Question: “I know my office co-worker chats on Facebook most of the day. I now have proof when another co-worker stopped by the office and mentioned that her posts are usually between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Now that I have proof, do I say something to the co-worker or do I bring it up to the boss? I am usually not a tattletale, but there are times when I am overwhelmed with work and I know she’s chatting on Facebook and not getting her work done.” -- Judy Gonzales
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{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
Maybe your coworker is a more productive worker than you. Maybe they get their work done in 1/10th the time it takes you. That’s not their fault. If work is not being evenly assigned then that’s a whole different story. Tattling about someone being on Facebook is petty and childish.
Ilja has excellent advice. The it’s up to the supervisor to decide what to do about it. Do not complain; you will look like a whiner. I worked in a company where the President’s assistant spent 3 to 4 hours on the phone every day (this was before the Internet), yet she was a real whiz-kid at her job, doing all her assignments quickly and corrrectly. The President was happy with her and that was what mattered. Life is often unfair. Just do your job to the best of your ability and go on with your life.
Your co-worker may actually be working. Some businesses or organizations use a Facebook page to disseminate information to clients, or members.
However, if this is not the case, and if all of the above suggestions don’t work, there is a way to block certain websites from network computers. Perhaps you could chat to your tech people and ask if that is possible at your work.
I would inform HR and if you are a small firm – anonymously, and not identify the co-worker, that there is potential abuse by a co-worker. At that time the HR person could resend and re-state your companies policy about using internet access for personal use.
In that way the employee has been given warning and if they continue to abuse it they have been warned. But I wouldn’t say anything to the manager or the person. You could leave a copy of the policy on their desk if you are really bold.
This problem is a problem every company has had: people use the company phones to make personal long distance calls, even call overseas, using company email to send inappropriate and personal correspondence, using the computer to play online games, etc.
I agree with many of the comments above that say why it is especially bothersome is when you are overwhelmed and I think you need to take the advice already given – work with your manager to resolve your workload issues. They have nothing to do with the person who may or may not be doing their job.
make up a fake identity on facebook with a fake picture. take it from there – I don’t need to tell you the rest.
Indeed, I know how frustrating the situation can be when you seem to be the only one working. My first thought is that I’m wondering if your company has a policy against the personal use of computers on company time. The second thing relates to the fact that you are overwhelmed with work while your co-worker is chatting on-line.
Is part of her responsiblities to assist you? If not, then what she does isn’t related to your work load.
Your co-worker is sure to eventually get into trouble if she is either going against company policy or wasting her time so that she isn’t able to accomplish her own goals. From my experience, sooner or later, these folks are discovered without anyone having to point the finger.
I’m reminded of a former colleague who completed all kinds of personal tasks while on the job. Yet, she finished every assignment given to her in a professional manner. When I first started at that job, I mentioned something to her about wondering how she could find the time to accomplish this “extra” work. She told me that she didn’t think that she should be penalized for working quickly and thus having extra time to do some of her own projects. My first thought was that this woman isn’t given enough work; or if the office didn’t have enough work for a full-time admin, then we should change the position to part time. Our boss, however, happened to agree with the co-worker as I asked him if he minded if I were to work on some of my own projects after completing my own work. He said, “No,” and then used my colleage as an example of how both can be done. Not everyone would agree with his approach though.
Instead of worrying about your colleague, you should focus on you and your workload and attitude. Are the duties divided up evenly? Do you believe that you have an unfair share of the workload? Consider logging every moment of your time in a type of time-motion study. Then, you can either wait until your annual review or ask to meet with your supervisor to go over the amount of work that you have. If you can show him/her that you have an unrealistic amount of work, he/she might consider rearranging the work so that others are picking up some of your duties. You can also use this type of report to show how productive you are and use this information to ask for a promotion and/or pay increase.
In some of my former positions, when I conducted this type of study on my own, the boss was motivated to ask the others to do the same. Then, the slackers became more obvious, or they began to work more so as not to stand out.
Resist the urge to criticize a colleague, no matter how noble the reason. Believe me, if someone else has already commented on this colleague’s use of Facebook during company time, those that matter will learn soon enough. If you are asked if you noticed her going on-line during work hours, then be honest. However, you might cause more problems than you want if others view you as a type of spy for management.
If she is doing this while on company time, this could be a policy violation. I would check out your policy. Also, I think I would discuss this professionally with my boss. He/she could take it from there without it looking like you’re tattling or spying on her. But spending all day on Facebook is no different than searching the net all day. If that’s all she is doing, obviously she doesn’t have enough to do or is bored in her position and that needs to be looked at
Most companies who give their employees internet access, also monitor their employees’ use of same. It may seem like nobody notices but, chances are, they do.
We went through reorganization a little over 5 years ago and we had one co-worker who was kept on during that time, but was not assigned any clear cut role in the company and no one was supervising her. Everyone knew she was playing solitaire on her computer all day and although they said things behind her back, no one ratted her out. It took almost one year before one of her co-workers told her own boss before anything was done and she was offered an early retirement and severance. I agree with everyone who said not to interfere, because unless you are the supervisor, any comments you make end up sounding petty.
You may try asking her if she will help you….maybe she is bored and wishes she had more work. Facebook fills the down time! If she truly doesn’t want to work then go to management.
Your co-worker needs to be fired immediately. She is not being paid to wallow in the cesspool of banality and narcissism that is Facebook!
One more thing team.
Once I thought a co-worker was not being watched for several infractions/violations. I did not say anything, of course, as it was not my direct business.
Several months later this employee was fired and I had just received a promotion into mangement. It was at that time, that the management team told me “…we have been watching Molly for several months, we wanted to get several violations on her before we terminated her!”
