'Everyone on the call was just sitting in confused silence': 15 Bosses who brought "The Office" energy to their workplaces

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jul 12, 2023 3:00 PM EDT

Once or twice in your career, you'll end up with a boss who acts a lot like Michael Scott, the goofy boss of the beloved TV show "The Office." Much like the character himself, these bosses are prone to goofing off, being jokey with employees, always being a prankster or cracking dad jokes, or just being a menace in general. 

These people shared the wild things their "Office" bosses said to them, and some of them make you wonder how these people ever got picked to lead a team. One of the more shocking ones is a boss who snuck up behind a middle-aged employee and picked her up! He then told her he "didn't think you weighed that much." Oh, and this guy was a middle school principal. Hopefully that guy was ousted for that, because he shouldn't be leading anyone, let alone a school. It seems like he belongs with the students, since their maturity level is about the same. 

Scroll down to check out these employees who told all about their bosses' funniest and strangest behavior. Then, this team was instructed to make sure employees were spending the least amount of money possible while on a work trip…but they somehow ended up spending $42,000. 

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  • 01
    World - 'My boss used to carry around a backpack full of hammers and if you fell sleep at your desk he started banging a hammer on your desk until you woke up'
    via Ant Rozetsky on Unsplash
  • 02
    Font - r/AskReddit. Posted by u/Supersmaaashley 2 2 S2 Do bosses like Michael Scott actually exist? And if you work/ed for one, what's your craziest story?
    via u/Supersmaaashley
  • 03
    Font - BigShoots We had an anonymous feedback program at work, and our boss was livid with the results, particularly with several comments that he frequently lost his temper in meetings and would yell at us. The more he talked about how incorrect and unfair and hurtful these comments were, the redder and angrier he got, until he finally pounded the table and shouted, "I DO NOT! SCREAM! IN MEETINGS! OKAY?"
    via u/BigShoots
  • 04
    Font - harperv215 I had a boss that used to watch me through a gap in the glass partition between our desks. She wanted to see if I was paying attention during meetings. One day, I put a large folder to cover the gap and she freaked. I still laugh when I think about it.
    via u/harperv215
  • 05
    Font - outofprintluv My boss is certainly Michael Scott-esque. When I first started I was essentially Pam as well since I was both receptionist and his assistant to some extent. My favorite story was back when we were prepping for a conference. Some context, he's terrible with the English language in general and will mangle phrases and descriptions to no end (how the turn tables...). So on a group call he kept talking about wanting a "golden hamster ball" to do giveaways with. Was raving about h
    via u/outofprintluv
  • 06
    Font - everyone on the call was just sitting in confused silence. However by that point, I had become so good at decoding his nonsense that I knew he was referring to a gold raffle cage and sent him image privately asking if it's what he was thinking. To this day he still talks about the fact I can read his mind and must be psychic. And he still refers to it as a hamster ball. All in all he's a pretty nice guy and a solid boss. Hired me based on a gut feeling and has been decent to me ever since
    via u/outofprintluv
  • 07
    Font - Lemonsof Lifee He wanted a pomegranate for lunch and they were out of season, but that didn't stop him from sending me on a quest to every grocery store in town in search of a pomegranate. Multiple produce guys laughed at me, but that was the easiest $13/hr I've ever made.
    via u/LemonsofLifee
  • 08
    Font - [deleted] I had a redhead boss who made us all sit down and watch a training video about how we shouldn't refer to him as a "ginger" because it is bullying. No one had ever called him that.
    via u/deleted
  • 09
    Font - happydactyl31 4 2 & 5 More I used Michael Scott as a reference point for an old boss of mine from the moment I started working there. He made Chewbacca noises on the regular because one of my coworkers' names sort of vaguely sounded like Chewbacca (it didn't), used voice to text extremely loudly in his office for no reason to send really personal messages, got really excited and wore a specific vest any time we had after-work outings scheduled, shouted the same like 7 references to old mo
    via u/happydactyl31
  • 10
    Font - jezebellrae I had a boss sneak up behind a middle-aged female employee and pick her up, then immediately drop her down saying "I didn't think you weighed that much!" He could not stop laughing. He was the principal. This occurred during passing period in a crowded middle school hallway.
    via u/jezebellrae
  • 11
    Font - on greeting all our international coworkers very loudly in their language (they all speak perfect English, of course), looking around for approval afterward, and then fully giggling at everyone's French accents on conference calls. He also told me a lot about an improv show he did for a full year after it happened. That said - he had all the good parts too. He never hesitated go to the mat for any of us whether we deserved it or not, he gave really sage business advice and great examples
    via u/happydactyl31
  • 12
    Font - else in the office how good I was in it for the following month and chastised them for not coming. When things really got serious or bad in my life, he couldn't have been more kind, helpful, and supportive. Honestly? Probably the best boss I'll ever have.
    via u/happydactyl31
  • 13
