To ask if people really do this at work?

[Anycrispsleft]

We've just had a reorganisation at work and we have a new boss. The meeting was yesterday, had been booked in for a week, and there have been various rumours doing the rounds about it, most of them true. One of the people who used to work for new boss (F) came to our (me and G) small office on Wednesday and asked if we knew anything about what was going on (no) and asked if his boss had been invited to our meeting - and revealed that he had checked her calendar to see if she had a meeting booked at the same time.
Yesterday at the meeting the +1 manager had a go at 7s for spreading rumours and for "doing things like talking to other colleagues and checking calenders to try and find out what is going wrong. Now that sounds a lot like what F had done, but how did the big boss know? I certainly didn't tell him, so did G?
That's what I wanted to ask - do people do that? How do you even do it? Do you just drop the guy an email going "just thought you might like to know that F was down here asking questions" or whatever? I'm totally freaked out by the whole thing.

YANBU - who wants to be a grass
YABU - nothing wrong with letting senior management know what people are saying

Checking someone's calendar feels like a breach of privacy so I'd be raising it on that ground!

You lost me at "grass". You're not children or drug dealers. If somebody is doing something wrong, tough shit if they get caught out. Own it

What?! A bit of diary snooping is perfectly normal, I do it all the time. Though I definitely wouldn't go running to the boss with any info.

Where I used to work you could see if someone accessed your calendar. I think in theory it was in case something had been added. I can’t remember if it told you specially who, but you definitely knew someone had been on.

Not at the last three places I have worked, all of our calendars are visible to everyone else in the organisation, it’s much more efficient when booking meetings and you also know not to call/drop by to see someone when they are busy. I put everything in my calendar, even my personal appointments because I can’t be arsed having more than one calendar floating about and most people where I work do the same.

Sorry I couldn’t really follow your post OP, maybe I am tired, but it all sounds a bit toxic if there are whispers going around and then the big boss saying that people shouldn’t be speculating or similar. I would talk to big boss, but I would be saying: “Look the rumour mill is in full swing, I think you’d be best off just having an open meeting with everyone to put this all to bed.”

Yes to PP. sounds like a weird toxic workplace.

Yeah I must say it took a pretty toxic turn with this meeting and the build up to it. I think I might slowly start planning my exit tbh, at least maybe look for an internal move.

I don't understand your post but checking diaries is totally normal when arranging meetings

Checking a work calendar is a breach of privacy? What nonsense is that?

Everyone in our office has access to everyone’s calendar, across all levels of management. That way you can schedule meetings properly. I will tell my junior staff to look at my calendar and put meetings in when I’m free. There is nothing personal on my work calendar, if I have a personal appointment, time is blocked out as “out of office”. As a manager, if someone isn’t at their desk, I need to know where they are and when they will be back so I can schedule in time with them or have them be available for clients.

Shall I have another go at explaining what happened?
A - new boss as of yesterday
B - big boss, A's boss, our +1 manager
C - old boss
G - colleague I share an office with
F - colleague who worked for A until the recent organisational changes

So about a week ago, C sent our group (me and G, and others, but not F, hes not in our group) a meeting request for yesterday.
In the meantime, rumours started to fly including that A was going to be our new boss. On Wednesday F came to me and G's office and asked us if we knew what was going on and said he had checked A's calendar to see if she was attending our meeting. And then yesterday, at the meeting, B said he was "disappointed" that people had been spreading rumours and doing things like going and asking others what they knew and checking people's calendars. This sounds a lot like exactly what F did, but since (afaik) he only told that to me and G, does that mean G went and told the big boss about that? And is that a thing that people do?

Outlook calendars within organisations are public and shareable. You’re meant to be able to look at them! They’re so you can check when might be a good time to put a meeting in with someone etc. If people want to put in confidential stuff they simply mark it private and nobody will see anything other than ‘private appt’ in that slot.

We have open diaries and routinely check availability before organising meetings. Or to see what x is up to and whether it’s important or they can be interrupted. Eg is it a recurring meeting that they don’t often go to or is it someone’s supervision, or are they off site and not on Teams so you’d need to phone them to get hold of them. If it’s confidential it’s in as a private meeting.
Your culture sounds like the problem. I’d be making moves to leave.

Ye no it's breaching privacy

That's why diaries are there, to be looked at. Perfectly normal

Checking a diary which is open, fine

But this sounds like someone checking a closed diary which is not ok

Then how do you arrange meetings/know when to leave someone alone? Our place would grind to a halt if we couldn’t see each others calendars.

All sounds very childish and my worst nightmare of a business environment

what does “having a go” look like In reality op?

I feel for managers of teams like this.

I’m guessing you haven’t worked in a corporate environment? In an office infact

Do you have a phobia of D and E OP?

or do you struggle with the alphabet?

Why are you assuming that F is the only person who did this? Or that F only told you & G?

It's pretty normal for rumours to get round, and pretty normal for managers to hate it. And fairly usual for managers to find out - they don't need "a grass" 🙄

Are you all adults or is the office some kind of school newspaper or similar?

I started with F and G because they felt nicely random and anonymous and then when people didn't know what I was on about I had to go and backfill so I just started again with A
I suppose I could have just renamed F and G in my second post but that would have caused like Cancel the Cheque levels of crossed wires 😀

D and E don’t feel random and anonymous to you?

I think it sounds like none of you have enough actual work to do!

What privacy??

You can control who you share it with.

This is work, why would there be privacy?