IT teams tries to warn boss after she bans employees from multitasking, higher-ups step in and fire her when productivity tanks: 'We just followed the rules'

Author image for Isabella Penn
Isabella Penn
Mar 29, 2025 10:00 AM EDT

As an employee, multitasking is pretty much a given in any job. You're juggling emails, Slack messages, meetings, and that one task you keep pushing to the bottom of your to-do list. Could you imagine if you had to sit around doing nothing while waiting for your boss to reply before continuing your work? Nothing in the corporate world would ever get done. And yet, that's what happened to this IT team. 

Their new manager rolled in with a "no multitasking" policy, claiming it would boost productivity. It makes sense in a perfect world; you'd think it'd be more efficient to finish one task at a time instead of jumping back and forth between five at once. But anyone who has ever worked a job in their life knows it doesn't work that way.

Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement

  • The team warned her that they usually had to pivot while waiting for approvals or testing feedback, but the new manager shut them down, insisting they do one task at a time. So they did. Literally. When they hit a roadblock, they just waited, per her request. Backlogs exploded, deadlines got missed, and the higher-ups finally noticed. 

  • PhpStorm File Edit View Navigare Cose Arnold Franciscans index.php x </script> 175 <body> 25 2 section class 27 26 29 < "left-te el class "right--it's t <li class='right--it's t <li class='right--it's fails- </a دايل <section id-intro--section"> <article id'intro--section-text's <ing id="waving--ing" srcs/icons/ chi class="section-header"> Hey, ik ben Arnoldi </h2> <p class="section--text"> Ik ben een front-end developer en student aplicatie </p> <a href="swork-section" class="pink-button scroll
    via Arnold Francisca For Unsplash+

  • “We just followed the rules"

    working in IT, me and my friend had a decent gig. nothing crazy, just coding, fixing bugs, the usual. our manager? let's call her karen. she had her rules, sure, but nothing too wild. until
    via thefarzin
  • one day, she dropped the "new policy." "no more working on multiple tasks at once," she said. "focus on one thing at a time, complete it, then move on."
    via thefarzin
  • Cheezburger Image 10487192320
    via Kübra Arslaner For Unsplash+

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • on paper? made sense. less context switching, more efficiency. in reality? absolute nightmare. we tried to explain. "hey, sometimes we need to switch while waiting on
    via thefarzin
  • approvals or testing." she shut us down. "no, stick to the task. no exceptions." okay then. a week in, tickets piled up. we were stuck waiting on feedback with nothing
    via thefarzin
  • to do. customers got mad. deadlines slipped. we tried again, "look, this isn't working—" "you're just not adapting,” she snapped.
    via thefarzin
  • WORLD'S BEST BOSS
    via Kelly Sikkema For Unsplash+
  • so we adapted. by doing exactly what she wanted. no multitasking. if we hit a block, we sat there. no side tasks, no quick fixes. just... waiting. then the backlog exploded. managers
    via thefarzin
  • higher up noticed. clients complained. one day, karen got called into a meeting. she came back looking... different. next morning? email from HR.
    via thefarzin
  • she was out. new manager came in, first thing he said? "hey, so you guys work how you used to, yeah?" yeah. we do.
    via thefarzin
  • theoldman-1313 Some people are so stubborn they would rather self-destruct than admit that something isn't working.
    via theoldman-1313
  • Raym0111 Honestly I would've jumped at the chance to not do anything while my code is compiling. I'd have emailed them to confirm to get things in black and white, and then just chilled out and enjoy life
    via Raym0111
  • KJWeb8 I'm always amazed at the amount of higher ups that don't abide by a simple rule: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
    via KJWeb8
  • JoePikesbro Love it when new managers who think they know the job just start changing random sh and get burned. Warms my cold black heart
    via JoePikesbro
  • glenmarshall When confronted with manglement BS, I nodded. and went about doing as usual. I was lucky, I guess, that crop managers did not last while I did.
    via glenmarshall
  • frogsodapop One of the top requirements that most IT managers want from programmers, engineers, and the like is the ability to multi-task. She is so dumb, LOL
    via frogsodapop
  • OkStrength5245 I have studied industrial psychology and quality management with the best of my country. You can all sum up by: ask the opinion of the grunts.
    via OkStrength5245

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

employee fired job malicious compliance Multitasking coworkers technology it entitled people karma workplace Horrible Bosses Tech karen
Scroll Down For The Next Article