Office drones, I have a question

[Alcibiades]

I'm sure most of us hadn't thought about this before this thread brought it up.

I rather we talk about curling, it's true.

The Brier starts on Saturday.

Its odd - I just checked and Martin isn't in it (although it also makes some sense - awful hard to turn around from the Olympics to Brier in 7 days).

But it makes for a wide open field.  Could it be Jeff Stoughton from Manitoba? 

I can't believe the Brier as Monsanto as a sponsor. If evil companies are remotely possible, Monsanto is the freaking flag bearer.

Take that profanity out of this thread.   

[viper37]

#1  Answer the phone, put on hold if it's not too important.
#2  Finish quickly.

[Berkut]

Have fun finding another job.  If some boss that you rarely see actually comes into your office to tell you something you better not take that call.

I wouldn't have a problem with that, as I'd prefer to not work for someone who's strung so tight.

Lucky for me, I don't work for anyone, that I am aware of, that is so insecure that they get bent out of shape over meaningless crap like that. And more to the point, my bosses, so far, have worked hard to specifically create a work environment that actively discourages that kind of petty bullshit, since it actively detracts from productivity.

[Berkut]

Have fun finding another job.  If some boss that you rarely see actually comes into your office to tell you something you better not take that call.

That depends on the boss, of course. You can hardly say that everyone is the same, and they are all so insecure that they would find their ego bruised by the possibility that there might be something more important for a subordinate to deal with than themselves.

Sure, plenty are like that, but hardly all of them.

[crazy canuck]

Have fun finding another job.  If some boss that you rarely see actually comes into your office to tell you something you better not take that call.

That depends on the boss, of course. You can hardly say that everyone is the same, and they are all so insecure that they would find their ego bruised by the possibility that there might be something more important for a subordinate to deal with than themselves.

Sure, plenty are like that, but hardly all of them.

Insecurity?  I think the employee who thinks they can interrupt their boss has the ego problem.  This thread is turning into a bunch of employee angst - the hallmark of insecurity.

[Jaron]

I want the TPS reports.

Threat per second? 

[Jacob]

So DGuller, spill the beans.  What's the role you're in in this situation?  The person who always interrupts and gets in trouble?  The person who wants to interrupt, but is ignored and are fuming?  The person who is always interrupted and feels the other person is being rude?  Or the person who refuses to be interrupted and is now dealing with someone bitching about them?

[Berkut]

Have fun finding another job.  If some boss that you rarely see actually comes into your office to tell you something you better not take that call.

That depends on the boss, of course. You can hardly say that everyone is the same, and they are all so insecure that they would find their ego bruised by the possibility that there might be something more important for a subordinate to deal with than themselves.

Sure, plenty are like that, but hardly all of them.

Insecurity?  I think the employee who thinks they can interrupt their boss has the ego problem.  This thread is turning into a bunch of employee angst - the hallmark of insecurity.

I think blanket statements like 'you can never interrupt me no matter what' are the hallmark of insecurity. What is insecure about saying that if my boss is talking to me, I might answer an important phone call, if I judge that the call is too important to let go, but that if I decide it isn't that important, I will not answer it?

Seems pretty reasonable to me. Certainly vastly more reasonable than 'I will fire anyone who answers a phone in my most holy presence!' YMMV, of course.

[DGuller]

I totally get lack of formality, and I love it, but I think Berkut is over-stating his point.  I don't think anyone would fearlessly pick the phone up in CC's hypothetical situation without some cue from the other guy. 

Will you get fired on the spot for doing it?  Highly unlikely.  However, rubbing your superior the wrong way is never a good idea.  No matter how informal the place is, there is still some expectation of showing respect to your superior.

[Berkut]

CC, so if you are go into your employees office to chat about something job related, but not terribly time critical or important, and their phone rings, they glance at it and then ignore it in favor of chatting with you...and you later find out that was a critical client who had time sensitive imformation that needed to be addressed ASAP, and them blowing them off in favor of not offending their boss who is known to be a bit think skinned about such things results in a serious loss of revenue...

You would be all "Good job subordinate! I am just that important, that was properly handled! Screw the client, *I* come first always!"???

Really?

[Berkut]

I totally get lack of formality, and I love it, but I think Berkut is over-stating his point.  I don't think anyone would fearlessly pick the phone up in CC's hypothetical situation without some cue from the other guy. 

Will you get fired on the spot for doing it?  Highly unlikely.  However, rubbing your superior the wrong way is never a good idea.  No matter how informal the place is, there is still some expectation of showing respect to your superior.

Of course there is - which is why I answered in the affirmative that the "rank" of the person talking/calling certainly impacts the decision about whether to ignore the call or pick it up.

However, I would not assume that taking an important call would "rub your superior the wrong way" - in fact, in my hypothetical, NOT taking the call would (or should) rub your superior the wrong way.

Who wants an employee who is terrified of offending your ego so much that they don't exercise any basic good judgment?

[DGuller]

So DGuller, spill the beans.  What's the role you're in in this situation?  The person who always interrupts and gets in trouble?  The person who wants to interrupt, but is ignored and are fuming?  The person who is always interrupted and feels the other person is being rude?  Or the person who refuses to be interrupted and is now dealing with someone bitching about them?

Just some work-related stuff that made me think about the whole issue, and wonder whether my understanding of phone etiquette is reasonable. 

The trigger was one too many episodes of 2) from the guy I'm supervising.  The same guy also on occasion takes cell phone calls from home while we're talking, but I assumed that was clearly inappropriate, and didn't need to be discussed. 

As for the first question I asked, it was related to my musings, as I was wondering whether my own habit of ignoring the work phone while talking to someone in the cube was appropriate.

[garbon]

Have fun finding another job.  If some boss that you rarely see actually comes into your office to tell you something you better not take that call.

At my company I'm allowed to take calls even if it is the CEO who has come over to my cube.

[crazy canuck]

CC, so if you are go into your employees office to chat about something job related, but not terribly time critical or important, and their phone rings, they glance at it and then ignore it in favor of chatting with you...and you later find out that was a critical client who had time sensitive imformation that needed to be addressed ASAP, and them blowing them off in favor of not offending their boss who is known to be a bit think skinned about such things results in a serious loss of revenue...

You would be all "Good job subordinate! I am just that important, that was properly handled! Screw the client, *I* come first always!"???

Really?

Thats not the scenario we were discussing but nice try..  The scenario you stated was after a mix up there were some non IT guys (outside your everyone is equal culture) who were now in charge.  I said I highly doubted that if one of those guys, your new bosses who you dont know and rarely see, came into your office to tell you something, you would interupt them by taking a call.  I further advised you that you had better not take the call but should in fact listen to what they have to say.

If you think what you are doing is more important in those circumstances - you had better be damn sure about that.

[crazy canuck]

Have fun finding another job.  If some boss that you rarely see actually comes into your office to tell you something you better not take that call.

At my company I'm allowed to take calls even if it is the CEO who has come over to my cube.

How often does your CEO come into your cube.

edit: ok pathetic play on words.  But seriously, every firm has an "open door" policy but really if the CEO actually came to talk to you would you seriously tell him to chill?