this is the code for the render ad
Wedding Woes

WFH Vents

I thought this might be a good topic, since so many of us are WFH for the first time.

One of my bosses, I think, is really experiencing some anxiety over this every other day situation.  It's worse b/c he is not in the office on my day in the office.  So, he sends me one line emails, like stream of consciousness writing, all the time.  I gave in and was basically letting him do my job on something, b/c it seemed to make him feel better.  So, he's scheduling in person things, w/out checking with me.  Okay, so far that hasn't caused an issue.  Then, he starts scheduling multiple things at once and he's not tracking accurately.  I had to call him and tell him he was setting up a massive date conflict between 2 cases.  "Oh yeah, thank you."  Then he changes dates on these things that have been scheduled.  That's fine too...I don't put anything on the calendar until I have the actual court document with the date on it, so I didn't have to change reservations or calendars. 

He's sent me 3 emails about putting these meetings on the calendar and reserving rooms.  My last email just said, "That is already finished.  What I need from you is to send me the federal scheduling document to send to the clients since you won't give me your log in and to finalize the calendar accurately.  Please take take care of that."  So far, 30 minutes without an email.  

:smiley:

Re: WFH Vents

  • Scheduling must be a nightmare when multiple people are working from home!  Usually people can just pop into an office quickly to confirm stuff, but that must be so much harder to do when it requires an email or phone call now.

    I was already WFH, but now they've essentially made the whole team WFH, and I think that has caused some issues.  The supervisors now have too much on their plates, and it takes longer to get answers to questions than it used to.

    I think hubby, being a high school teacher, has the most headaches of the two of us.  He needs to get his students working on lessons, but despite  calling their parents, a full third of his students have not even bothered to log in and check his emails.  So how do you convince high school kids to do their lessons when they won't even respond to emails and their parents have already been made aware of this?  It's causing him a lot of stress.

  • short+sassyshort+sassy member
    Knottie Warrior 10000 Comments 500 Love Its 5 Answers
    edited April 2020
    We should keep this a continuing thread, lol!

    I agree that having to communicate EVERYTHING through e-mail or chat has been such a hassle.  The other fall out of that is here is a typical "before WFH" scenario:
    • I get an e-mail with a question.  Many people are cc'ed.
    • I don't know the answer or don't know the full answer.
    • I walk around and talk to one or more people to get the full answer.
    • I "reply all" with the answer.
    • Or I'm the one on a cc'ed e-mail and it's someone else doing the above steps.
    New scenario now that everyone is WFH:
    • Everyone is included and cc'ed on every tiny step to get to the full answer, lol.

    For context, the company I work for/my boss/the client...have been giving the vibe all along that they don't trust people to work from home.  Which is a bit ironic because, in the office, they trust people to be on-task and getting their work done.  They don't micro-manage at all.

    But right now?  They are micro-managing and God forbid you don't answer something right away.  Even if it is just "I'll check on that and let you know" or "I'm working on XYZ right now, but will get back to you in an hour."

    Edited to add:  This last part has really been stressing me out!  That's why if I take a vacation day, it DOES feel like a vacation day.  Even if I'm still at home.  Because I don't have to keep checking every 30 seconds for the tiniest red dot ever, in my bottom task bar.  That's what tells me when someone has sent me a chat.  I'm paranoid about it because the word is you need to be paranoid about it.

    I need to talk to my H and figure out if I can get the chat to make a sound...I'm not sure my work computer has sound and that is what I'm remotely accessing.  Or I might be able to add the same Microsoft Teams (that's the chat system we use) to the "personal" part of my personal computer, so it makes a ding sound there.
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • Toddler needing constant attention while WFH is such a pain.
    I miss M having a laptop, because then he could work in the dining room with us, but I've got a desktop from work and he's got his own normal desktop he's using upstairs. There is no space :(

    Also I can't answer phones all the time when BabyKitten is around because she can only be contained for so long.


    Weird issue, but I keep feeling the need to clean my house also when it's slow.
    Anyone else?
  • Ah yes, the extra extra long email threads now!  They are a joy ...

  • I hate WFH even when it's not mandated.  So this is not particularly fun for me.  So much of my job is just knowing information (to communicate externally) that is often gained by just walking around and talking to people (sales staff, finance team, sustainability team, etc). 

    Plus only working 4 days in the office after being gone 3 months, then working from home for the last month - i feel like no one remembers that I work here. 

    Only silver lining is getting to see how much new stuff the babe is learning and doing every day.  He's 4 months tomorrow and it's so much fun!
  • How could I forget two of the worst parts of WFH, lol.  As I mentioned above, I am on remote access to my work computer.  So everything is sllllooooowwww.  Even typing or data entry has a delay with each character I type.  Plus everything on my screen is grainier and slightly blurry.

    I also only have one monitor whereas in the office, I have two.  To be fair, they invited people to fill out a form and take one of the work monitors.  But, while I have a desk at home, I don't really have anywhere to set it up.  I work on my laptop on the couch.  I don't have anywhere to put a second monitor.

