I work in a public school district and i visit about a dozen different schools. Bosses are making us share our calendars, thinking they’ll be able to track us and catch us doing something wrong. I’m planning to add “started my period” every couple of weeks. Are there other good outlook tricks to fuck with them?
ETA- This is my work calendar, not my personal calendar. I know that seems reasonable but it’s being done as a petty micromanagement tactic. There are about 20 of us in my department who drive from school to school every day working with kids with physical disabilities. They don’t just want to know when we’re in meetings - they want every minute of our day to be accounted for - 8 to 830 school A, 840 to 11 school B, etc. I go to 14 schools. If my kid at school A is absent or if i get a call from school J that i need to stop by to fix a wheelchair, am I supposed to pull over and update my calendar so they can find me? I could spend an hour a day in parking lots editing my calendar. Most days i eat lunch in my car between schools. Last year they made a rule that we can’t carry to-go cups because it looks like we have enough free time to drive thru Starbucks. It’s just to be controlling.
I don’t really follow your reasoning unless your bosses have already shown they’re malicious people. At work, my work calendar is shared with the entire company to see. I like it as it lets people easily schedule meetings with me, know at which of the two locations (or at home) I am. I have a personal calendar which I don’t link to my work calendar at all. I do think that accountability is an important part of healthy work relationships with managers because (with good managers) it comes with autonomy. Why do you think your bosses will use it maliciously?
“Fun” fact: Outlook and Teams have a Scheduling assistant feature that makes that unnecessary. If a person wants to schedule a meeting with you, they don’t need access to your calendar to check availability. They just add you, pick a day, and it will suggest to them time slots you have open in your calendar for that day. There’s no longer a need to share an Outlook calendar with anyone just so they can know when you’re free to meet.
They’re lying, shitty people who do petty things so they can pretend to be busy while ignoring any real issues. This isn’t sharing so they can see our meetings. They want us to write 8-930 school A. 945-11 school b, … to fill our whole day. That’s not how it works. I make a list of schools i need to get to and i fit those in between calls for random things that come up.
Thanks for explaining! That sounds very different than what I had in mind (just sharing an outlook calendar of meetings) and I understand your frustration as I’d hate that too. That must really suck. Wish I could help.
Actually I do have a suggestion. When I’m asked to do something that I think is pointless I go full nice, but rational mode. Keep asking questions as if you’re trying to understand their request. And as you keep asking why this way and not that way they may end up realising how ridiculous they sound and drop it or accept an easier alternative. It may be important to avoid gloating and to propose your preferred solution (available by phone) as a suggestion to help them save face. The way to work with crappy managers is to keep them feeling good about themselves. You can use that to your advantage. It sucks and it may not work but there’s only so much you can do.
you sweet summer child. (or management plant)
Could you please explain what is naive in my reasoning?
You must work in a role where your input is valued and you have a degree of autonomy, your calendar is a collaboration tool to work with other people.
Most jobs aren’t like that, and bosses will use your calendar to micromanage you instead of supporting you
And not using the calendar means giving the boss carte blanche access to bother you any time.
After all, if you don’t have anything scheduled, you aren’t really busy, are you?
let me put it on my calendar.
Found american gen z
Or just a generic bootlicker…
I dont think genz appreciates clown corpo culture
We certainly don’t.