinized.

And then expect to be looking for a new job.

This has to be a reverse. Nobody could be this stupid.

Wow - amazing how 'being on your phone' has gone from being something that didn't exist a few decades ago to something that people seem to think is a necessary human right every fifteen minutes while they are supposed to be working.

As for needing to play Candy Crush regularly to cope with intense work . Teaching children all day is bloody intense. I can just imagine the look on senior management's faces if teachers demanded a Candy Crush break half-way through each lesson!

Just play ball and work while she's watching, then do your own thing when she isn't there. Throw her off the scent.

i work in a legal field and our staff are allowed their phones. they each have a target or certain clients to deal with each month. as long as those clients needs are met and monetary targets are hit i couldnt care less what they do with their time. i have one staff member who leaves at 3pm daily to pick up her son. she then does 2 hours work in the evening to make up for this one hes in bed. she prefers this as she gets more family time. and i have checked the work and it is being done and is approx 2 hours worth / what is needed for that daily target. some take days off for nativities or sports days etc but then will work overtime and (sometimes) weekends to catch up the work if they fall behind. i find it increases productivity by allowing them to time manage themselves and, as long as my targets are hit im happy. it definitely works better than when we worked the traditional office way and staff are much happier with this arrangement.

I'm with you on this one Ghost. I am far more productive if I am given free reign to do as I choose in my work hours. So someone can try to micro manage me but they won't get the best out of me.

I would have a frank conversation with the manager as it's the only way this can end well imo.

Write a formal complaint.

‘My manager is reducing the amount of time I spend on twitter during work hours which forces me to get on with the work I’m paid to do 😒 Have a word’.

Something along those lines.