    @MissKittyDanger, yes!!!  I've actually been doing more organizing and sorting. Because, since I'm home all the time, the mess and clutter has been driving me extra nuts. 
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • I also just sent an email that said, "This is a headsup because IDK what this is and here's an odd thing.  I don't think it's something for me to handle.  Since I'm trying to control my email, please only respond if you need me to do something."  

    :smiley:

    I'm sure people are grousing my attitude and "sass".  Also, my cases are still moving and your stuff is getting accomplished, if you just let me do it how I always handle it.  Which is quickly and efficiently and not holding your hand.
  • @short+sassy Oh good I'm not alone! Lmao! I mean we are decluttering to potentially move, but still ....
    Have you watched any cleaning vids on youtube? Because those things are a doozy .... calming and motivating.
  • @short+sassy Oh good I'm not alone! Lmao! I mean we are decluttering to potentially move, but still ....
    Have you watched any cleaning vids on youtube? Because those things are a doozy .... calming and motivating.
    I'm decluttering from my last move!  Ummm.  Eight years ago...

    I haven't watched any cleaning vids.  But that Marie Kondo book has been cluttering up my coffee table for quite awhile now.  Apparently it doesn't "spark joy", lmao.
    A couple episodes of Hoarders will inspire you to get rid of everything. 

  • Everyone on my team seems to need so much more reassurance they’re doing things “right” so I’m spending far more of my time coaching/reassuring than I am doing other. It’s fine, but it’s a little frustrating. I trust you to do your job, so go ahead and do it. 

    But also, mute you phone if you’re not talking!!
  • @short+sassy Oh good I'm not alone! Lmao! I mean we are decluttering to potentially move, but still ....
    Have you watched any cleaning vids on youtube? Because those things are a doozy .... calming and motivating.
    I'm decluttering from my last move!  Ummm.  Eight years ago...

    I haven't watched any cleaning vids.  But that Marie Kondo book has been cluttering up my coffee table for quite awhile now.  Apparently it doesn't "spark joy", lmao.
    A couple episodes of Hoarders will inspire you to get rid of everything. 
    Yup
  • My current vent is the video chats. My entire department goes in 1-2 days/week, and is WFH the rest of the time. (It started with a space issue; we don't have assigned desks). We know how to do this; we've been functioning this way for years. I have never used video during a call prior to this; now every call and meeting is with video. Y'all, I'm trying to multi-task and not wear makeup. 

    Otherwise, I really love WFH and won't complain about it. It helps a lot that I have a dedicated home office with a second monitor and all. The email thing is something I would deal with anyway; the people I interact with regularly are all over the place. Even the ones here in Atlanta may be on another floor or in the next building, so I wasn't going to walk over there anyway. We do make a lot of use of teams chat to have those side conversations to avoid partial email replies. S&S, not sure about your version, but mine flashes yellow any time I get a new message, so not something I can miss. You should be able to update your settings. 
  • I just bought a UHaul apartment kit.  We still have the stuff to donate from the old storage unit, but it's just a damn mess and needs to be organized so that when we CAN donate, it'll be an easy one trip event.  I need my space back in order during this time and I've got time to organize it.

    Now I'm getting one/two words emails in response to my questions that are being sent to deal with.  Fragile egos.
  • My husband is my vent haha. I've never liked working from home on days he does too bc I actually work and he usually doesn't have much to do so he annoys me. Or if he actually has to work he gets all worked up about it and acts like the world is ending so it is annoying to be around. 

    For those needing a second monitor but lacking space - I got this and I really like it. I can use it when I need a second screen for things I'm working on but don't have to have it out all the time like a traditional monitor. There are fancier ones out there but this was $100 and while my company reimbursed me I didn't want to spend too much in case I didn't like it https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CMKOVMO/

    My WFH funnies:
    - I might have posted this when it happened, but H tried to get in the room I was in for a video call (I had locked the door to keep the dog out) and he was trying to get in. I panicked and instead of just turning off my video real quick I carried my laptop with me to the door while trying to shush him and tripped and fell on the way back to my chair dropping my computer and hurting my leg
    - yesterday on a call I heard loud sounds in the living room -- H was blasting Christmas music through the TV. I'm all for Christmas music but I dont want to hear it over my call when I'm in another room with the door shut!
  • @mrsconn23 genuinely, how do you wfh daily? Please TedTalk us
  • -I'm used to WFH and have been for over 5 years now.   So when the kids keep jumping into my office while I'm doing stuff it makes me crazy!

    -I get that DH wants to make something tasty for lunch but I try to eat a small meal or I'm going to be rolled out of here when the quarantine is lifted. 


  • @banana468 lol my mum keeps eating junk food and I joke she's gonna gain the covid 19lbs .... she's like a twig so it'll be good to add a bit of weight.
Sign In or Register to comment.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards