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    Boss demands that employees remain at their desks and tell him what they're doing every time they get up, they comply and message him so often that he is forced to reverse the order: 'Last week I sent him 9 messages in one day'

    An employee whose boss complained about staff getting up to leave their desks too often messaged him every time they got up to do anything, forcing their boss to overturn their order through the sheer ridiculousness of the number of requests.

    Infantilization of the workforce is all too common in many organizations. There seems to be this understanding that authoritarian parenting is somehow the same as leadership, and that greater rules and restrictions are the only way to solve problems. What they don't realize is that many of these same rules do little but enforce rigidity, guaranteeing the organization will stifle creativity and enter a slow nose-dive, seemingly maintaining altitude but locked up and drifting.

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    Author image for Brad Dickson Brad Dickson
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    • A young man dressed in business casual attire does a pumping air guitar at his desk
      via Vitaly Gariev

      An employee does a pumping air guitar motion at his desk.

      The image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    • Boss said I cant just disappear from my desk so now I send him a message every time I leave

      We had a team meeting where my boss said people are just getting up and disappearing without telling anyone and its unprofessional. So now I message him on Teams every single time. "Stepping away for restroom." "Going to grab coffee." "Printer run." I dont wait for a response I just let him know. Last week I sent him 9 messages in one day. On Friday he replied "you dont need to tell me every time you move" and I said "just wanted to make sure Im being professional like you asked." He hasnt broug
      via Far_Turn9771

      The image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

    • An employee in a blue blazer and orange shirt works on his silver laptop at his desk
      via Vitaly Gariev

      A worker is seen smiling sheepishly into the camera with hands folded in front of the laptop he is working on at his desk. 

      The image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

    • Maybe these people simply aren't interested in being leaders, maybe they don't know how. Maybe, deep down, they're just afraid of rejection or of failure, and the only way they know they can keep control is through iron-fast grip. Regardless, it remains so that an inability to foster and inspire a belief in their leadership and ability to lead will often result in its place being taken by swaggering bravado and authoritarian micromanagement.

      It stands to reason that while this might achieve the ends of seeing the work done in the manner preferred, for a time. As the days, weeks, and months pass, there will be increased burnout, turnover, and less buy-in through anything other than fear of their jobs, which itself will have limited reach and result in a workforce seeming busy and committed rather than doing actual, committed work that seeks to move the needle forward. Presence and working, the act of being seen working become the most important thing in an organization, when, really, they are all ideas that hold little weight in actuality.

      The thing is, that ever-increasing oversight and demands for more information can, quite simply, be overwhelmed by an excess of it. The problem with information is the communication, storage, processing, and interpretation of it. All of these things take someone's time and resources, and at a certain point, when all your coworkers are letting your boss know every time they are leaving their desks, there will be a bottle neck forming and there is going to be a point where they are no longer able to keep up with all of it, or do other tasks that they need to do. Something will, quite simply, have to give.

      This worker's boss demanded that they let them know when they were stepping away because their absence was unprofessional. The intention was probably to get them to acquiesce by simply remaining at their desk, expecting that they would probably be too nervous or reluctant to ask for permission to step away and remain at the desk more often. Instead, they continued to leave their desk whenever necessary, instead offering information—too much information—messaging their boss up to 9 times daily with requests to use the restroom  or to go to the printer. This quickly saw a reversal in their boss's request, who didn't mention it further.

    • Menacia Jones My former boss did this, and the problem child to whom this was directed did the same. He was the king not only of malicious. compliance but weaponized incompetence as well.
      via Far_Turn9771
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    • Important-Art4892 I had a boss like this too that tried to keep tabs on me..so would put a message up that said things like: going to the bathroom, going to get an aspirin, going to get feminine product from my car.. etc.. she finally caved and said just put up a message if I'm going to be gone for any significant length of time! Ha!
      via Far_Turn9771
    • Nunov_DAbov Your boss would have freaked out in the government agency I worked for early in my career. We had a "clean desk" policy: absolutely nothing was to be on the desk when you were out of the building. One guy had been around for several years and was a master of the system. He had what we called his "busy kit." Each morning at 8 am sharp, he would come in, unlock his desk and pull out a bunch of stuff to completely cover his desk, appearing to be very actively doing something, although n
      via Far_Turn9771
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    • Caspia_Fire_64 I had a boss like this, one time I went to the bathroom and discovered I needed a feminine product and so came back to my desk, got what I needed, went back to the bathroom, and took care of what I needed, and when I got back in the main chat this woman had started about how much time I was spending in the bathroom. This was after months of little picking comments, so I said "I just figured everyone would be happier if I didn't bl d all over my chair is all," and she private messa
      via Far_Turn9771
    • blueimac540c Bonus MC move: email him to clarify what level of notification would be considered appropriately professional, as clearly it's between "no notification required" and "every time I leave my desk." Also, it sounds like he's a
      via Far_Turn9771
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    • StorageHorder Follow up with an email making sure they saw the IM
      via Far_Turn9771
    • ChooseWisely83 My previous boss wanted people in the office so we could "collaborate", but would get frustrated if I didn't answer her Teams messages quickly enough and would ask "are you in the office?". I'd get back to my office after having an in person discussion with someone to a string of messages.
      via Far_Turn9771
    • StormGlass338 My old store manager was like that. I was a front end supervisor and believe it or not, sometimes I needed to go to the back room for supplies for whatever reason I was the only front end supervisor out of 8 who ever got reprimanded for "leaving the front end." And forget about it if a customer had an item with no barcode and they wanted me to go find another one with a tag. I'd get berated for "shopping on the clock" when I'm literally just doing my job Imao. Probably don't even n
      via Far_Turn9771
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    • Drackon28 Had a senior director once come into my office and shut the door. He asked me if everything was ok with one of my employees. I said as far as I know it was, but why? He said, "Well, he grabbed his laptop and bag and left. Just wondering why he left early and if he said anything to you." Pulled up the schedule to check, and sure enough my guy was in a 3-hr major construction project kickoff meeting until the end of the day. I just looked at the director and said, "He's in a meeting till
      via Far_Turn9771
    • Sirix_8472 Had a boss exactly like this, major micro manager. He did this and so I did exactly what OP did. We had a printer we needed to use, our buildings were connected via small narrow corridors, but we were also 4 floors up. I had to print stuff daily for my tasks whenever I finished something, so it was just "however long the taks takes, then I print, go collect it". Walking down 4 flights of stairs, then crossing 2 massive rooms, then a corridor to the next building, 2 more massive rooms,
      via Far_Turn9771

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