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.

Wow. At both my workplaces phones are banned except for during breaks
Looking at it could result in a disciplinary

I thought this was normal practice

LOLZ - everyone is such a goody goody here wtf - I do personal stuff at work all the time when there are quiet periods- have my personal email open on the computer, my WhatsApp etc - I book concert tickets, pay bills sort out life admin - answer my mobile if it rings !! I would never work anywhere that they don't just trust you to get your work done !!

If you were doing a bad job or work was slipping fair enough - but really it should be fine !!

You can't be doing work for 8 full hours - you need a break from it regularly or your not even productive

Phones aren't allowed in the workplace here either. Coffee and lunch breaks only.

When you're sacked, OP, remember that there are plenty of vacancies for nurses and carers available.

I guarantee that you would not have time to visit the lavatory during your working day, far less go on your phone, if you had a job looking after human beings.

You’re using your phone every 10-15 minutes while at work? YABVU!

You can't be doing work for 8 full hours - you need a break from it regularly or your not even productive

Is that not why people get coffee & lunch breaks

You can't be doing work for 8 full hours

You need to tell all the carers this, getoutofthatgarden and I'm sure they will inform you that many people actually have to work for 8 full hours - without breaks.

I can choose to work from whenever I want once or twice a week. If I’m ill and not up to leaving the house, I just work from home. At home I have Netflix on all day..I respond to emails, work on my projects..I get work done. Don’t see why it’s different I check my phone for messages or twitter etc. Some people watch Netflix and YouTube all day too whilst working.

@TheMustressMhor like I said, every job is different. I've worked as a carer in the community, but now my job has scheduled, timed breaks and free use of my phone. Just because my job now is more relaxed doesn't mean I haven't done jobs that are different - I won't say more stressful because they're both stressful!

Then they never give their work their full attention and are cheeky fuckers.

Put your phone away.

I hate it when my team members piss about on their phone and think it’s fine because they get their job done

Well yes but they could do it better if they paid full attention.

By the sound of it, it's not just checking your phone from time to time the issue here - it's that a) you are absolutely taking the piss if you check it every 10 minutes and even worst b) have a horrible attitude.

Again, why not becoming manager yourself if you are so productive and so good at your job?

A couple of minutes every 10-15 minutes equates to 10-12 (probably more like 15) mins and hour. Unless you're going to start handing back a quarter of your wages you really are taking the piss.

We all glance at our phone if we've had a missed call or messsge but what you're describing is way beyond that.

This is hilarious. If you're checking your phone every 10 minutes then clearly you're not getting as much done as you could. Your manager is perfectly right to be hacked off. I think you've got a bit of a wake up call coming.

If you're being paid per piece of work/project then I guess it's your own time you're wasting. But if you're being paid per hour/day etc then it's totally taking the piss! And actually either way, you and your colleagues are sitting there while the company pays for unnecessary heating, electricity etc when they could just open the office for the amount of time it takes you to actually do your work, then send you all home to go on Twitter!

soooo many people here are being holier than thou.

Just because YOUR work environment doesn't do or support the kind of thing the OP is talking about, doesn't make her a slacker or a bad employee, when HER work environment is like that.

OP the only answer here is to talk to your manager about it and ask if there's something bothering her.

soooo many people here are being holier than thou.

I am at work and on MN right now. I still think the OP has an horrendous attitude, is taking the piss and I would be less friendly than her manager seems to be 🤷

Well yes but they could do it better if they paid full attention.

Not at all. Regular breaks and relaxed working actually makes a lot of people more productive. I work best in bursts - 20 to 30 minutes of intense work and then 10 minutes or so messing around. If I didn't have the breaks and worked straight through I'd actually get less done overall. Luckily I work in an office where everyone just gets on with their own work in their own time and nobody gives a shit how they do it as long as the work is getting done.

Of course, it depends on the job. Something where your brain needs time to think and develop ideas is very different to say, putting in a shift where the work is mainly repetitive tasks, or working with customers/patients etc where you need to be attentive.

Honestly I am so shocked by this!
OP I am 100% with you.
What matters is output - we have fallen into some culture where people are policed while at work, this is Victorian.
What matters is the quality and timeliness of work.
People working for me could be doing anything as long as they produce quality work in the time.
If the workload is clearly too small to fit the rims, I’ll just have a conversation with them and give them more to do.
For those that come on (please don’t batter me) saying that their workplace is so strict no phones, and it’s a disgrace. Surely we shouldn’t be racing to the bottom to try and make work as strict as possible.

This also depends hugely on the type of work that you do, hard complex research, writing challenging documents, anything remotely creative, is not best achieved in some sort of workhouse.

Also leaning over you is annoying, as tour new manager she should be having meetings with you about expectation setting, output and she should also be able to gauge the culture.

Honestly I’m with you OP!

It all depends what kind of work you are doing - hourly based or project based.

So for example if you have to get x amount of work done ( and to a high standard) in one working day then it's actually more productive to allow the individual to work in the best way that works for them. So that might mean working intensely for 2 hours - then a big break - it might mean working at a slower pace with short five minute breaks every hour. For example when I worked as an online article writer I might be asked to produce 4 500-word articles by 5pm. But how I manage my time is up to me as long as I produce the work by the deadline.

If your job is hourly based and you need to be working solidly until your lunchbreak - for example serving in a sandwich shop - you can't simply take your break when a customer needs you for example, then that's different.

The problem is some managers don't understand how to manage people with different working styles.

So it very much depends on what the OP does and if they are able to self manage their time and still produce the results needed.

Oh the horror OP. Your manager is actually expecting you to do your work during the day and not piss about on your phone every 15 minutes. You aren't being paid to sit and play about on Twitter or whatever. You are being paid to work and if you were my employee you would end up being performance managed because your appalling entitled attitude would not be tolerated.

OP I am 100% with you.

so a manager daring to disturb someone with WORK when they are busy playing on their phone is wrong?

The sad thing is that it's that shitty attitude that creates problems for everybody. A relax office is no longer relax when people start taking the piss, people are no longer allowed to work from home because someone confuse it with a day off, take care of their kids, chores and run errands - or just watch tv.

The "do you know who I am" OP has an horrible attitude, pretty sure that's what the manager has a problem with here.

OP, you still haven't answered the question, why didn't you get promoted?
Are you miffed that someone else was chosen and you are sulking?

Anyone using the term pro-employer and seeing the work place as a "them vs us" is a shit employee in my experience

Ditto ... they also usually spout about "goodwill" and how much more a laissez faire employer will get out of everyone, only to be nowhere to be seen if anything extra's required

And the fact the previous manager's now senior to the new manager might suggest she realised she'd allowed an untenable situation to build up, and is handing it to the incoming person to deal with

Take the advice attached, OP

I’m all for a relaxed workplace but working 75% of the time you’re being paid for is taking the piss.