Office Martyrs

boris said:

a fellow that spends all his time complaining about those around him that are useless and do nothing in their job while they were so so busy.

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Came across a few of these
The hurler on the ditch

"You can do everyone's job except your own " puts them in their place if they call you useless

Liaconn, this is a highly amusing thread - nearly all of us know a martyr in work. But what about these martyrs who also act like this OUT OF WORK...they always have something to do at the weekend also, re-organising other peoples lives, have to go here, have to go there.

I once had a boss who was a martyr inside and outside of work. Nightmare to work with monday to friday but at least I could say re the weekend " i intend doing nothing but relaxing".

Its not always all their fault/their motives neednt necessarily be that bad:

Some are too obliging - everyone delegates to them, they need to be more assertive.
They cant delegate - about 10 reasons why they think this, maybe not all bad or unjustified (depending on the facts).
Maybe they're actually understaffed.
Maybe they lack confidence in their own ability but by being "so good" they feel that that of itself gives them some job security (who wouldnt want to keep they guy that'd do anything for you).
Maybe they're too conscientious and people implicitly rely on them to plug the gaps -whereas if they allowed an odd disaster to happen maybe they person with the responsibility would get a wake up.

Not saying I'm Gods answer to management but stuff like the above (what delegation is and how it should work) does get aired within the team I'm part of & I get to talk frankly with my superiors - if you're just a passive observer of bad practice isnt that a) frustrating & b) why arent you getting involved to make it better (& ok it all depends on how receptive everyone is to discussion/change). Basically if you're in management you should be doing something about all of this, not just joining the list of work whingers.

I agree there can be reasons why people behave like this.
But I'm talking about the ones who moan on and on about how busy they are but absolutely refuse to relinquish any of their work and go interfering in other people's work as well even though they're soooo busy.
I know in some cases such people are insecure or are making up for a lack in their lives but for others its a self importance thing.
Either way its selfish because by refusing to delegate or by taking on more work than they can manage they are leaving other staff underworked or are causing delays for colleagues by not getting things done on time.

liaconn said:

I agree there can be reasons why people behave like this.
But I'm talking about the ones who moan on and on about how busy they are but absolutely refuse to relinquish any of their work and go interfering in other people's work as well even though they're soooo busy.
I know in some cases such people are insecure or are making up for a lack in their lives but for others its a self importance thing.
Either way its selfish because by refusing to delegate or by taking on more work than they can manage they are leaving other staff underworked or are causing delays for colleagues by not getting things done on time.

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I think the martyr in my office is the twin of your one, Liaconn! In her case, she is a member of senior management, and yes, it is a self importance thing, in my opinion. Thankfully I don't work directly with her, but we all have to hear constantly about how busy she is....she is well known for sending emails really early in the morning, late in the evening and at weekends. Just to prove how busy she is.

It also extends to Neighbours..We have one who has her nose in everything, even organising en masse the whole schools Communions and Confirmations so that people feel obliged to fall into line with her grand plans.
She makes a huge show of getting her name in the paper for her litter patroling, which is great that she can spare the time seeing as she has a cleaner come in three times a week to clean her own house.

While I think the "Office Martyr" should be taken out and shot at dawn by a firing-squad made up of the greatest malingerers available, I have difficulty with criticism of people who do good work genuinely e.g ridding our streets of litter and organising fetes etc.

Communions, Confirmations are private family arrangements and should be carried out accordingly. One can always say "No" to people trying to improve the importance of the situation.

But, when it comes to good voluntary work these people should be commended.

Leper said:

While I think the "Office Martyr" should be taken out and shot at dawn by a firing-squad made up of the greatest malingerers available, I have difficulty with criticism of people who do good work genuinely e.g ridding our streets of litter and organising fetes etc.

Communions, Confirmations are private family arrangements and should be carried out accordingly. One can always say "No" to people trying to improve the importance of the situation.

But, when it comes to good voluntary work these people should be commended.

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I couldnt agree more, but there is good community spirit and pure undiluted busy bodying, there is a clear difference. When I walk the dog I take a bin liner and pick up rubbish, I dont feel the need to manipulate my way into the local newspaper for it.
As it happens a local community event was hijacked today by our local busy body and as one parent succinctly put it today "That one would reach down into your soul to get the gossip".
Comes to something when everyone has to pretend to be speaking on their mobiles as they sit in their cars at the school gates at 3pm rather than face the obligatory tap on the window as she does her rounds of the parents cars

But doesn't everyone in Ireland work no more than 48 hours per week, as enforced by our Government, for our own good?

