Being Hovered Over At Work

[blas87]

I suppose everyone has experienced this in some way or form in any kind of job or assignment.

This is a nightly effing occurance, even when the work load is extremely light. Of course, management still panics over delivery times and those goals being met, but I find it hard to not take offense to it. Shit may roll downhill, but blame goes the opposite direction. Not to mention, some people take the presure put on them way too far and against people and it causes a lot of frustration.

People who have worked with these people for much longer than me have advised me not to take it personally and just try to ignore it and do the best I can, but I guess I just can't stop myself from getting upset about it. I don't really react except for the occasional snarky replies or dirty "Are you serious?" looks I give.

I guess it's just always been my own personal belief that if someone has to be watched and constantly asked if they are finished or what is wrong, that there must be something deeper and perhaps they shouldn't be in that position. And yes, I guess I am talking about myself here, because I wonder why I am hovered over and personally treated like I am the reason something is not getting done as quickly as they'd like it or that it's my fault that the machinery is old and unpredictable and never fixed the way it should be. I am not saying I should be talked to or gotten into trouble, but it just irritates me that I am treated like a speed bump, I'll even go as far as to say I am treated as though I am purposely not getting something done (when that is the farthest thing from the truth!). Although no one ever comes right out and says it, that's how I feel when I am hovered over and repeatedly asked what's wrong, why am I not done yet?

Even better is when someone else is the reason that the work isn't getting done, and the blame is being put on me (not outwardly and blatantly, but I am the one being crucified and watched over it). For instance, if I have a lot of units that need to be looked over again, I cannot put them back through for another cycle in the machine if someone has not looked at them yet and said that they are alright and it was a machine error. My shift lead practically forbids me from doing that task myself, even though I am trained in that area, because she says it slows the work down, even though there are times the others are bogged down with the same problem from other operators' stuff, and I feel there is no reason I can't sit down for a moment and try and troubleshoot.

Speaking of that, I am even followed around at times, if everything does not go perfectly right away and I need to take my machine apart and replace something or fiddle with the settings. My shift lead has stood by me and just went "Ooooooh nooooo....oooooooh thisss isss nott goooood this neeeeds to be done riiight away!" while I have been trying everything I can. Or sometimes if it's a standard problem that just takes a few steps and a few extra minutes, she will call over another operator to help me......and I could have done it myself! Or when my machine is broken and I attempt to use the phone and page for a maintenance person to fix it, she's seen me absent from my machine and ran over to me and said that a coworker should verify that the machine is broken before we page for help. Sometimes, that coworker has wasted almost an hour fighting with a broken machine, so we ended up losing double the production time, because the lead didn't think I knew if my machine was really broken or not.

I kid you not, there have been times there have been two or three other people working with me (these are ONE person machines), it's like a four headed monster inside the machine, and NOTHING is getting accomplished because everyone is in my way!

I hate being hovered over, followed around, constantly nagged, and overall treated like a fucking idiot, especially when I'd assume that by now, I've worked there long enough to be able to prove that I'm not stupid and I know what I'm doing.

[Rantsylvania 6-5000]

You know, having someone breathing down my neck is more likely to slow me down, or cause me to screw up! I'd be self-conscious the whole time!

Although no one ever comes right out and says it, that's how I feel when I am hovered over and repeatedly asked what's wrong, why am I not done yet?

They wouldn't dare say it, because they know you're not the problem! What they think hovering over you will accomplish, I have no idea.

Even better is when someone else is the reason that the work isn't getting done, and the blame is being put on me (not outwardly and blatantly, but I am the one being crucified and watched over it).
...

I hate being hovered over, followed around, constantly nagged, and overall treated like a fucking idiot, especially when I'd assume that by now, I've worked there long enough to be able to prove that I'm not stupid and I know what I'm doing.

Been there, done that. And I've also worked for the companies that are too cheap to keep their equipment fixed, so production doesn't have to come to a screeching halt.

[Dreamstalker]

You know, having someone breathing down my neck is more likely to slow me down, or cause me to screw up! I'd be self-conscious the whole time!

