Want to look busy at work? Leave your coat on your chair overnight.

[Renew Deal]

This is kind of funny and shows the lameness of business games.

The Busyness Trap

I frequently talk to MBA students about their careers and aspirations for life. Some of these students worked on Wall Street, and when we talk, a number of them admit that the key to their success was creating the illusion of hard work. One said that he and the other associates would leave their suit coats on their chairs at the end of the work day to make it seem that they hadn't left for the night — that they were somewhere in the building doing work — when in fact they had gone home.

"We have these little tricks of the trade to create the impression that we are absolutely committed to the organization, even when we don't have any work," he told me. "It's part of managing expectations and our images."
<snip>

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/05/the_busyness_trap.html

[Taverner]

1. LOL - I'll remember that

[CTyankee]

2. It's a good way of getting your coat stolen...

oh well, if it works, so be it. but it is such bullshit...

[Cronus Protagonist]

3. I've done that very thing

And it works. I also left reference manuals on the desk, open to a page with my reading glasses set on top and my chair set askew as if I just rushed off to help someone.

[sofa king]

8. Yep. Also the half-eaten bagel....

But don't do a half-cup of coffee, or some clever bird will dip in a finger and discover it's cold (thank you, random Internet adviser, for that tip). Turning off the screen-saver and/or sleep mode so that it always looked like you just left your computer a few minutes ago was a viable option in older times, but now with widespread use of logins and passwords that's a serious danger you should avoid. Perhaps a better option would be to set sleep mode so that it kicks in very fast, then let it shut off while you're talking with others in your cell, and be sure to note it. (Edit: there is an actual, conscientious reason to set it like that, which is that many hard-drives have a hard-coded "death date" after a certain number of write-cycles and the guy who works the hardest (or watches the most porn) has the hardest working computer--but you have to explain that to more than one person to make it fly.) They may later conclude that a sleeping computer doesn't necessarily mean you're gone.

On one pointless and hellish temp job I had an actual office. So I left without a coat one day, then wore the others into the office, and threw those on the back of the chair every day while the "safety" coat was hung behind the door.

When it was beer:30 or I had other reasons to be gone, I'd pull out the safety and slink off. Next day, yesterday's chair coat would become the "safety."

My conscience prevented me from actually jacking my employer by writing out my timecard as if I was there, so occasionally someone would say something like "I thought you were there that evening." "No, I had to leave in a hurry that day," was my stock answer.

The point, in that particular case, was to temporarily divert a boss or co-worker. Most of the time, when someone wants to screw over the temp at the end of the day but can't find him because he's away from his desk, they'll move on to a more available victim and forget about it. But if they come looking and know you're gone, then you've let them down and they won't forget.

The potential to get screwed over was the illusion I sought to create, not milking the clock.

[mwb970]

4. Reminds me of George Costanza.

Do you remember the Seinfeld episode where George explains how he makes people think he's busy? He goes around looking annoyed all the time and people think he must be doing something important!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd9ma2UVLHM

[Initech]

7. I like how he convinced Steinbrenner that he was putting in extra hours...

After locking his keys in his car in the stadium parking lot. :rofl:

[Renew Deal]

9. That's classic

:rofl:

[Aerows]

5. If you leave a hot cup of coffee on your desk, you can run errands

for an hour and have no one miss you. Particularly if you are vociferous about hating meetings. As long as you are perceived in taking part in an activity you hate, you are therefore "working."

[PuffedMica]

6. A place I worked once had a computer network that had a window that would show who was logged on

Those of us who noticed this page never turned our computers off.

[iamtechus]

12. That was common practice at the large corp where I worked

More than once I climbed several flights of stairs to "see" someone only to find a darkened cubicle with their terminal on and logged-in.

[HipChick]

10. Really doesn't apply in the virtual world of remote working or telecommuting

I work for a large global company..on my current project, almost 90% of workforce is remote or virtual...When I send out emails, I always set them up to go after 1am in the morning...people think I'm still working

[Scuba]

22. Before I retired I would draft up a couple in the evening, then send one ...

...each time I got up to pee at night. My boss thought I was a workaholic.

I pretended to work. They pretended to pay me.

[Siwsan]

11. I work with someone who did this - and more

She brought an extra coat AND an extra purse, to work. She'd leave the spares in her cubicle. and take off to go shopping or get her nails and hair done. Why she wasn't fired, when they found out what she was doing, leaves me gobsmacked.

[Posteritatis]

13. Of course if something like that works it means your employer's a moron.. (nt)

[Renew Deal]

18. It's not just about employers

It's also about perception of coworkers.

[Posteritatis]

20. Who, if that works, are also morons. (nt)

[Renew Deal]

23. lol

No comment :evilgrin:

[tammywammy]

14. I have an office with a door that locks.

I have to lock the door when I'm not in there for security purposes. I guess this only works if you have a cube.

[Raine]

15. I love the ways that people find to fight back. nt

[WinkyDink]

16. Well, there goes THAT bright idea!

[angstlessk]

17. I produce so quickly I have to give myself couple of extra hours

or they would not believe I produced it at all! ..

I have defined efficient as 3 parts being right..and 1 parts being lazy...

or visa versa it is not important..as long as the end game is realized.

[Posteritatis]

21. Heh, I do the same and often just take off early

"P left early" means "the office is humming along at a good pace" nowadays, if just because of the rhythms of how new work comes in to the place.

[pipi_k]

19. I couldn't do that at my last job, but...

I did have this uncanny ability to know when the boss would be back in the office.

He would often leave to see customers all over the NE area, leaving me and the bookkeeper alone in the office. She would leave at noon each day and I'd be alone.

I would go out back in the warehouse and sneak cigarettes, play games on the computer, and goof off.

I also did some real work in between, but not as diligently as I did when he was there. I had to do lots and lots of multitasking when he was in the office, so I relaxed when he was gone. I often thought he suspected I wasn't really as busy as when he was there, but he could never catch me goofing off, as hard as he tried.

I just somehow KNEW the approximate time he would be back, even though he would try to sneak in without me knowing.

:7