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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be fed up of emails from the office jobsworth?

57 replies

Ribrabrob · 22/03/2021 21:47

I have a colleague who recently got a kind of promotion. When I say kind of, I mean she made up a job and the managers like her so that’s her new job now Grin fair enough!

She used to be likeable but the new role seems to have gone to her head, she Is such a jobsworth. That’s fine, take your role seriously but... the emails! She’s literally sending 100 a day (no joke). Some are important (maybe less than 10) whereas others she’s very clearly sending them just for the sake of it. Many of them don’t require a response but she’ll get moody and passive aggressive if she doesn’t get a response in a timely manner.

She’s not my manger and we are equal levels.

Aibu to say something? It’s clogging up my inbox and they are just pointless. Or should I just suck it up and start a special folder for her pointless drivel?!

Whilst we are here - does anyone else have any tails of the office jobs worth? I’ve recently got back into office life and now remember my love hate relationship with it!

OP posts:
LookItsMeAgain · 22/03/2021 22:16

I'd set up a rule to divert the emails where she is the sender and put them in to a separate folder to your inbox and you can deal with them as and when you get an opportunity - say 5 minutes every 2 hours or so should cover it.
Then delete, delete, delete.

If they are sending a message and then a follow up about that message I would have to reply to the second (not the first) and say "Thanks for the email. I will respond to your query about X in due course. Please do not send me any further emails about X at this time", and then move on. If you get additional emails, it would then be time to have a word with your team leader/manager saying that there has been a noticeable increase in unnecessary emails being sent out (you might want to have exact figures about what was necessary and what was follow up type emails) and you're concerned as these are now occupying space on the company servers, and being backed up and it's costing them money to have them being backed up, maybe??

Fgs1 · 22/03/2021 22:22

Ergh sounds incredibly annoying. I'd just divert and ignore the unnecessary ones - don't delete as you may need them for future evidence. If she gets rude speak to her in person to explain why you haven't got time to answer these pointless emails, and if she continues speak to your line manager.

Dizzy1234 · 22/03/2021 22:22

Just to cheer you up, I worked with a woman who gave a much younger male member of staff a BJ in the ladies loo, not quite what your post asked for but I thought I'd just share 😂

PinkiOcelot · 22/03/2021 22:31

Is she getting anything else done other than send pointless emails?! I would just delete them en masse.
Amazes me how a kind of promotion can totally change some people.

Merryoldgoat · 22/03/2021 22:39

What are they about?!

VladmirsPoutine · 22/03/2021 22:45

I hate to be all po-faced but if you are the same level and she gets arsey with you for not responding in a timely manner then I'd send her a very matter-of-fact e-mail outlining this copying in her direct senior; I can't imagine she's pulling this shit with those above her?

boxingdayagain · 22/03/2021 22:57

I'd just reply every single one with
"Noted"

HollowTalk · 22/03/2021 22:59

I wouldn't delete them - I'd want to show my boss at some point if I was getting several hundred emails a week. That's absolutely ridiculous.

Fussyeaternightmare · 22/03/2021 23:03

Love the image of someone sitting in their office with a row of taxidermied ‘tails’ nailed to the wall behind them with some prosaic warning to all other wannabe jobsworths 😂

IdblowJonSnow · 22/03/2021 23:16

I'd ignore. This is really petty and if you respond you will also look petty.
If she's doing this to everyone it's only a matter of time before someone else gets pissed off and it'll get dealt with.
Annoying but hopefully she'll come around and be embarrassed by this behaviour in due course.

BluebellsGreenbells · 22/03/2021 23:20

I would open an email and respond at the end of the day

1 thanks for the info
2 noted
3 will send report tomorrow
4 noted
5 thanks for the information

6 not sure this applies to me
7 again noted
8 ask Jeff that’s his department
9 there are cups in the cupboard already
10 thanks for the info
11 I’ll mention it to Sarah next time I speak to her
12 ....

