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Yes it is. Another big red flag is micro managing. Managers that want to control even the amount of coffee you drink or how many times you go to the bathroom, i

Yes it is. Another big red flag is micro managing. Managers that want to control even the amount of coffee you drink or how many times you go to the bathroom, if you go out too much etc. Super annoying;

michaelcampbell 7y ago
That happens?
- leetrout 7y ago
  I've seen it be a concern at a couple companies where the person takes 30+ minute "coffee breaks" and has to leave the office to go to Starbucks. Not surprisingly they were generally lower output team members as well. (He says, on HN, in the middle of the workday.)
- MS90 7y ago
  Maybe at Foxconn or something
- settsu 7y ago
  It's not unheard of for contractors in non-NA & non-EU locales.
- castlecrasher2 7y ago
  Maybe they don't make quotas but if they comment on how many coffee breaks or bathroom trips you make, they obviously care about it.
  - bagacrap 7y ago
    Number/duration of coffee breaks is hardly "amount of coffee you drink". And I find it hard to believe any software engineer would catch grief for any amount of time spent away from the desk of their output was measurably above average. So this complaint sounds like it's actually, "I don't get anything done and don't even bother trying to appear busy and my manager tried to talk to me about it".
- kickopotomus 7y ago
  It happened to my wife with a past manager (customer support). It was that manager's first supervisor role and they were trying to be "metric focused" which led to extreme micro management. That management style led to most of the team quitting, including my wife. We heard that the manager was demoted about a month later.
- octokatt 7y ago
  I've seen it most in call centers, where the call balancing is so sensitive they try to stagger bathroom breaks through a forty hour call floor. Then, that policy, which is a boring dystopia in and of itself, gets applied to other individual contributors "to make things fair". I've seen this in more than one customer-service focused company (though thankfully avoided being in the category).

michaelcampbell 7y ago

That happens?

leetrout 7y ago
I've seen it be a concern at a couple companies where the person takes 30+ minute "coffee breaks" and has to leave the office to go to Starbucks. Not surprisingly they were generally lower output team members as well. (He says, on HN, in the middle of the workday.)
MS90 7y ago
Maybe at Foxconn or something
settsu 7y ago
It's not unheard of for contractors in non-NA & non-EU locales.
castlecrasher2 7y ago
Maybe they don't make quotas but if they comment on how many coffee breaks or bathroom trips you make, they obviously care about it.
- bagacrap 7y ago
  Number/duration of coffee breaks is hardly "amount of coffee you drink". And I find it hard to believe any software engineer would catch grief for any amount of time spent away from the desk of their output was measurably above average. So this complaint sounds like it's actually, "I don't get anything done and don't even bother trying to appear busy and my manager tried to talk to me about it".
kickopotomus 7y ago
It happened to my wife with a past manager (customer support). It was that manager's first supervisor role and they were trying to be "metric focused" which led to extreme micro management. That management style led to most of the team quitting, including my wife. We heard that the manager was demoted about a month later.
octokatt 7y ago
I've seen it most in call centers, where the call balancing is so sensitive they try to stagger bathroom breaks through a forty hour call floor. Then, that policy, which is a boring dystopia in and of itself, gets applied to other individual contributors "to make things fair". I've seen this in more than one customer-service focused company (though thankfully avoided being in the category).