The logic of complaining at work

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Dalar
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The logic of complaining at work

Postby Dalar » Thu Aug 12, 2010 12:35 am

Complain = You complain too much (which is 1 too many complaints)
!Complain = Why do you put up with it?

Feels like at work, life, even this MUD, if you complain, you complain too much. If you don't complain, people ask why do you put up with it. How does one break this stupid cycle.
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Re: The logic of complaining at work

Postby Dugmaren » Thu Aug 12, 2010 1:07 am

Easy - you choose your battles sir.
Kifle
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Re: The logic of complaining at work

Postby Kifle » Thu Aug 12, 2010 2:43 am

^^ Yup. Or, complain at the right times and in the right way. Complain about inane things or things that are just minor annoyances, and you're labeled as a complainer because most find your annoyances to be insignificant... At work, if I'm complaining about something, people know it's important and needs fixed -- mainly because I work around other peoples' stupid shit and fix things without saying anything.
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Re: The logic of complaining at work

Postby Sarvis » Thu Aug 12, 2010 2:49 am

Also think it helps to make suggestions on how to fix the issue, rather than JUST complaining.
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Re: The logic of complaining at work

Postby Dalar » Thu Aug 12, 2010 7:19 pm

All good advice I have already received in the past. The 4th advice that I will add is: If you can't change the attitiude of others, change your own.

Most of the complaints I have about work are unbalanced workload (I've seen people play video games 4+ hours while other people are actually doing work), someone under me doing shit like calling me asshole on work IM or refusing to do things like turn down the music while i'm on a work call, a guy who stares at me at work because he hates me (for funny reasons that I won't publically post), and people not using our new process to send out test requests (or just not sending out test requests for all i know).

A few of my coworkers always complain about some of the more widespread problems and I just let my boss know because I felt it was better than people in our organization or outside of our organization constantly saying it behind everyone's backs. I guess I was wrong on that one. It's tough for me to set the personal stuff aside though. If someone's constantly staring at you at work and ratting you out for the stupidest shit (I spent 5 min on a call with a travel agent and he told my boss) is annoying as hell.

Oh and you guys did help with your advice. Having old advice repeated just means it's common knowledge.
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Re: The logic of complaining at work

Postby Kifle » Thu Aug 12, 2010 10:11 pm

It seems like you're just not the type of person to play office politics. Unfortunately for me, I have to in order to keep any semblance of efficiency or peace. As for people under you treating you like shit, you could always do what I do -- get even, only to a larger degree. One of my floor workers was being a lazy shit, and he wouldn't listen to the manager. I got wind of it and went out to have a chit chat... fuck around talk. I asked for his lighter so I could smoke. I lit my cigarette, but while he wasn't looking, I kept the flame on behind my back for a good five minutes. I said thanks, tossed it to him, and he burnt the shit out of his hand. He looked at me, and I said, "It's not like you're using it for work" and walked away. He has worked decent every since.

As for the guy staring at you, just wink at him. Nothing pisses those people off worse than somebody winking at them in a gay way. Just make random comments to him while people are around like "If you want to fuck me, just ask... otherwise, stop staring at me." The strongest tool you will ever have in any situation like this is embarrassment. Don't ever discount simple behavioral psychology.

The test requests? Are these people under you or equals? If they are under you, write them the fuck up and don't say another word. If they are equals, just let it go and let them fuck themselves. You'll get promotions and they'll probably stay in their current position.

The workload would piss me the fuck off, and it has in the past; however, there is a reason I made VP and people are shitty they are still in lower positions even though I've been at the company for only a little over a year. Regardless of whether you think so or not, your superiors notice the people that work - unless it is a biased company, in which case you'll want to look for another job. Again, if they are under you, you might want to try what I've done in the past: I have a very lazy sales team, for the most part. They like to youtube and facebook about 3/4 of the day. Unfortunately for them, they are idiots, and I installed backdoors on their computers. So, when I feel like the sales aren't doing well that day, I tunnel into their systems and start shutting down their programs. They attempt to turn them back on, and I delete shortcuts. I'm very passive aggressive in my position, but it seems to work very well.

Good luck!
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Re: The logic of complaining at work

Postby Dalar » Fri Aug 13, 2010 12:58 am

Yea, I can't do any of that (imo) because I work at a corporation. Not sure what you mean by write them the fuck up. It's funny that the staring guy is actually a tier lower than me, but is subbing for a guy on my tier. He totally made himself look like a retard today and I didn't complain once. Not my battle, but everyone who was in the meeting was talking about it after.
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Re: The logic of complaining at work

Postby amena wolfsnarl » Fri Aug 13, 2010 1:37 am

Its funny at my company i work with nothing but whiners and bitchers....it drives me nuts. The funny thing about it is that the thing they bitch the most about is utter stupidity. They complain that the company trucks they get (with paid fuel) are in bad shape (they made em like that). They complain that the 3 day ski trip in jasper for christmas was only 2 days this year. It seems to me like the more a company gives a person the more people whine and moan and think they are entitled to more.

