Managing is something that is best done in a careful and calculated manner with lots of planning and moving pieces over a measured period of time; not with emotionally fueled outbursts and snap decisions intended to assert your authority or to beat your subordinates into submission. Yet, still, there are plenty of people (and plenty of managers) out there who have something to prove, a chip on their shoulder, or just lack emotional maturity. This creates even more situations where workers are t…

When managers get frustrated by their own incompetence, it's common for them to blame anyone but themselves. That seems to be the case with this local company, where an employee practically dragged her boss and manager into the 21st century by updating their business and payment structure. Of course, the manager did not adapt well to this change and decided that the reason could only be that his younger coworker was causing all the problems. Now, the other important layer to this story is that…

These days we all think that everyone's out to get us and—to be fair, well… we're not always wrong and some people are. There are plenty of entitled and selfish people in this world, who won't hesitate to twist any situation to their benefit and gain, carefully manipulating their way into getting the upper hand—no matter the circumstances. And yet, it's still important to remember that there are still honest folk out there; folk who want to do the right thing for the simple good and honest fact…

Every penny counts , according to this customer. A debate stirs up every few years over the abolishment of the penny. The humble one-cent coin is rather useless in today's day and age. Gone are the days of penny candy---even dollar stores are quickly becoming $3-$5 stores. There's very little you can purchase for a dollar, and with the current rate of inflation, there's little hope that it'll improve any time soon. Back to the penny debate: every so often, people will petition to get rid of the…

Everyone's got a bone to pick with someone these days and it's very rare for that picking to be necessitated for a wholesome reason. A reason such as trying to politely pay your craftsman more than the originally agreed-upon price due to your fondness of their work, only to have them, in turn, politely refuse. So, it was refreshing to see this story describing exactly that, a wholesome little tale in a sea of grudges, mistreatments, and misunderstandings. This poster sets the stage for their st…

As long as this person got their instructions in writing , they were happy to break a website. As a developer, you're usually doing the exact opposite. But when pushed too far, this person just shrugged their shoulders and did as they were instructed. Having a nepo-baby as a colleague can cause friction in any workplace. A nepo-baby (also called a nepo-hire) is the boss's relative---someone who is near and dear to your boss, but who isn't really qualified to hold their job. In this case, the CF…

Serving customers is not always an easy task. However, you don't have to work in customer service to profit from the advantages that come with the position. For example, in the story that follows, the Original Poster (OP) talks about his experience with a demanding client who won't wait his turn to be serviced. OP works as a security guard at a well-known phone company in Dublin City Center. The Original Poster (OP) sets the scene by claiming that most staff members are reluctant to offer their…

Coworkers can be a lot of things: a compatriot, a confidant, a thorn in your side, a shoulder to cry on, a best friend—even a worst enemy. One thing they certainly aren't ever going to be is your boss—not without a promotion at least. And, still, throughout your working career, you'll come up against many a power-hungry colleague who thinks that they have the authority and experience to order you around. Letting you know what's what and making demands of you…. but, as bossy as this person might…

This lawyer picked the wrong dude to pick on. One person shared an excellent tale of malicious compliance that they got on their divorce lawyer. You'd think as a divorce lawyer, you'd have a bit of decorum. People are going through some of the most difficult parts of a relationship, and now they're also having to get a lawyer involved as they split up everything they own. This person, u/FederalAnt9, found themself in a “heated divorce/custody battle,” and their ex's lawyer was prepared to go af…

It's always satisfying when someone in a position of power sets an ultimatum, trying to coerce their subordinate into doing as they wish, only to have the subordinate call them on their bluff, exposing that the superior really never had any actual power at all. This, of course, plays out in small ways in workplaces every day, with authority often being revealed as nothing but a facade. When these workers at a manufacturing plant were supposed to be granted a weekend of reprieve from all of the…

It takes a certain kind of parent to let their kids run amok in a store. We understand that kids can get rowdy; that's inevitable. We also understand that this mother may have tried to calm them down in the past to no avail. That being said, once they start tampering with the store products and once they start actively disrupting other customers, it's time to take control and at least attempt to restore order. Not only did this woman refuse to try, but she ended up offloading her kids onto anot…

Serving customers is never an easy job. However, meeting the demands of tourists can be 10 times more challenging. Sometimes, in the rush of things, we forget that the ordinary folks who serve us—whether at the restaurant, hotel, or valet—don't work for us; instead, they are just regular people who are trying to make it through their shift with as little trouble as possible. The story that follows is an account of a frustrated hotel employee. The Original Poster (OP) works for a four-star hotel…

This resident of an HOA neighborhood decided that the injustice he needed to fight was his right to plant sunflowers. We all have a purpose in life, and sometimes that purpose announces itself in the most unexpected ways. You might think your purpose is to fight for world peace, until your HOA demands that you get rid of the sunflowers you planted and then your true life goals come into focus. The HOA in question insisted that according to the resident's contract, he was forbidden to plant sunf…

When a company CEO offered bonuses for “cost-saving initiatives,” he never expected employees would take it so seriously. As technology grows more and more advanced, robots will continue to take jobs from people. It seems like this happens slowly, and then one day everything is different. Like when you check out at a grocery store, there's a pretty big chance you'll scan your own items at a self-checkout.

If you demand rigidity of your employees' schedules, you can't then go and expect flexibility from them when you want it. Rigidity is a knife that cuts both ways and—as in any relationship—you shouldn't expect more from it than you're contributing to it. Like with love, trust is a game of give and take. Unfortunately, this is a lesson that so many managers need to learn the hard way through giving an order for strict adherence to rigid working hours , before experiencing exactly what happens wh…

As an employee, growth within the company is expected. No one accepts a job offer with the hope of staying in the same role until retirement. Even if growth is only in salary, that's enough for a lot of workers out there. On the other hand, employers want employee retention to avoid high turnover rates. They want to keep the hiring and training process to a minimum. To satisfy both needs, employers need to treat their employees well. In this story, an employee worked for his company for about t…