"US president Harry S. Truman's use of the slogan "the buck stops here" in speeches, and on a sign on his desk, derives from the adoption of the phrase "passing the buck" as a metaphor for avoiding responsibility."
No other place on earth has more "buck passing" than the office or one's place of employment. Right? I think 8 out of every 10 employees try to do as little work as possible. They do whatever it takes to get it off their desk and onto someone else's.
Do any of you have people at work who basically live at the office but never seem to get anything done? I don't get it.
I love the people who walk around the office who try to give the impression that they are "swamped" with work. Their acting skills are so poor it's almost comical. When I get shit to do, I do it, end of story. I don't drag it out to try to make myself look busy. The minute I get something I do it. Some people have mastered the art of taking 2 hours worth of work and turning it into 8. Here are some of their tricks to looking busy:
1) They always pretend to look annoyed or stressed. This gives the average person they pass the impression they are grinding it out and are overwhelmed.
2) They always carry papers everywhere they go. They always have to seem like they are on a mission, like those papers are urgent. A person with no documents looks like they are heading to the cafeteria, a newspaper means the bathroom.
3) Wiping the brow. That's one of my favorites. they wipe their brow or their head like they are just so exhausted or drained from the "onslaught" of work.
4) Deep breaths or sighs. They breathe in deep to emphasize the physical and emotional toll that "ton of work" is having on them.
5) They seem glued to their computers. They are really playing video games, doing their banking, or some other personal stuff, but it gives the impression they are busy.
6) The messy desk. A clean desk is a sign of not having enough work. They spread papers all over the desk and guest chairs to make it look like they are overwhelmed.
7) They bring binders and papers home. Those binders could be lunch menus, but it gives the impression they are slaving at home too and that they are just too busy to finish it all.
8) They always let their voice mail pick up. This gives the impression they are swamped and can't even take a call. They then call back 20 minutes later explaining how busy they are and they say sorry for missing the call.
9) They appear to work late. They stay until the minute the boss leaves and fly the coop. They probably just read magazines or surf the net to look busy and kill time until the boss leaves.
10) They stack books, manuals, and catalogs all over their office to give that busy effect.
The office, quite a place.
6 comments:
A messy desk is a sign of brilliance. I'm the president of the club. I think it's a marketing thing. I have a coworker, who is always busy....busy butting her nose in other peoples jobs and not doing her own. Or, cleaning. She's good at cleaning, and wondering why she's always behind.
Mon, I agree with you about the messy desk being a marketing thing. When I was in marketing, my desk was ALWAYS busy. Without fail. Except for the few precious moments on Monday mornings when the janitorial crew had come in over the weekend. But it actually got to a point where they just stopped trying.
Oh, and Cmac, carrying a newspaper around my office is a sign of being busy... but maybe that's just cause I work for a newspaper. :)
Get to work and stop complaining.
I would have no problem getting extremely busy in your office.
I work with people who say they are so busy then you hear them calling their friends. The buck usually stops here....
haha, #1 reminds me of a Seinfeld episode where George is pretending to look busy. He trys to look annoyed and stressed in front of his boss. classic.
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