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I don't think most companies embraced remote work, they just didn't have any other choice. I'm pretty sure there's tons of managers out there that can't wait to

I don't think most companies embraced remote work, they just didn't have any other choice. I'm pretty sure there's tons of managers out there that can't wait to get back to the office so they can keep having stupid meetings and micromanage their subordinates.

uncledave 6y ago
They’ve worked out how to do that from home. I’ve grown particularly good at popping their balloons. Zoom meetings are far more visible as they can be recorded and if they aren’t productive I make sure that is known.
- IG_Semmelweiss 6y ago
  wow. that's going nuclear. Getting ideas or sure. hat tip to you sir.
- hn_asker 6y ago
  Can you share tips on how to pop their balloons?
  - uncledave 6y ago
    Accountability, agenda, actions in that order. So start with asking for the meeting to be recorded. Refuse to attend unless it is using the excuse that you may want to review bits of it later. They can’t refuse for accountability reasons. Agenda means they need to set a time window and agenda for the meeting up front. That keeps it in writing and the scope well defined. If there isn’t one there’s no reason to attend so carry on your normal duties. This becomes a virus quickly which trashes junk meetings. If you’re complained at for not attending, there was no agenda. If you don’t attend people see the person’s meetings as not mandatory and this disempowers them slowly. Actions. Make sure recordable actions come from the meeting and make sure they are accountable for tracking them and that they are delivering business value. If they aren’t then they don’t need to exist. Escalate that. Even as a junior a long time ago I asked for concrete actions at the end of a meeting and managed to cause a company wide shit storm :) After doing this a few times, organisers who rule or even just exist in the chaos and distraction are marginalised or made to conform to order and the good of the team. Edit: warning this doesn’t scale down to small companies.
- jacquesm 6y ago
  Note that recording conversations without consent of all parties involved is a felony in quite a few jurisdictions.
  - pensatoio 6y ago
    Zoom notifies everyone when a recording starts.
  - uncledave 6y ago
    Good point. If it’s a corporate zoom account then it can likely be included in the IT AUP however. But I usually ask for it to be done.
thrower123 6y ago
I'm hoping that this will have gone on long enough that the useless managers will have been exposed...
ashtonkem 6y ago
As a manager; no thanks. That sounds like a lot of pointless busy work that I don’t want to do either.

uncledave 6y ago

They’ve worked out how to do that from home. I’ve grown particularly good at popping their balloons. Zoom meetings are far more visible as they can be recorded and if they aren’t productive I make sure that is known.

IG_Semmelweiss 6y ago
wow. that's going nuclear. Getting ideas or sure. hat tip to you sir.
hn_asker 6y ago
Can you share tips on how to pop their balloons?
- uncledave 6y ago
  Accountability, agenda, actions in that order. So start with asking for the meeting to be recorded. Refuse to attend unless it is using the excuse that you may want to review bits of it later. They can’t refuse for accountability reasons. Agenda means they need to set a time window and agenda for the meeting up front. That keeps it in writing and the scope well defined. If there isn’t one there’s no reason to attend so carry on your normal duties. This becomes a virus quickly which trashes junk meetings. If you’re complained at for not attending, there was no agenda. If you don’t attend people see the person’s meetings as not mandatory and this disempowers them slowly. Actions. Make sure recordable actions come from the meeting and make sure they are accountable for tracking them and that they are delivering business value. If they aren’t then they don’t need to exist. Escalate that. Even as a junior a long time ago I asked for concrete actions at the end of a meeting and managed to cause a company wide shit storm :) After doing this a few times, organisers who rule or even just exist in the chaos and distraction are marginalised or made to conform to order and the good of the team. Edit: warning this doesn’t scale down to small companies.
jacquesm 6y ago
Note that recording conversations without consent of all parties involved is a felony in quite a few jurisdictions.
- pensatoio 6y ago
  Zoom notifies everyone when a recording starts.
- uncledave 6y ago
  Good point. If it’s a corporate zoom account then it can likely be included in the IT AUP however. But I usually ask for it to be done.

thrower123 6y ago

I'm hoping that this will have gone on long enough that the useless managers will have been exposed...

ashtonkem 6y ago

As a manager; no thanks. That sounds like a lot of pointless busy work that I don’t want to do either.