Office Martyrs

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liaconn

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I work with a woman who is always moaning about how busy she is, how she has sooo many hours worked up that she can't take, how going home at 5.30 the odd evening is a 'half day' for her. However, she won't accept any offers of help, gets involved in every flipping area of the organisation, keeps info to herself to prevent other people on the team from playing a full part, goes into unnecessary detail and checking on jobs, and basically just seems to enjoy being the office martyr.

Its not the first time I've worked with someone like this, but has anyone got an explanation for this stupid behaviour? Do people like that think they look important or something? To me they just look like poor teamplayers who don't know how to prioritise.

Yes, I am annoyed and yes I am on a rant.
 
I worked with a guy like that, and to me they are empire builders!!!! They like to be in on everything so it appears as though they are critical to the company. If you look into the work load of these people you very often find that they don't do much other than flap about...
P..:)
 
Firefly said:
She's probably disappointed it's a bank holiday....WELL I'M NOT :D
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Well she was in a few months ago absolutely dying with a cold and when I asked her why she didn't stay at home for a day or two she said she'd be 'bored'.
 
pinkyBear said:
I worked with a guy like that, and to me they are empire builders!!!! They like to be in on everything so it appears as though they are critical to the company. If you look into the work load of these people you very often find that they don't do much other than flap about...
P..:)
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I agree. While in fairnesst this woman's output seems good, I think a lot of things would be done in half the time if she let other people get a look in.
 
She is just a busy body who needs to be involved in everything to fulfill her own sense of self importance.

My own boss is the same, has to interfere in everything, micro manage like mad and generally hold up stuff because he is busy sticking his nose in where it isnt needed. So much time is wasted explaining irrelevant things to him in minute detail with him going off on tangents that are totally unrelated to the actual issue at hand.

Some people just like to be interfering busy bodies.
 
Well, I'm off home. No doubt while I'm sitting in the garden with my shoes kicked off and a glass of chilled wine in my hand she will be sitting in her gloomy office surrounded by files. :p
 
Everyone office has one of these

She is probably a mother hen type. She saves everybody's birthday into her calender and demands money to buy cakes

Or getting you to sign a card and give a collection for some person in accounts you've never heard of
But shames you into donating to their honeymoon :mad:
 
micmclo said:
She is probably a mother hen type. She saves everybody's birthday into her calender and demands money to buy cakes

Or getting you to sign a card and give a collection for some person in accounts you've never heard of
But shames you into donating to their honeymoon :mad:
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Oh yes our office has one too. Similar to the OP's colleague, a martyr to the cause...;).
 
micmclo said:
Everyone office has one of these

She is probably a mother hen type. She saves everybody's birthday into her calender and demands money to buy cakes

Or getting you to sign a card and give a collection for some person in accounts you've never heard of
But shames you into donating to their honeymoon :mad:
Click to expand...


They also like to book a Summer holiday every year so that they can cancel it because they're 'too busy' to take a fortnight off. They will then spend that two weeks telling everyone 'I should be on a beach in Spain right now....' while everyone wishes they were.
They also get to spend the rest of the year talking about how 'I couldn't even go on my holiday I was so busy'.
 
At least there is less pressure on you. Why worry you get paid at the end of the week. (or do you have a productivity bonus?) The old saying goes "give them enough rope and they will hang themselves"
 
Worked with two of these types some years ago. We were in the same building looking onto the same carpark but from different rooms.

The two guys used be competing with each other to see which of their cars would be the last to leave. I'd be on my way home before 5.30pm every day. Often, around 8.30pm I'd be passing the office coming from a match to see the two guys in their respective offices gazing onto the carpark wishing the other would leave.

The three of us were laid off some years ago and on the same terms. Each of us is still working but in different jobs. The three of us leave work early every day now. I think they learned from me.
 
You are right about people like that needing to be in the middle of everything.

I remember designing a database one time and the "Office Martyr" fell out with me because I would not give her a role in running the database when it was my project. Got very annoyed with me over it even though it was absolutely none of their business and outside their remit.

I also remember a lad who use to give up his weekend to work in the office. Used to pass the office going into town on a Sat & Sunday and his car would be outside - he never got promoted.
 
I took over an office that was run by one of these. He would come in at 8 a.m. and leave at 8 p.m. He did everything and never delegated. When I took over, the staff didn't even know how to deal with the incoming days post or where to post the outgoing post in the evening. It wasn't pleasant trying to change these old practices.
 
My experience with the martyrs is that their alleged business is often a cover for actually having little to do or, to get a bit psychoanalytical, a lack of confidence in their abilities against their colleagues (i.e. fabricating other "urgent" work rather than tackle the main work because then it may show that others can do the same work quicker and better).

I've had one who will have an urgent report to do, but rather than face it will tidy her office and re-organise her PC filing and then complain how busy she always is and that she had to come in at the weekend to finish the report.

Another would spend more time telling me how busy they were than actually doing the work.

In all cases, I don't feel they've ever had any more or less work than I have. I genuinely feel, on experience, it's a case of if I pretend or create a situation where I'm overwhelmed, then people won't realise I'm not able for some of the actual work I'm supposed to do.
 
I was speaking to an ex-colleague of mine who told me of a fellow that spends all his time complaining about those around him that are useless and do nothing in their jobs while he is so so busy.

However the same person had to be constrained by management in their job from making journeys outside the office which were of no added value at all to what they did.

God you could write a book on these guys.
 
Latrade said:
My experience with the martyrs is that their alleged business is often a cover for actually having little to do or, to get a bit psychoanalytical, a lack of confidence in their abilities against their colleagues (i.e. fabricating other "urgent" work rather than tackle the main work because then it may show that others can do the same work quicker and better).

I've had one who will have an urgent report to do, but rather than face it will tidy her office and re-organise her PC filing and then complain how busy she always is and that she had to come in at the weekend to finish the report.

Another would spend more time telling me how busy they were than actually doing the work.

In all cases, I don't feel they've ever had any more or less work than I have. I genuinely feel, on experience, it's a case of if I pretend or create a situation where I'm overwhelmed, then people won't realise I'm not able for some of the actual work I'm supposed to do.
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I know what you mean. I have seen office martyrs invent really stupid tasks that then seem to take up all their time while an important job sits idly in their intray. However, if the manager dares suggest the job be given to someone else there is absolute denial that they need any assistance.
 
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