Exactly. The Jerk used to do that; his management style seemed to be "I need to watch the drones to make sure they're doing what I think they should"...there tended to be a vast disconnect between the way he thought X should be done and the way it really should be done.

OM in my post over on CS tends to do that if she doesn't think things are going fast enough...I don't care what universe you live in, hovering is not going to turn me into The Flash.

[Ginger Tea]

Since coming back from my break we've had a few 9 finishes, iir one 10, but I would have to check my calender. Some of this is due to 2 new people being trained, you can't expect someone on their first day let alone week to be fast and accurate at doing the job you've been doing for seven years, although the goal posts have moved a few times during these years.
Another is our new machine that was installed a day or two after I got back, it has been 'fixed' on an almost daily basis, thus meaning we get our stock alot later than normal, if the lidders finish late, we finish late.
Normally I start with what I've got for my drops and go back towards the end putting the lunch menu in what holes I left and supper on the top of the stack, I on an almost daily basis have had to explain that you can't just dump whats finally arived all on top as our customers might not notice that the missing lunch is with the supper in another fridge or part of it. Hell one even put a swiss roll in the oven once cos it didn't have a cold desert lable on it and even though we know Shepherds Pie is remove plastic we cannot guarantee that the person cooking the food knows this and one person stacking the shelves didn't return a stack of nearly 80 boxes for the lidders to relable, I myself relabled each and every one, but did the others even though I said they needed to be labled? Probably not.

So I start my fridge monkey job at half 3 after taking my lunch break, spending the first part of my day weighing soup's and gravy (which I hate doing) and we have almost nothing, a quick stock check leads me to the conclusion we are in for a long day and even putting in what I've got doesn't seem to help as I'm only putting in 25% of the stock compared to 75%.
On top of this we have a new run for a few months, 7 drops in total and it had been decided between my coworkers (we over rule most management sugestions as they havnt done our job to realise what can go wrong) in my absence how it should be set out 11am guy does the new one ontop of his/her route and the one that was normally split three ways is now between the other two, in all you have about the same ammount of pieces of paper to pick from, but the new route is piss easy and one girl always takes that drop regardless of where she is.

So before this gets to a TL;DR (too late)
it's gone 8 and I've not finished my first drop let alone taken on my half of the other one and the new guy is just as behind (to be expected as hes new) but for me this sucks, 8 and done is my average even with delays further along the line and as the late supervisor is going to be early the next day she steps in to help us out, now its cramped enough with the three of us, now she decides to set up shop in the middle of the walk way so we all have trouble moving and with my mildly-clubbed foot not liking to sudden stops, im dodging 3 people instead of two and some times had to just stand there waiting, I feel I would have been done quicker if she had not helped as I would not have to keep waiting to get to the shelves all the time.

RE hovering though
I only get that from drivers but as most drops have been shuffled around I don't get that any more, but I used to tell one I would be done quicker if he just fucked off for a coffee instead of watching me, one even picked his drop himself as he was super early back from his last, then bitched that he was missing food, erm you fucked it up cos you were in a rush for no reason what so ever.

[blas87]

Yeah, like I said, it's a nightly occurance, and I seem to be the biggest target to be hovered over and watched. It annoys the ever living hell out of me.

Just like a similar situation a couple of years ago, where I was the biggest target to be watched and my slacker coworkers were never even given any attention to what they *weren't* doing, it's just not fair.

It makes me wonder why I'm even in this job if my lead is so certain I am wasting time or screwing around or not working fast enough. Even when I don't have a big workload for the shift, I am obsessed over and watched like a hawk by my lead. It's insulting, I wish she'd realize that.

She also does something similar with two other guys who are newer, which they don't need to be watched like that, either. The two people who are never watched and even left to screw around as they please, have been there in that area longer than the rest of us (but not with the company itself as long as I have). It makes my blood boil that they are left to screw around or talk or only do as much work as they please, while especially me and occasionally the other two are hovered over like we are the reason nothing is getting done.