    Font - startinearly Had a boss who was very peculiar. For instance, he'd open a random closet, look at the stuff inside, then go on a tirade, "look at all this! Who bought all this C ?!?!" - "Uh, you did". "Oh. Well somebody needs to throw it away!" Constant stuff like this.
    via u/startinearly
  • 14
    Font - [deleted] Never have worked for one myself, but my dad told me a story about his boss who was giving out awards to everyone in honor of how long they've worked there, and he would give speeches for each person. A woman employee received her award and he gave a speech about the story of how she came to work there. And he said, "At first I didn't want to hire her because she was so hot."
    via u/deleted
  • 15
    Font - My dad's not working there anymore, but I love that story because I will never not picture Michael Scott giving Pam a Dundie and saying that about her.
    via u/deleted
  • 16
    Font - holmen-2001 (S) My a boss insisted his daughters be flower girls in my wedding. I declined. At the reception, he told me I was spending too much time talking to one person, and I need to work the room more.
    via u/holmen-2001
  • 17
    Font - [deleted] My boss used to carry around a backpack full of hammers and if you fell sleep at your desk he started banging a hammer on your desk until you woke up and then he would autograph the hammer and give it to you as a gift
    via u/deleted
  • 18
    Font - [deleted] Had a manager at my previous job that really, really tried his best to be everyone's BFF. He loved giving pep talks and thought he could raise our abysmal morale by being Mr. Positivity (note: morale was low because we were always buried in work and paid s). He'd crack jokes, randomly burst into song and sneak up behind you to yell "you're doing a great job!"
    via u/deleted
  • 19
    Font - Unfortunately, he was also super incompetent at his job. He relied heavily on a junior colleague for help with technical stuff (they practically did his whole job for him), and spent days working on paperwork that should really only take an hour or two. If you had a problem, his answer was usually either to stare blankly at you until you left or to say "think positive and it'll work itself out!"
    via u/deleted
  • 20
    Font - Thing he did I hated the most: whenever people would apply to work at the company, he'd print out the stack of resumes, sit at his desk and read aloud all of the parts he found "funny." He'd laugh at people for working at McDonald's or other fast food places. He loved finding grammar mistakes and making fun of them. If someone had a cringe-y objective statement, he'd guffaw over that too. This was all done loudly, and it was a open office so you couldn't avoid hearing it. That definitely
    via u/deleted
  • 21
    Font - homeschoolpromqueen. ✪ 5 & 5 More Worked with a genuine Michael Scott: i.e. a nice, well-meaning person who just did some absurd things. We had kidnapping drills one day, where we learned how to 'not be kidnapped'. Notably, this was a regular, boring office in a regular, boring suburb. No reason why kidnapping would be on anybody's radar... He and several of the guys randomly broke out into a push-up contest. Again. White collar office. Middle- aged dudes in khakis.
    via u/homeschoolpromqueen
  • 22
    Font - Couldn't remember the nationality of our Hispanic colleague. Tried to "learn Spanish" to make her feel special when she returned from maternity leave. (1) What he learned was NOT Spanish, and (2) she was from Portugal. She knew like, five words of Spanish. Disappeared for four days. No call. No email. Wouldn't respond to any of our attempts to reach him. Finally, someone drove out to his house to make sure he was alive. He was. He'd just forgotten to tell us he was taking the week off, an
    via u/homeschoolpromqueen
  • 23
    Font - There were many, many moments like these. Great boss. Genuinely cared about everyone in the company. Occasional moments of brilliance, where he really got things done. But OMG, so many moments of ridiculousness.
    via u/homeschoolpromqueen
  • 24
    Font - jamminatorr Mine had aspects of Michael Scott but the ones that are sad and pathetic and not funny. A couple examples: • he called an all staff meeting to announce his divorce. He then instructed our receptionist to lie to his soon to be ex wife and deny he was in the office, all the time.
    via u/jamminatorr
  • 25
    Font - • he was just so, so incompetent at his job. If a task was too big or complicated he would just .... Not do it. Wouldn't ask for help or anything, he'd just move on and leave whatever issue to fester. I would have to constantly monitor and follow up with him to get things done that effected my job • his writing read like he used a thesaurus heavily. Tons of superfluous words clearly put in there to make him sound smart
    via u/jamminatorr
  • 26
    Font - • when he was terminated he kept the corporate laptop and cell phone. After several strongly worded letters requesting their return, he drove back to the office, parked on the edge of the road (think busy rural highway) and made his teenage son carry it all across the yard and parking lot to deliver them I was eventually tasked by the big bosses to coordinate his termination. They then gave me his job plus my previous one. I can do both within a 40 hr week no problem.
    via u/jamminatorr
  • 27
    Font - No_Higgins 3 yr. ago Yes. They are everywhere. I've had a few. One would only approve your days off if you played into her ego. Her boring ass stories had to be the most fascinating thing you had ever heard. She would come into the office and spin around in a new outfit and we had to pretend it was amazing. I had to work every weekend for months until I started playing along.
    via u/No_Higgins

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boss the office Michael Scott funny workplace-stories jobs workplace-story job jokes joking prank workplace pranks
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