TIL my old boss used to have me redo spreadsheets just so he could look busy

I used to spend 3 hours every Friday reformatting the same sales report because my manager said it 'needed a fresh look.' Now I just hit send on the raw data and nobody even opens it, has anyone else caught their boss making up pointless work just to kill time?

2 comments

2 Comments

kelly.parker3d ago

Start keeping a log of every pointless task with the time it took and the boss's reason. Then present it to HR or their boss when you've got enough to show a pattern of busywork. I did that once and my manager got moved to a different department within a month.

the_wade2d ago

A buddy of mine at a warehouse got so tired of the supervisor making him re-label boxes that were already labeled right that he started timing it. Took three weeks of notes, about 17 hours total wasted, then showed the regional manager. @kelly.parker you're right about the trail being the thing that matters, the regional guy just looked at the log and nodded. Supervisor got moved to the night shift within two weeks, never saw him again.