Boss makes team work extra weekend shift, Data Analyst makes sure he's there: 'You also need to be there for the sign-off'

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
May 15, 2024 10:00 AM EDT

One of the most respected ways to lead is from the front. Of course, you may be the first one to catch an arrow or a spear to the throat—dooming everyone who was relying on your command and is now floundering, leaderless. But, if you pull it off and make it through the battle unscathed you can sure as heck bet that the troops will love you far more than they would had you been in your command tent at the back of the field. 

The difference here and the limitation of this anecdote is that there are far less arrows or spears in a business setting. In fact, the only thing remotely sharp or resembling such a thing would probably be that pen sitting on your desk. So, leading your team from the front when the only risk is your Wednesday afternoon tee time or Sunday brunch, really isn't all that much to ask. Doing so will foster respect from your subordinates whereas asking them to do something you wouldn't would probably cause resentment and hurt team morale. 

This data analyst managed to force their reluctant and incompetent manager to do so, after their manager unnecessarily accelerated the timeline of the team's project in order to win points with their own superiors. When it fell on the team to work a Saturday shift, the data analyst made sure that their boss was there too. 

Seems only fair. 

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  • 01
    My manager promised his manager that we could get our work done 2 weeks before the agreed timeline, so I "made" him work on Saturday with me.
    via Austin Distel
  • 02
    Almost 10 years ago, I worked at a company where my department analyzed survey and secondary data, compiling it into handbooks each quarter. After six months of joining the department, my manager, who joined us two months after me, reorganized our tasks in an attempt to improve our efficiency.
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 03
    This manager was promoted internally and was notorious for kissing up to management. He was technically not qualified for the promotion due to a different background required for our department, but one of the C- suite member liked him a lot. He did have some expertise in other areas, but generally had an unpleasant personality, so, many people in the company didn't like him much.
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 04
    Along with three new projects, I was assigned the handbook task for the first time. The meeting was in February, so my first handbook would be for that year's Quarter 1. In the meeting I also asked my colleague who had managed the project for 4 years to explain the usual timeline. She
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 05
    said it took 6 months, a timeframe agreed upon by management for years, considering the person handling it would also have other important projects. This means, for Quarter 1 data, the printed copies of the handbook need to be ready by 30th of September. The 6-month period includes collecting the analysis from survey managers,
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 06
    and for secondary data, I would have to contact the data owner and do the analysis myself. I also have to work closely with the outsourced company that does the design and printing. I carried out the handbook project smoothly along with my other tasks, and by late July, the only thing left for me to do was to proofread the content. The next procedure required me, my
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 07
    manager, and the designer to review and finalize every page before sending it to the Unit Head for approval. Printing and delivery take about 2-3 weeks, so we aimed to submit the design by mid-August and confirm the final version for printing by the last week of August. However, on the last Friday of July (a whole 2 weeks before our target timeline to send the design to the Unit Head), this conversation happened:
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 08
    Manager: OP, I need you to finalize everything today, because we are sending the design to the Unit Head on Monday. Me: Next Monday? Why? We have two weeks. Manager: Well, the Unit Head wants to see some changes around here, so I thought we could speed up the publication of this handbook to start. I told the Unit Head we would send the design to her on Monday.
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 09
    Me: Okay... you could have discussed this with me first. I mean, the proofreading is almost done, I can get it done by today, but we still need to sit down with the designer to finalize and sign off. The appointment is in a week. Manager: Can you do it tomorrow? Go ask the designer.
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 10
    (Now, it was not normal in our company to come to the office and work on weekend. And of course I already had a plan for that weekend so this was really annoying to me. At least I knew that the designer would have no issue moving it to the next day, because he is very cooperative.)
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 11
    Me: I can try... but tomorrow is Saturday. I'm not sure if he can make it. And are you sure we want to rush this? Because even if we meet the designer tomorrow, the hardcopy will be delivered just 2 weeks earlier than the normal deadline. Is it that significant? Manager: Yes! Just go ask the designer now.
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 12
    So, I called the designer, and as expected, he had no problem meeting on Saturday. Me: Mr. Manager, the designer is okay to meet tomorrow. Is 10am okay with you? Manager: Huh? (Puzzled look) Me: Uhmm... You also need to be there for the sign-off. Manager: I do?
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 13