In fact, like I said earlier, I am hovered over and questioned why things aren't getting done, when it's usually because those two aren't keeping up because they are fooling around. Or because there is just too much work for the others in general and the lead refuses to let me help. So essentially, I am forced to stand around and wait for work to come to me, but I am watched while I wait or even try to help get it going, and my lead keeps constantly asking me if I am done yet or what is taking so long. She's even accused me of purposely holding the problem product just for the end. But, if I stop what I am doing every time something goes wrong to give it to someone else, she's instantly running after me, wondering why I've abandoned my machine or why it has been temporarily turned off.

I swear, if she hears it turn off, she's right on my tail wondering what's wrong. She does that sometimes with the other two, but never with the lazy two.

Now if you couldn't before, you can probably see why I dread going to work. I don't even want to hear about being a good worker and having more expected out of me and being pushed, because this is NOT right. It's wrong and completely unfair. This is how you scare people away. This is why we've lost a few people in the past year to other shifts or departments.

[Rantsylvania 6-5000]

This is quite common, and I don't get it either. Logic would dictate that the manager should be pushing the lazy ones, but what do I know?

I'm surprised your boss doesn't make you go over and "help" the lazy ones catch up on their work. That's what my mangers have usually done.

I once worked for a place where the manager ended up being my sister's boyfriend. He pulled the same crap. I mentioned it to her, and she asked him about it, and he said it was because he knew they wouldn't get back to work even if he told them to. Excuse me? Then you fire them if they won't work, asswipe, you don't pile their work on someone else who's already busting their ass! He had no business being a manager!

[Ginger Tea]

Not knowing exactly what your job is, I can't tell if you work parralell to each other or you are reliant on someone else to finish their part before you can continue onto yours, if you are waiting for the slackers to pick up the pace then your line manager should be looking at the root cause. If they are adding to your work load to compensate for their inactions again they are looking in the wrong place.

Currently I think someone got a higer job than they are suited for due to fucking someone, or the slackers slack off cos they are fucking someone Iie the shift lead) or are related in some way.

...

With my place, as I've said before we are the last to get any of the product and aside from the drivers we are the last link in the chain and when the lidders finally go home, there is perhaps only 7 of us in the building, 3 of us working in the picking fridge, one cleaner and two late supervisors, one technically just a team leader.
most of our later than 8 finishes are due to something else wrong in the chain, yet they are on our cases for the finishing time, mostly due to whomever is late supervisor is in again at 04:30 the next day (not my idea of fun) so I myself wouldn't want to be in that situation again, being late then early rinse and repeat, although my start time then was 06:00.
Some days the guy packing the larger drops is lidding instead, come 2 hes out the door no question, yet he will bitch and moan if one of the others does that to him when hes packing and now one man down with a broken machine, scratch that he normally does even if things are running smoothly.

But if one of us goes in there to help till the end, it would mean more work handed over to the other two as if we don't start at 3-3:30 we will be late out the door, say one does help out till 6 at the latests, if we didn't take some of their drops off they would be finishing around 10, although they would be starting with 100% stock and not putting in what we have and going back (technically doing it twice) and adding things in later.

Hell we've even had flack for a late finish when there has been a fire alarm and we've been out of the building for nearly and hour, an hour where nothing gets done, even if it happened before my start time, the reppercusions are still felt with the delays, yet it's our fault we are behind.

[Ninja_Sushi]

I hate being hovered on. It irritates me to no end. If badly effects my work performance. For example, when I was younger and working at a McD's, I could make you a burger so fast no matter how many things you took off or added on. Once I have a corporate person standing behind me, I start over-thinking. And I make mistakes I never make. Then I look like a terrible employee after my bosses had told them how quick and accurate I was.

[Dreamstalker]

Exactly (NS, I love your avatar!). Yes, there's a certain amount of "hovering" in training to make sure someone gets it right, but after that leave me alone kthx. I'm a big girl, can do my own work, and if I do legitimately screw up (as opposed to a screwup that's being pinned on me or is otherwise bogus) I will own up to it.

I think it has something to do with this whole 'multitasking' culture. Bosses think that multitasking to the extreme is good (studies have shown it can actually be worse) and by hovering they will somehow instill you with that spirit. Or something

[blas87]

I apologize that it's very difficult to understand what I'm talking about....a lot of it is trying to not give everything away, but to do my best to paint a picture. This is so hard to do, but I'll try my best.

