# New and Unimproved Workplace Rants **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 14, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638 "2015-10-14T15:44:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 191
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2023, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/3802 "2023-10-04T23:40:09Z")
> [@Sylvanz](#): > > Corporate wonders why we can’t get shift duties done. And we’ve always had the rep of being slow. Boy that self check out is really speeding things up. It’s not about speeding things up. It’s about eliminating your jobs. ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/3803 "2023-10-05T03:46:31Z")
My job has been like a slow motion train wreck for months. I know I need to find a new job, but I don’t know how much time I have until things really go bad. We just got a report from a consultant that was hired to do an overhaul of our team. They’re recommending three levels of people to do management and strategy, with one level of peons to do the actual work. The problem with this is we have three people now, plus one who I think will be added to our team, and we will hopefully soon be hiring one more person. If you do the math, that means we don’t have enough people to do all of the work that needs to be done. I think that some of the things we do are more important than strategy and messaging, but what do I know. Also our interim manager is kind of getting a bad attitude, and I’m too exhausted, physically and emotionally, to deal with it, but that is another whole story. ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/3804 "2023-10-05T03:51:29Z")
> [@Rebo](#): > > As far as toilet paper - they do refill our toilet paper. You would not believe how jealous I am! The TP situation at my office is so precarious that I stashed a couple of spare rolls in my office, just in case. In another example of why it’s not good to go with the lowest bidder, if you try to pull a paper towel out of the dispenser, it shreds into little pieces. How is it legal to sell something that doesn’t even achieve its most basic function? You can’t dry your hands with a wad of paper towel shreds. Believe me, I’ve tried. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/3805 "2023-10-05T06:24:50Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > IMO to prevent assholes (me) from muting it and parking it in the background while they accomplish actual work. My company’s newest training module is the same - the damn thing won’t play unless the window is on top. Fortunately, it doesn’t actually have to be active, and I have two monitors. (I passed the little quiz at the end with 100% correct on the first try!) ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/3806 "2023-10-05T10:02:46Z")
They’re now timing how long it takes for us to complete the training modules. So if you flip through the slides without reading them and “complete” the course, “they” will know it. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/3807 "2023-10-05T10:46:49Z")
That’s just laziness and, perhaps, cheapness on the company’s part. My school sprung for the online training that requires you to watch a video on each slide which has both sound and captioning and you cannot go to the next slide until the video’s finished. Oddly enough, though, you can stop in the midst of it and go to a previous slide. Of course that resets you to the previous slide’s point in the torture. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/3808 "2023-10-05T12:21:59Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > My school sprung for the online training that requires you to watch a video on each slide which has both sound and captioning and you cannot go to the next slide until the video’s finished. _Sprang_, please, if it’s not too much trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/3809 "2023-10-05T12:26:41Z")
You are correct. That’s a horrible mistake for an English to make, too, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/3810 "2023-10-05T14:25:50Z")
I have two online training annoyances. I attempted to do an online training that has short videos, but after each video there’s a quiz, which you have to complete before you can play the next video. Why? I only watched two of the videos because I just don’t want to do the quizzes. I’m lazy. Just let me sit on the couch and watch videos. I’m also doing some prep work for a training that has a pre-test. I’m not enjoying this, because the first question is about the thing we’re supposed to learn in this training, and the answer to this question is not anywhere on the internet. I don’t like being quizzed on things I haven’t learned yet. What is the point of that? I had a teacher in high school who did this. He was not a good teacher. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/3811 "2023-10-05T14:38:55Z")
> [@MagicEyes](#): > > after each video there’s a quiz, which you have to complete before you can play the next video. Why? To confirm that you absorbed the video and learned the content, I suppose. Otherwise, it would be trivially easy for other people - not you, of course, but those other slackers in the world - to set the video to play and wander off to take a shit or a nap or something. > [@MagicEyes](#): > > training that has a pre-test. I’m not enjoying this, because the first question is about the thing we’re supposed to learn in this training Do you mean, like, for example a training course in basic arithmetic (assuming zero prior math knowledge) and the pre-test asks you things like “What is 6 times 19” ?? If so, that’s pretty fucked up. The only conceivable justification would be to compare your pre- and post-training scores, to have measurable data about how much you learned. But that is a real stretch. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/3812 "2023-10-05T14:49:19Z")
Maybe so if you already know the stuff, you can skip the “real” test? ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/3813 "2023-10-05T15:47:24Z")
Yeah, when you are taking the same training yet again twelve years from now, you’re going to appreciate the pre-test. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/3814 "2023-10-05T17:36:39Z")
> [@MagicEyes](#): > > after each video there’s a quiz, which you have to complete before you can play the next video. Why? To make sure you watch the video rather than leaving it on in the background, > [@MagicEyes](#): > > I don’t like being quizzed on things I haven’t learned yet. What is the point of that? To ascertain your prior knowledge so the instruction can be differentiated for you. Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense however if everyone has to watch the same video. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/3815 "2023-10-05T18:11:05Z")