    Me: Yes, you literally need to sign off on the final version to send to the Unit Head. It's the normal procedure. (Tbh, he didn't need to be there aside from following procedure. He had already seen the design a few times and likely wouldn't have contributed much to the meeting. I would have loved for him not to be there anyway. But at that point, I was quite excited to make him come to the office on the weekend when he obviously didn't realize he ALSO had to be there with the designer.)
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 14
    Manager: I can't tomorrow, I'm going [somewhere] until Sunday. Me: Well, if you want to send this to the Unit Head on Monday, then YOU HAVE to be here tomorrow. Manager: Sigh... let me get back to you. About half an hour later, he came up to me with the sourest face ever, "10am tomorrow is fine", and walked away.
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 15
    I'm guessing he must have off someone when he had to change/cancel his weekend plan. So the next day, he came in 1 hour late, not smiling at all, and was to the designer and me. He was really unhappy to be in the office on that day, but we got it done by 1pm.
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 16
    The following week, the story of how *I* made my manager come to work on Saturday was told around the company. Apparently, the plan that he had for the weekend was a group trip with some of his buddies who also worked in the company, and he had to make new arrangements to get to the place by himself and
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 17
    arrived late. A lot of people thought it was really funny (including the Unit Head and some of his buddies) and laughed at the image of him. walking into the office on Saturday for some trivial yet necessary work. Nevertheless, the next 2 years that I worked on the handbook, he never promised anyone to have the handbook ready before the 6-month timeline.
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 18
    Old Pomegranate_822. 11 hr. ago Nice one. No manager should be asking someone to do longer hours without themselves doing them. too...
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 19
    technos 6 hr. ago I've helped pull this one myself. We had a project 'due' June 1st, just some internal would-be-nice, that had been back-burnered thanks to a medical issue with one of the stake-holders in another department.
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 20
    It wasn't a big deal but the big boss thought it was going to make him look bad so he put it back on the active list. We groaned and pointed out that without the stake-holder we were pretty much dead in the water, but he insisted. Fine.
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 21
    Every time we would have involved the other guy we substituted our boss instead. He outranked the other fellow and could do approvals on his behalf, after all. We scheduled meetings when he'd normally be sneaking out to play golf or five minutes after lunch ended (so he had to come back on time) and, while it annoyed him, he didn't give up.
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 22
    So one of the other guys stepped up our little game. and scheduled an 8am meeting on Saturday to 'catch up' on lost time. Sure, we were all at him, but we weren't even a tenth as I as the boss would be, so we didn't complain. Boss had to cancel a weekend in Vegas to attend and grumbled the entire morning.
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 23
    Come Monday, when he opened his calendar and saw a second Saturday meeting scheduled he put the project back on inactive. He was now "confident we were now in a good place to pause". Didn't stop us with him though. All meetings were now five minutes after lunch or at 3:30 on a Wednesday if they involved him.
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 24
    • Fredredphooey · 10 hr. ago Nice. I once worked for a small agency who's CEO/owner would over promise out of fear of losing work so between two and five people were always working late, sometimes until midnight and several times until 3am and coming back to the office at 7am.
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 25
    One of our clients was in Beijing and I would beg him. to tell me when his next project was due. He would ghost me for two or three weeks and then call me at 9am on a Saturday to tell me that I had to work all weekend. One Saturday he said that he hoped I wasn't disappointing too many people by canceling my plans. I asked him how many people were enough. He had no answer.
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 26
    My last day happened to be some poor smuck's first day and at 11pm, I handed in my work and told him I was leaving. This was the first time I had spoken to him all day because of our roles so he asked me why I wasn't shipping it to X. I explained that I was done with my piece and I didn't handle that part and it was my last day so good luck. His face was pure misery. I always wonder how long he lasted.
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 27
    angryshark 7 hr. ago I was in graphic design for 40 years and it is written in stone that moving timelines up is a guarantee something WILL be wrong in the approved and final version.
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 28
    Coolbeanschilly 9 hr. ago It's funny how the mangler became reasonable about future last minute deadline changes when they personally had to suffer the consequences of their manglement procedures.
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 29
    SeraphiM0352 It kind of sounds like the Unit Head let your manager walk himself into that problem. sundried potato OP · Some of us thought so too, the manager wasn't the Unit Head's first choice for the promotion anyway.
    via u/sundried_potato
  • 30
    funndanni · 2 hr. ago If you decide people have to work OT you should have to work OT salary or not.
    via u/sundried_potato

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