Not everyone slows me down or is slacking, just a select few who would rather stand/sit around and chat. Sometimes, there is just too much work in general for the staff that we have, but I swear it's just that those who are in charge have their concrete ways of how they want to do things, and it'd be the end of the world if we deferred it or let someone out of their box and to use their other talents. When a shift lead from another shift comes in, it's a whole different story and things work out differently. Or, on the occasion that our shift lead gives up at trying to impress the higher ups, and lets us do it our way, things get done a lot more easily.

I mean it's as if they have their own ways they refuse to change, this person goes here, this person here.....yeah these people are all cross trained in multiple areas but we have too much work so they have to be where we know the work will get done....problem being, if there's a difficult machine issue or two or three, or if someone in the next process is slowing you down, it doesn't matter how good you are. Allowing me to utilize all of my skills would help work get done faster, instead of chaining me to one machine and not allowing me to leave and help out if the workload is too much or others are slowing me down by not giving me enough work to do. But it always seems like harping on me, watching and hovering over me, and nagging me is always the solution.

And as far as feedback goes......of course I fuck up, a lot of times because I was rushed or not allowed ample time to make sure I was doing it right. I don't play victim or cry that it isn't fair, usually I just swallow and own up to everything, even stuff that I feel people have no right to blame me for. Stand behind me watching me, demanding that I get this thing going and faster now now....well, ok, you got it.....I can't guarantee there won't be issues later, though.

And naturally, I am rushed or hovered over and make a mistake, if it's discovered later, someone comes rushing back with the pitchforks and accusations all ready to fire at me, and of course I need to own up to it and I even get scolded to be more careful and make sure I am watching what I am doing better and taking time to make sure nothing is damaged. When I was practically harrassed to get this shit done in 10 seconds.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Show me any workplace where the bosses are always lurking over the employees' shoulders, and I'll show you a workplace with too many bosses.

There's really no reason for that.

[blas87]

Close, Irv, but it's not everyone, just me and a select few others.

That means to me, they have too much extra time to panic and freak out, and it's easier to pin the blame and tension on the hardest workers, or like with the other two guys who get nagged the way they do, because they are newer. Which we should all know by now is a great way to guarantee that person will gtfo as soon as they can if they are going to be treated that way.

[PepperElf]

tho... it does make me wonder... are they trying to create excuses to terminate you or something?

[Andara Bledin]

It's possible that your competence is threatening. They're looking for things to complain at you for to put you on a par more with the other workers/themselves (when they were on the floor) and make you seem less threatening, somehow.

I rarely get hovered over, thankfully. Only when people are waiting for me to whip out something they need right away. Unless I'm already irritated or jumpy for some reason, I can just ignore them.

^-.-^

[blas87]

I don't think I'm threatening at all, unless threatening means coming to work and doing my best and well, doing my job. But yeah, I guess when compared to a lot of slackers, it is a big threatening. But it's not very hard to be competent in your job. I'm far from the best, I'm not even that high on the totem pole, so I don't see why anyone would want to go above and beyond to make me look like an idiot, but it seems to be a past-time of shift leads at that factory.

That would be one of my biggest peeves about that place, is that it never fails that someone is always treating me like a damn idiot, some even go out of their way to do so. If I'm that stupid and unreliable to get work done, why do I have this job, why am I even trusted to do this work?

I've said it before and I've said it again, I don't think that adults need to be "watched" (especially hovered over). If someone is that big of a problem that they can't be trusted to get work done, they should be in some sort of trouble or probation or writting/verbal warning, which, guess what, I'm not on any of them. That and it's not fair to make it the peeons' problem that there's a lot of pressure on you to look good, especially when they do try their best.

Andara, you'll have to give me some ignore tactics. Every day I try to start new and promise myself I will not let it get to me and I will do my best to ignore the pressure and the pushing and the hovering, but it never fails, at some point every day, I just about all but start twitching, and I've started to worry because I have gotten snippy and really had a hard time watching my mouth. I don't need any repeats of what happened in my old work area where I tore one of my former shift leads a new one and pointed out how he was being extremely unfair.