> [@MagicEyes](#): > > I’m also doing some prep work for a training that has a pre-test. I appreciate that as a feature for my classes. Because the program then skips the material I answered correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/3816 "2023-10-05T18:42:41Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > They’re now timing how long it takes for us to complete the training modules. So if you flip through the slides without reading them and “complete” the course, “they” will know it. So the state mandate is a certain number of hours a year of training in certain areas. My employer has gone (as with most) the cheap route of remote video training, so they keep building new impediments to enforce compliance. At first you could just read and skip video - fast readers could finish in twenty minutes. Then that was disabled and you had to watch the little training scenarios, but you could answer the little quizzes as quick as you liked. That was still too fast, so now they’ve implemented a mandatory delay. Finish a section too quickly and you’ll get a screen saying some variant of you have to wait X number of minutes before proceeding to the next section. They’re going to get your three hours a year if they have to kill you! Killed by boredom, that is. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/3817 "2023-10-05T18:47:32Z")
I could fill a book\* with ways I cheated the bureaucrats at my job. We were each given a set of a couple dozen _NoQUIP Training Modules™_ that had no built-in checks in it. So I immediately skipped to Module 7.15 (yes, there were dozens of them) and took the test. All but one question were principles I’d learned just by having a brain. So I got a 98%. \*Don’t worry, I won’t. ---
**Author:** ![Dogginit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogginit/32/16920_2.png) [@Dogginit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogginit)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/3818 "2023-10-05T20:18:56Z")
I work in steel fabrication, a job I’ve been in for 32 years. Steel detailer, project manager, estimator, purchaser, shop superintendent for a small mom and pop shop. Owner employs a few family members - two daughters, one grandson. Had grandson working on a rush job yesterday, which didn’t get completed, needs to go to the jobsite tomorrow. Didn’t show up this morning at 7 a.m., waited til 8 a.m., finally put on my fab clothes and went to work getting the job done. Finally heard from grandson at 10 a.m., “None of my alarms went off! Do you still want me in there?” No, if I have to do your job, don’t need you, stay home, lose your pay for the day. Been this way for 3 years, I have no power to fire him, as he’s the owner’s grandson. But the boss backed me up on this one, as did his aunt (bookkeeper). Haven’t talked with his mother (our senior estimator). Didn’t get my alarm set last night, either, was still at work at 5:45 this morning to make sure field crews were taken care of, and get crap lined out for the day. Time for grandson to go find a job in the real world for a while. Cannot get good help anymore, don’t know how this world is going to get built when us old hands get out of the game. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/3819 "2023-10-05T22:44:20Z")
I don’t use alarm clocks. My division officer was surprised about that when he heard me counseling a junior sailor about that sailor’s evident inability to arrive at work on time. Said sailor’s excuse was “I didn’t hear the alarm clock” or “The alarm clock didn’t go off” or some related nonsense. It didn’t fly with me because, as I said, I don’t use alarm clocks. I get up in time to do my pre-work ablutions and get to work on time. The division officer said I’m a “different animal”. The rest of your post indictates to me it’s time to find another outfit to work for. If you’re not permitted to discipline (as in firing) an employee such as the grandson, you’re not being permitted to do your job correctly. This part, though, > [@Dogginit](#): > > Cannot get good help anymore, don’t know how this world is going to get built when us old hands get out of the game. reminds me of something I’ve been saying for a few years now. _I’m starting to be convinced today’s upcoming generation is the last one that will enjoy the benefits of the technology they’re so addicted to. Too many of them are refusing to learn anything or are simply incapable of learning. That means they will not be able to repair or even maintain that technology when the rest of us are gone and they have to rely on themselves._ ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/3820 "2023-10-06T00:08:40Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > They’re now timing how long it takes for us to complete the training modules. So if you flip through the slides without reading them and “complete” the course, “they” will know it. I’ve always assumed these modules are the same way; also, most of them are video-based without captions, and since I run these in a muted tabs, I typically just leave it to run and check on it every five minutes or so. Excitement for the day: the safety coordinator somehow managed to delete the safety folder, and couldn’t remember when he could have done this. Yay backups! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/3821 "2023-10-06T01:01:12Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > To confirm that you absorbed the video and learned the content, I suppose. > > Otherwise, it would be trivially easy for other people - not you, of course, but those other slackers in the world - to set the video to play and wander off to take a shit or a nap or something. The problem with this is I’m not required to watch these videos. I don’t need to prove to anybody that I watched them. > [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Do you mean, like, for example a training course in basic arithmetic (assuming zero prior math knowledge) and the pre-test asks you things like “What is 6 times 19” ?? It’s something that’s specific to the system we’re being trained on, which you can only know if you’ve done the training before. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638.md?page=190) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638.md?page=192)