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| *Ostroff, Fair and Company>>>Administrative and Office Support |
Should a boss talk about non work issues with his staff? |
I work in a three person department at work. None of us really have all that much to do. You would think we would use the downtime to talk to each other about fun things just to make it through the day. Though the boss does not believe it is a good idea to talk about anything that is not work related during the day. He is all business. My other coworker does not talk about non work related topics either. If there is nothing to do we just kill time playing with the Internet. No talking. Is this common at other places of employment in office settings? If you are working full time, then you are probably spending more time with your co-workers than your own family. As a result, personal discussions happen even in very busy offices - it builds relationships that actually help a business (unless it's catty, nonconstructive or negative talk) by creating a cohesive team. Unless it's somehow interfering with the purpose of the office, your boss should lighten up. Im not sure. But I would think that it would make the day go by faster talking about other things that you guys do besides work. Sounds boring! That's not the way it is at my work. We talk about all sorts of stuff. It's a small group, and we're more like friends than just casual co-workers. hi, my boss and me and other staff do talk about non work issues not only during breaktime but also if he feels to, this is one way, as he said, to a harmonious relationship in the office. i also work in a 3 person department, but my boss is understanding about us chatting when we're not busy : what's up with our kids/grandkids, did you see that movie last night, etc. guess i have it better than i thought i did with this position! You rebel, why do you desire to be human? You are there for one purpose: to work! So work, work, and nothing but work. You are a robot. You are a slave. Do not interact with the other robotic slaves; it might make trouble. Read Dilbert if you don't believe me. How lonely! Maybe your boss is afraid that familiarity will breed contempt, but plenty of co-workers and bosses manage to have human conversation without losing respect for one another. Admittedly, you need to govern what you talk about, because this is not the place to dump all your issues on each other; too much information about each other's personal problems can be inappropriate. But there is far more to talk about in life than problems! I pray your boss will see that the professionalism of the workplace can still be maintained if those who work there are allowed to relate to each other in positive--not necessarily work-related--ways. Certainly it should be an improvement to employee morale. Has he ever heard of that concept? Fun, in proper balance, can actually enhance productivity. Radical? But true! Unfortunately and speaking from experience this happens quite alot. I worked in a similar setting and we were not allowed to do anything that was not work related. Our boss felt that when you are at work you are at work and you leave your personal life at home. This included no cellphone usage (not even if you were on break or lunch), no personal emails (which he monitored) and definitely no phone calls on his phone. Sorry to say but as a mom of 4 kids I broke that rule on a daily basis. I explained to him that as long as it was not interfering with my work ethic or my productivity then it shouldn't matter. Some bosses just take a total tyranical view to their company and as long as its their name on the door there's not really much one can do except to quit which is what I did eventually. |
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