Micromanaging boss set 'ridiculous' rule for coders —their perfect response turned the tables on him

Workplaces have conduct and ethics to maintain stability, but flexibility, respect, and comfort are also crucial for an efficient workflow. Reddit user u/TheBigCahoona43 shared that when the latter was tampered with, the team came up with a hilarious and smart response. As a software developer, the employee mentioned that their company prioritized quality work instead of sticking to the rules. “My team had always been pretty laid-back, focusing on results rather than the exact hours we were glued to our desks,” the employee said. They added that this method was working well for them and their clients.

When a new project manager, Dave, arrived, he emphasized strict workplace protocols and wanted to micromanage everything. “He’d schedule unnecessary daily status meetings, demanded we fill out hourly work logs and insisted that everyone strictly adhere to 9-to-5 office hours with minimal breaks,” the employee mentioned. The programmer then highlighted that the manager enforced a bizarre rule. “During one of his infamous ‘efficiency crackdowns,’ he sent out an email with a new policy that all coding must be done strictly within office hours to ‘ensure collaboration and supervision,’” the employee added.

They explained this was bound to fail since maximum productivity was achieved through their flexible work hours. “This was ridiculous because creative work like coding often requires flexible hours for maximum productivity. But Dave was adamant and he ended his email with, ‘If you think you can find a loophole, think again. Follow the rules, or we’ll find someone who will,’” the post mentioned. The employee then decided to listen to the new manager and started working on the clock between 9-5. “If I encountered a bug or was in the middle of a complex piece of code? Too bad. 5 PM means the end, no matter what,” they said.

The rest of the team wasn’t on board for being micromanaged and decided to do the same as their fellow employee. “Projects that usually took a couple of weeks started dragging on. Tasks that we could have completed in days with a bit of overtime took much longer because we couldn’t capitalize on the bursts of late-afternoon productivity we were used to,” the employee explained. It caused a setback for the entire company and their work. Upper management called an impromptu Zoom meeting at 4:30 PM one day to address the issue. Though the employees explained the situation, Dave berated them and blamed them carelessly.

The meeting continued, but as soon as the clock struck 5 PM, each employee had the same thought. “As the clock struck 5:00 PM, one of the employees spoke up, ‘In compliance with Dave’s 9-to-5 rule, we must log off now.’ Without missing a beat, every team member clicked ‘Leave Meeting,’ leaving a stunned Dave to face the executives alone.” the post read. Following the event and its results, the manager had no choice but to revoke the policy. u/2ndhandembarrassed said, “That was like a beautifully executed synchronized swim.” u/Mapilean wrote, “This is great, not the least because everyone complied.”

This article originally appeared 8 months ago.