See how annoying you can be without being unprofessional

SnackSizeRaisin · 22/03/2021 23:22

She should be minimising the number of emails sent as this impedes productivity and is a mental health issue. I would suggest if she's sending more than 2 a day it is excessive (unless related to a particular urgent project or a conversation you are having). It's not even jobsworth behaviour as it is not appropriate! Perhaps suggest she sends one email daily and puts every thing in those two emails? Or you could make an automatic response to her only saying you are concentrating on work and will only reply to emails between X and X time unless urgent

oldshoeuk · 22/03/2021 23:52

So once upon a time, before email, I was a bit that jobsworth. Promoted but not trained or mentored I desperately wanted to work hard, be useful and do my job. The power of the memo pad was a bit like a rubber stamp and we had internal mail that could really fly.

Sorry to all those who suffered under me! Try to be gentle with her, guide her if you can. My guess is that like me she's trying to justify her promotion and do her bit. I'm not saying suffer it, just don't be too harsh.

BluePeterVag · 23/03/2021 00:55

I worked somewhere where the sales manager marched into the office and leaned forwards towards the jobsworth and cut the tie the jobsworth was wearing in two pieces. Took one piece, pinned it to the notice board and stormed off. We were amused and shocked in equal measure.
Lots of meetings went on that afternoon behind closed doors and it was never spoken of again, except the jobsworth was a lot less jobsworthesque from that day forward. I do not recommend this as a method for dealing with jobsworths.

BlackCatShadow · 23/03/2021 01:08

@BluebellsGreenbells

I would open an email and respond at the end of the day

1 thanks for the info
2 noted
3 will send report tomorrow
4 noted
5 thanks for the information

6 not sure this applies to me
7 again noted
8 ask Jeff that’s his department
9 there are cups in the cupboard already
10 thanks for the info
11 I’ll mention it to Sarah next time I speak to her
12 ....

See how annoying you can be without being unprofessional

I think this is a good approach. Replying in a block will show her how many she is sending.
BlackCatShadow · 23/03/2021 01:09

@Dizzy1234

Just to cheer you up, I worked with a woman who gave a much younger male member of staff a BJ in the ladies loo, not quite what your post asked for but I thought I'd just share 😂
Love this story!! Shock
orpah · 23/03/2021 01:57

100 a day?! What are they about?

MrsFin · 23/03/2021 02:02

Yea, what kind of emails? Informational, instructions, reminders, newsletters????

Frogella · 23/03/2021 02:07

Isn't this what the delete button is for?

Just ignore it, she'll soon calm down. Grey rock is not just for relationships.

sergeilavrov · 23/03/2021 03:29

You can auto reply to one person if you’re on outlook, probably a way with gmail too, depending on your work’s email platform. I’d just set up a really sunny, lovely reply so she’s happy the first time she gets it, and then angry when she gets the same one every time.

We have a guy who sends emails twice a month about people ‘snack sifting’ instead of grabbing a random selection, which leaves imbalanced proportions of options left as the month goes on... no amount of explaining can get him to understand people might not like every celebration in the tub. I started to eat office snacks just to sift and worsen the problem. His explosions on the topic are great. His other pet peeve is teaspoon hoarding, after he aggressively stirred his tea with a soup spoon and chipped his mug.

SueblueNZ · 23/03/2021 03:54

@BluebellsGreenbells

Excellent idea! I am going to pinch it and use it in a similar situation.

chatw00 · 23/03/2021 04:19

Your friend is an Outlook rule that sends all her emails to the deleted items bin. You can still read them when you feel like it, but saves you the hassle of being interrupted by them and then having to delete Grin

CuthbertDibbleandGrubb · 23/03/2021 07:09

In challenging this, perhaps observe that something that really does require an answer will have more chance of being missed because someone thinks it is from her and not important.

BigPaperBag · 23/03/2021 07:34

Yes, I have one like this and she’s so annoying! She also does this thing where she copies in your line manager for EVERYTHING so it’s like she’s ‘telling to teacher’ and it makes me far less inclined to do whatever she’s wanting me to do. She once emailed me asking me to email someone else to find out a really minor detail. I then had to email back her with said minor detail. I was like ‘FFS, do it yourself!!’ Luckily I’m leaving very soon so I won’t have to deal with this anymore.

CuntyMcBollocks · 23/03/2021 07:36

Keep all of the emails as proof if it carries on. You need to tell her politely but firmly to stop.

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