How often do you catch yourself "bending the rules" at your workplace?

[zephyr]

I am trying to sort out a lot of issues at my workplace- mainly involving staff disputes and errors and am doing a sort of experiment with my captive staff members.

This week, we are all obeying the department rules TO THE LETTER. Any deviation or breaking of the rules is recorded and a mark on their staff record is made.

(Or so they think...this is not really the case).

But during this experiment I have discovered that if everyone follows the rules to the T nothing actually works out as it should and the rules are just not practical anyway.

How often do you find yourself at work/ study and have to bend the rules just to get your job done in the expected time or way?

Me- all the time. To do what is expected of me, Id have to work a double shift every day if I didn't cut corners- but mostly the short cuts dont put anyone else at risk, but its not a good way to get things done correctly.et, the way my work is run never actually gets adjusted so it actually runs well when done correctly.

Ah damn the thread title being uneditable!

 

[NeverLose]

A lot but fuck it I get more done than most and senior management agrees with that.

White lies can also be helpful in retail, but really bite you in the arse if the customer digs deeper (they don't usually)....

Now I made myself sound dodgey and I'm not I'm friendly and shit but sometimes selling a $2 pen isn't as important as an $800 laptop...

 

[college_dropout]

This afternoon I was watching episodes of family guy on my video ipod.


......


I love working in the public sector.

 

[MazDan]

Zephyr that sounds like a very interesting experiement...........are u in HR??

Personally I am supposed to check power is off using 3 different methods but generally only use 2 because it just takes to much time.

 

[jakoz]

Think of it this way....

I have a friend who just signed to a new workplace. He is allowed no web nor email. I can't understand how a workplace like that functions.

A person will do a set amount of work each day. Whether the rules are in place or not makes no difference whatsoever.

Myself... I do about (to be honest) 6 hours. Of that, 3 hours are the time in which I get 90% of the work done. The work done in the rest of the time tapers off from that point... fairly quickly.

So following the trend of exponential degradation, what good would it be to remove the 2 hours I'm doing nothing?

It would add sweet fuck all. It would contribute nothing except to make me look for another workplace.

This is an employee's market people. If you ain't happy, then move on.

 

[B9]

Never ever, not once.

 

[Infinite Jest]

Jakoz has it right (hi mate, didn't realise you were still here ). There are occasionally good reasons to lock down desktop internet access (like for people who work for govt depts dealing with classified info, or for companies who need to keep some stuff secret) but those are rare.

I tend to break minor rules, because following our procedures literally can prevent me from giving our clients good service.

I also break the rules about not fucking round on the net, for the same reasons as Jakoz mentioned.

 

[NeverLose]

Hmmm to add to the above I follow safety rules and regulations to the letter though.

 

[MoeBro]

My boss doesn't care what I do, so long as I get the job done and look busy when anyone else is around.

 

[deeCee]

^^ Amen ...

I prolly slack, at least quarter of the day, everyday.. My boss knows, as I have been caught out on a number of occasions... But pay reviews just come up, and I'm more then satisfied with my raise. SO I guess I'm more then getting the job done.

 

[Beatlebot]

I bend the rules whenever nobody is watching.

Most of the rules I have to follow are made up by out of touch higher-ups that are just looking to maximise profits endlessly. Most of the time they have unrealistic expetations on how that will be accomplished.

 

[m4dd0g]

I tell my peeps to 'ask for forgiveness, not permissions' then let them loose.

My boss was away this week so i did our friday afternoon team meeting (~70 people) and let them all go to the pub afterward at 4. Its much better i break the rules and earn loyalty than they do it and lose respect for what we are trying to achieve.

Ive even have people ring in 'sick' and say 'um ... im not really sick but i just need today off, is that ok?'. I say yes and then watch them go way beyond the call of duty afterward

 

[Bad_Monkey]

Bending rules - not following them

In the muppet show that I work at (a large IT company) we have more rules to do with OH&S, clean desk, paperwork, procedures, security policies, work completion, documentation and general day to day operations. If anyone possibly doesn't break or bend a lot of rules each day nothing would get done.

Needless to say nobody is actually rated on the amount of work they get done, because if you do all of the above you get f***ing nothing done. Adherence to all the rules are part of our annual performance evaluations, but I haven't heard of anyone getting rated down for not doing all of these things. Because we pay lip service to all of this crap we have all these wonderful standards that the company complies to.

Each day is seeing what you can get away with or ignore. Roll on Monday.

 

[fasteddie]

Never ever, not once.

After leaving college, my first job in my field was testing something that all kinds of people, including children, consume...then, I operated by your rule. With not a whole lot in the way of support, mind you. But, how would I feel if some kid died because I didn't feel like doing my job?

Make no mistake, people...everyday, someone dies that way.

But, there's a tendency to promulgate arbitrary rules, as if that somehow made up for people lacking basic professionalism or integrity. I'll bend those type of rules all the time, if I know by experience that I'm on solid ground.

 

[fasteddie]

I bend the rules whenever nobody is watching.

Most of the rules I have to follow are made up by out of touch higher-ups that are just looking to maximise profits endlessly. Most of the time they have unrealistic expetations on how that will be accomplished.

If they really wanted to maximize profits, they'd get in touch. Drug screens...nanny cams...picky rules...good managers who get the best from their people fight that bullshit.

I think a lot of times, these bean counters are acting out some unconscious hostility, it has nothing whatever to do with profits. They don't really know what they're doing.

 

[lostpunk5545]

Unless it serves a practical, i.e. safety, not going to jail etc., any rule in life is pretty malleable to me.

 

[fasteddie]

Zephyr that sounds like a very interesting experiement...........are u in HR??

Personally I am supposed to check power is off using 3 different methods but generally only use 2 because it just takes to much time.

Heh, heh.

The three stages of experience:

1) You're a fucking new guy, everything by the book.

2) You learn that a lot of people don't bother with a lot of that stuff, and you start testing the limits of what you can get away with.

3) The time comes when your luck runs out, and comes THE FUCKUP. People who survive this (not all do; JFK Jr. was a perfect example) are officially experienced.

If you know the powers off, fuck what you're supposed to do. If only doing 2 out of three checks reduces your level of certainty about something that could really hurt somebody...there's a FUCKUP in your future.

 

[Doppelganger]

My boss isn't a boss at all - he's a leader. We don't have any rules because with most people working ridiculously long hours, there's no reason to be suspicious that anyone's slacking off.

Anyhow, back to my boss... he's so hot, it looks like someone cut his photo out of a hugo boss advertisement, and he waltzed [yes, he can truly dance ] into the workforce.

He's very encouraging and motivational, and even blows you kisses, and calls you "my love" on his way out the door. And does it all seeming like a mighty good man, as opposed to a fucking sleaze bag [he's married and dedicated.]

True brilliance.

 

[felix]

i'm a loose cannon at work. a renegade. a bit of a mel gibson out of lethal weapon kinda character %) :D

i always try to get the job done as quickly and easily as possible, and ride roughshod over their stupid and pointless procedures. if i didn't, nothing would get done. there is a certain aspect of control-freakery about me, but unfortunately everyone else *is* actually useless. lol.

 

[fasteddie]

My boss isn't a boss at all - he's a leader. We don't have any rules because with most people working ridiculously long hours, there's no reason to be suspicious that anyone's slacking off.

I once worked for a guy like that. Both you and the company are fortunate.