Its really hard to keep a positive attitude at work when working with people like that. I understand that completely. But how can you change an entire company of people to be more positive and quit whining so much? especially when your in a non management role?
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Re: The logic of complaining at work

Postby Kifle » Fri Aug 13, 2010 4:32 am

Eh, I'm in a corporation as well; however, I'm near the top of the chain, fortunately. What I meant by write them up is, if you're in a management role, you more than likely have HR procedures such as write-ups as a course of disciplinary action. It varies from state to state, but to avoid incurring penalties such as higher unemployment insurance brackets and lawsuits for wrongful termination, you need proof of their actions -- which is where write-up forms, performance reviews, etc. come in. You have an employment file filling up with these, HR will catch on, and upper management will be more inclined to take some type of meaningful action. I'm not exactly sure what your status at your company is, so maybe you're not in a position where you can enforce procedures; I suppose that would make any of that more difficult.

Your only outlet really is to let these people hang themselves. I've actually been in a pretty nasty battle with one of the senior sales associates lately. My sales manager pretty much refuses to do anything other than become a very useless liaison who is too scared to actually solve problems. So, outside of the backdoor shananigans, I "accidentally" use cash basis accounting rules rather than the normal accrual basis on her sales reports which makes her look useless. I also bring up little things during sales meetings with the managerial staff and the president in a peripheral manner such as "So, what ever happened with the XXX account?" When I already know the account was lost due to lack of personality or followups, or for meetings I will do a quick analysis of profit margins using the worst of her weeks out of the month (as a random sampling) due to a heavier distributor ordering rather than end-user sales. She's halfway out the door as we speak.

There are always ways to deal with these types of people; however, you may have to think a bit outside the box if you have certain restraints. But, I imagine if these people can get away with playing video games at work for hours at a time, then you can get away with a bit of passive aggressive vengeance and make yourself look good in the process. In the end, it's best, again, to just let them hang themselves and find ways to ignore things. Instead of complaining, offer suggestions (as was said earlier) to fix the problem as you bring it up. Don't say that X is a problem, say that X seems to be or might become a problem, but if we do Y, this would boost productivity and efficiency. Bosses love to look good in the eyes of their bosses, and if you can fix numbers like those with a suggestion during a complaint, you will be loved by your superiors. If you just complain, you will be avoided by your superiors and hated by your equals and underlings.
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Re: The logic of complaining at work

Postby Kifle » Fri Aug 13, 2010 4:43 am

Yeah, I suppose I seem like a huge asshole, but these things only happen to the people that are a disease in the office and cost the company money. There are many people who annoy me on a daily basis, and I ignore them -- because they do their work in the end. My job is only going to be available as long as the company is profitable, and when personal greed and laziness jeopardize that, I find a way to remove it -- either by getting them to do their jobs, or seeing that they no longer have their jobs one way or another. That way I can bring in somebody that deserves the position.
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Re: The logic of complaining at work

Postby Dalar » Fri Aug 13, 2010 5:51 pm

Points well taken. My situation is odd. So the guy who's annoying me has a boss who is basically protecting him. Since they have a very small workload, then can get away with "looking good" because it's really easy to press a few buttons a day. The guy's boss is also protected because he is driving some training that may be valuable. I can't do performance reviews on anyone because our boss doesn't do performance reviews on us. I work in a contracted organization by HP, so let's just say everything is very relaxed.
Dugmaren
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Re: The logic of complaining at work

Postby Dugmaren » Fri Aug 13, 2010 10:20 pm

Love this thread - Kifle ya you're a jerk but.. the more responsibility / higher up I get the more I find that's the best way to run things. If being nice only affects you sure, be nice - but when the detriments of being nice start affecting the entire company or the share holders etc. nice is no longer an option.

Brian something else to consider - don't ask "do I like this person" ask "can I manage this person".
Dalar
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Re: The logic of complaining at work

Postby Dalar » Fri Aug 13, 2010 10:27 pm

I can manage his childish antics fo sho, just need to learn not to tell my boss my frustrations with him. I think my boss is starting to get the picture though. Last meeting we had with an outside vendor, he made an idiot out of himself by telling the outside vendor Konnichi wa (because her name is Japanese, but she's actually Chinese), asked where the factory was and said his father owns a hotel there and can provide free night stay (which is stupid because the factory is 40 miles away etc.) and told the vendor they should get an expert on our software process when he should be the one who is the expert.

Summary: Guy is making himself look stupid without my intervention.

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