48 hours is hardly martyrdom, is it?

Unless, you are lucky enough to be on the "flexi" in some cosy taxpayer funded public sector job.

RoyRover said:

But doesn't everyone in Ireland work no more than 48 hours per week, as enforced by our Government, for our own good?

48 hours is hardly martyrdom, is it?

Unless, you are lucky enough to be on the "flexi" in some cosy taxpayer funded public sector job.

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Surely 9.30 to 5.30 is still the norm for most jobs whether public or private sector with an hour for lunch & 2 quarter hour breaks morning & afternoon ?

I worked with a guy in BOI who had a large family and kept churning out children every year. When his office "pet" announced she was getting married he took her to one side and had a conversation with her about contraception being against the Catholic Church teachings. He didn't drink and at staff socials he was always watching. His nastiness came out in your staff appraisal. He couldn't help but pass a put down comment.

RoyRover said:

But doesn't everyone in Ireland work no more than 48 hours per week, as enforced by our Government, for our own good?

48 hours is hardly martyrdom, is it?

Unless, you are lucky enough to be on the "flexi" in some cosy taxpayer funded public sector job.

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What has this got to do with the thread? There are plenty of public service bashing threads. Could you possibly post on one of those instead of constantly trying to hijack other conversations with your anti public service comments.

liaconn said:

What has this got to do with the thread? There are plenty of public service bashing threads. Could you possibly post on one of those instead of constantly trying to hijack other conversations with your anti public service comments.

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Just don't bother replying to them. It's just trolling.

Deiseblue said:

Surely 9.30 to 5.30 is still the norm for most jobs whether public or private sector with an hour for lunch & 2 quarter hour breaks morning & afternoon ?

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I don't know anyone (public or private) who starts that late in the day.
BTW, most of the private sector people I know get their coffee breaks piad for and count them aspart of their working week so public sector friends who say they work 36.5 hours a week are actually doing the same as private sector friends that say they work 39 hours.

Purple said:

I don't know anyone (public or private) who starts that late in the day.
BTW, most of the private sector people I know get their coffee breaks piad for and count them aspart of their working week so public sector friends who say they work 36.5 hours a week are actually doing the same as private sector friends that say they work 39 hours.

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My official start time is 9.30 am, I have flexi so start anytime from 8.30 to 10am. A lot of people count their lunch break as working time. I know a girl who works for a solicitor from 9.30 to 5.30 and thought she worked a 40 hour week until I told her.

I use to work with an office martyr years ago, one of my first jobs. I had to cover her holidays and I wised up to that one fairly quick. People who spend too much time telling you how busy they are have too much time on their hands.

My standard day is 9 to 5, but the morning and afternoon coffee break were left behind years ago. Lunch is one hour, but most people return to their work once they've had something to eat. The days of sitting at the desk reading the paper to run down the clock to the full hour are gone the same way as the coffee break.

As for smoking breaks ?

So it seems that the standard day is 7 hrs, in both public and private sector.

Office martyrs will usually work a fourteen hour day because they stay late, bring work home, think about work while they're making the dinner and wake up during the night panicing because they think they might have put the wrong address on a letter.

Seriously I do not know anyone who works a seven hour day..
It does not make them a martyr doing longer hours ,its just a fact of life..

A lot of people catch up on work after work,these days,ie emails etc..its just a fact of life.
Obviously some cynics would call it martyrdom,but for some its the reality of keeping on top of the huge workload they have,and perhaps keeping their jobs,.(leaving aside those who actually do nothing ,but make like they are working hard)
It must be great to be so sure of not getting sacked that some feel no pressure to do any of that,but this is the way it is for a lot of people.

TarfHead said:

My standard day is 9 to 5, but the morning and afternoon coffee break were left behind years ago. Lunch is one hour, but most people return to their work once they've had something to eat. The days of sitting at the desk reading the paper to run down the clock to the full hour are gone the same way as the coffee break.

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Agree - must be 10+ years since I had a 15min 'coffee break' during the working day.

thedaras said:

Seriously I do not know anyone who works a seven hour day..
It does not make them a martyr doing longer hours ,its just a fact of life..

A lot of people catch up on work after work,these days,ie emails etc..its just a fact of life.
Obviously some cynics would call it martyrdom,but for some its the reality of keeping on top of the huge workload they have,and perhaps keeping their jobs,.(leaving aside those who actually do nothing ,but make like they are working hard)
It must be great to be so sure of not getting sacked that some feel no pressure to do any of that,but this is the way it is for a lot of people.

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Have you read the thread, thedaras?