
A speakerphone of a type in common use for teleconferences. Some speakerphones, and some telephone connections, are half-duplex. That is, they permit transmission in only one direction at a time. Half-duplex facilities usually work just fine, but when someone is speaking, and one of the listeners wants to interrupt, the connection prohibits the interruption. Conversations over such connections are extremely frustrating.
I hate:
- …that when you fall asleep on your keyboard, your face gets quilted.
- …that my keyboard isn't drool-proof.
- …that I can no longer see what's going on behind me because my new monitor has a no-glare screen.
- …that there isn't any part of my monitor to clip my bicycle mirror to, and people laugh at me when I wear my helmet at work.
- …that the woman from QA always interrupts me whenever I'm interrupting her.
- …speakerphones that won't let you interrupt while someone at the other end is talking.
- …that Windows crashes so often.
- …that Windows doesn't crash often enough to be a reliable excuse for anything.
- …that when you set the cell phones they give us on vibrate, you can still hear them.
- …that my boss gives me bad advice that I have to follow.
- …that when I follow my boss's bad advice and the thing implodes, it's my fault.
- …that when someone calls me on a bad cell phone connection from under the airport public address system, I have to make up both ends of the conversation.
- …that to tell whether the sun is shining I have to badge out.
- …that nobody knows what business casual really means.
- …that meetings start and end on the hour, with no time in between, so all our meetings start late.
- …that I get more email than I can possibly read. If anyone really wants to reach me, they text me.
- I hate that nobody knows
what business casual
really means…that I get more text messages that I can possibly read. If anyone really wants to reach me, they call me. - …that I get more voicemail than I can possibly listen to. If anyone really wants to reach me, they send me email.
- …when they change a procedure nobody ever actually followed to some new, more complicated procedure that nobody will ever actually follow.
- …when people CC me so I'll know that one of my direct reports screwed up again. Do they think I don't already know?
- …when my boss tells me what she firmly believes, then asks for my honest opinion.
- …that our whiteboard markers are always dry. I think they must come that way out of the box.
- …when someone puts me on speaker and it's just us on the call, I know they're doing something with their hands but I can't imagine what.
- …when I have to drop the 17 things I'm doing to get training in managing multiple tasks.
- …when a drop dead showstopper problem that I've been busting my tail to resolve for three weeks is suddenly reclassified as noncritical just after I fix it.
I'm sure you have some pet peeves of your own. Don't send them to me. I hate that. (just kidding) Top
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Related articles
More articles on Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness:
Abraham, Mark, and Henny
- Our plans, products, and processes are often awkward, bulky, and complex. They lack a certain spiritual
quality that some might call elegance. Yet we all recognize elegance when we see it. Why do we make
things so complicated?
When You Think They've Made Up Their Minds
- In tough negotiations, when attempts to resolve differences have failed, we sometimes conclude that
"they've made up their minds," but other explanations abound. Keeping an open mind about why
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Untangling Tangled Threads
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a collection of techniques for minimizing tangles in complex discussions.
Embolalia and Stuff Like That: I
- When we address others, we sometimes use filler — so-called automatic speech or embolalia —
without thinking. Examples are "uh," "um," and "er," but there are more
complex forms, too. Embolalia are usually harmless, if mildly annoying to some. But sometimes they can
be damaging.
Way Too Much to Do
- You're good at your job — when you have enough time to do it. The problem is that so much comes
your way that you can't possibly attend to it all. Some things inevitably are missed or get short shrift.
If you don't change something soon, trouble is sure to arrive.
See also Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness for more related articles.
Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout
Coming July 16: Responding to Unwelcome Events
- Unwelcome events have two kinds of effects on decision-makers. One set of effects appears as we respond to events that have actually occurred. Another set manifests itself as we prepare for unwelcome events that haven't yet occurred, but which might occur. Making a wrong decision in either case can be costly. Available here and by RSS on July 16.
And on July 23: Microdelegation
- Microdelegation is a style of delegation in which the delegator unintentionally communicates the task to the subordinate in such detail and so repetitively that the subordinate is offended. As a result of this delegation style, many subordinates feel distrusted or suspected of fraud or goldbricking. Available here and by RSS on July 23.
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