Wow! Sometimes when it seems no one is paying attention or taking action, may actually be excactly what the management team is doing.
Dr. C.
PS: LOVE Mary’s post! Melaine, I agree with you 110%! :)
Kim:
EXCELLENT reply.
Once my supervisor asked me to sit in our break room to figure out why the employees/assoicates were not using the soda machines, snack bar, and/or the break room in general.
Yep! You all guessed it, 1,000 folks ran to my supervisor stating “I seen Dr. C. in the break room serveral times today!”
Had someone asked me “Dr. C. what are you doing and why are you taking so many notes?” I could have told them that I was working on a “break room-make-over”.
To that end, Kim, you bring up an EXCELLENT point. MAKE SURE YOU KNOW ALL OF THE FACTS FIRST.
However; 99% of the time, your gut is correct, but in HR, we have to take an extra step to ensure we are being fair, honest, and consistent. Sometimes the picture we see is not what is really going on, as Kim points out so well.
Excellent posts by everyone. :)
Dr. C./StillStanding
I love it. Thanks for sharing that, Mary Lynn.
I have the same problem and choose to live with the philosophy that what goes around comes around, and keep my mouth shut.
Fill your bowl to the brim, and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your blade, and it will dull.
Chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench.
Seek the approval of others and you will always be their prisoner.
Do your work and step back.
The only path to contentment. – Lao Tse
Do your work and step back. It has served me well for 14 years on my job.
Unless she is your direct report, stay out if it.
It is frustrating when you are busy and it appears others are not. However, there may be extenuating circumstances, i.e. the co-worker may be utilizing breaktime at her desk, she may have arrived early or is staying late, etc. If your only proof is word from a co-worker, you may end up looking foolish if there is a reasonable explanation for the facebooker’s behavior.
Bottom line, you are only responsible for yourself and your work ethic. If she shares duties with you, then make sure she is doing her part. If she doesn’t share duties, you really don’t know if she’s completed all her assigned duties and has free time. It is extrememly hard to see someone in the office you perceive to be wasting time while you are swamped, however, the only person you can change is yourself and eventually, work habits will be evident. Does your company have an internet use policy? If so, and it addresses personal computer use, it is her manager’s responsibility for oversight and enforcing compliance. Good luck!
Do you really need help or are you just jealous? Does she work faster than you? If you need the help and she is the person, ask your boss. Then tell her as as favor to her that if you know she’s posting during office hours, she can bet others can too and she should be careful.
If her Facebooking is that excessive and you can’t/won’t tell her bluntly that you’re aware of it and to knock it off, then go to your supervisor and rat her out. Why should YOU have to carry the brunt of the work? Either you develop a solid work ethic or you have it explained to you with consequences for noncompliance. Enough of this nonsense — Stand up for yourself. There, I said it!
I agree with Ilja and Fellow Admin. Just do your work and let your boss know that you would like to delegate some work as you are extremely busy. Being a tattletale will in no way shine a good light on you. She will as previously said, hang herself. She is being paid by your company to do THEIR work not play on facebook. If she continues, they are sure to find out without your help. Best of luck!
As frustrating as it may be – don’t let her being on FaceBook add to your stress of already being overwhelmed with your work load. She’ll end up hanging herself in the end. Do you both do the same work and work for the same boss? Is it OK for you to ask her to help you? Or do you need to visit with your boss and let him/her know that you are feeling overwhelmed and afraid with all the work on your plate you are not able to produce the quality work you would like to and should be able to deliver and would like to request assistance. This way you’re honestly asking for help to give them what they deserve from a good worker and you’re not being a “tattle-tale”. Hopefully your boss will have a positive response and you will be able to delegate some of your work load. If you are able to delegate, be sure to keep your boss in the know of what you’ve turned over to this other person so you are no longer accountable for it – do it via e-mail to your boss and cc your face-book co-worker with a brief friendly tone saying so-and-so has kindly taken on the project of whatever it is. You will have covered all basis in a professional courteous manner. Good luck.
The fact that you are swamped and your colleague has apparently nothing to do may sting but is none of your business.
Go to your supervisor and explain how much and what kind of work you have and what you need help with. Then ask your supervisor if you can ask your colleague to help you with certain tasks. The better you are able to specify to your supervisor what you have and what you would like to colleague to help you with, the better.
Then, go to your colleague and ask her if she can help you with those specific tasks. If your colleague refuses or says that she is too busy, ask her what she is busy with. Go back to your supervisor with that information and let your supervisor prioritize the work that each of you will do. That way, your supervisor will know exactly what each of you says you have and can check the work status. You just make sure that you keep your supervisor constantly up to date regarding your work flow.
I would not bring up the fact that your colleague is playing around as that is none of your business. Keep your attention to your desk and your work. And, if you are as busy as you say, you will not have time to watch what your colleague is doing. If you let this get to you, it will hurt you – your feelings and your work. Good luck.
I wouldseriously hope that a person would at least bring a problem to my attention before going to my boss, and I would do the same thing. I would let her know that I am swamped and would appreciate her help. If she still isn’t being cooperative, then I would let her know that I am aware that she is spending a great deal of time on Facebook and being paid while on Facebook is a problem. If after the third attempt, I’d go directly to her boss.
You mentioned you are overwhelmed with work and she is not getting her work done. Would she be a backup to you when you are swamped? If so, I would just ask for her assistance w hen you are overwhelmed. If she says she is too busy, you could respond, “Oh, I’m sorry, it seemed like you were just on Facebook and with as busy as it is, I could really use your help if you weren’t busy with something.” That will at least get the point across that you are aware of her Facebook habits.