Pet Peeves About Work

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 non-critical 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    Next Issue

Are your projects always (or almost always) late and over budget? Are your project teams plagued by turnover, burnout, and high defect rates? Turn your culture around. Read 52 Tips for Leaders of Project-Oriented Organizations, filled with tips and techniques for organizational leaders. Order Now!

Your comments are welcome

About Point Lookout

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.

Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.

Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.

Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.

Related articles

More articles on Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness:

Four Popular Ways to Mismanage Layoffs: I

When layoffs are necessary, the problems they are meant to address are sometimes exacerbated by mismanagement of the layoff itself. Here is Part I of a discussion of four common patterns of mismanagement, and some suggestions for those managers and other employees who recognize the patterns in their own companies.

Finding Work in Tough Times: Marketing

We aren't accustomed to thinking of finding work in tough times as a marketing problem, but it helps. Here are some suggestions for applying marketing principles to finding work in tough times.

Fill in the Blanks

When we conceal information about ourselves and our areas of responsibility, we make room for others to speculate. Speculation is rarely helpful. It's wise to fill in the blanks.

Wacky Words of Wisdom

Words of wisdom are so often helpful that many of them have solidified into easily remembered capsules. We do tend to over-generalize them, though, and when we do, trouble follows. Here are a few of the more dangerous ones.

The Risks of Too Many Projects: I

Some organizations try to run too many development projects at once. Whether developing new offerings, or working to improve the organization itself, taking on too many projects can defocus the organization and depress performance.

See also Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness and Managing Your Boss for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Coming October 17: Overt Belligerence in Meetings

Some meetings lose their way in vain attempts to mollify a belligerent participant who simply will not be mollified. Here's one scenario that fits this pattern. Available here and by RSS on October 17.

And on October 24: Conversation Irritants: I

Conversations at work can be frustrating even when everyone tries to be polite, clear, and unambiguous. But some people actually try to be nasty, unclear, and ambiguous. Here's Part I of a small collection of their techniques. Available here and by RSS on October 24.

Coaching services

I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrenloKlGvMoREYAqmZtner@ChacjmPGeqwrMdjQjBudoCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.

Get the ebook!

Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:

• Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, USD 28.99)

Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info

Public seminars

The Power Affect: How We Express Our Personal Power

Many people who possess real organizational power have a characteristic demeanor. It's the way they project their presence. I call this the power affect. Some people — call them power pretenders — adopt the power affect well before they attain significant organizational power. Unfortunately for their colleagues, and for their organizations, power pretenders can attain organizational power out of proportion to their merit or abilities. Understanding the power affect is therefore important for anyone who aims to attain power, or anyone who works with power pretenders. Read more about this program.

• A recording of a program presented 6:00 PM June 29 (Eastern Time), Monthly Webinar, Technobility Webinar Series. You can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.