Employee takes brave stand after manager forced them to talk about personal life in work meetings
'We had a huge fight because she told me there's something wrong with me for not wanting to talk about my life...'
Work meetings are expected to be strictly professional, unless you have a manager who forces you to disclose your personal life. Something similar happened with an employee who goes by u/grapefruitprimary453 on Reddit.
She explained how her new manager had been trying her best to help everyone at work, even if that meant forcing people to talk about their personal lives. The employee was not comfortable with the whole situation and had told her manager about it. "On our first 1:1 meeting, we had a huge fight because she told me there's something wrong with me for not wanting to talk about my life in WORK meetings; she even had the audacity to tell me that my boyfriend must be so frustrated with me because of my attitude (I've never talked about my relationship with any of my coworkers)," she said. In one of the retrospective meetings, the manager forced everyone to answer a very bizarre question: What weather are you according to your mood? Almost everyone was shocked and immediately told the manager that they were in a bad mood. "Then we were again forced to talk one by one about our mood and feelings. The previous manager never forced anyone to talk about this because she understood that not everyone is comfortable with it," the employee explained.
Manager forces us to talk about our private lives in work meetings
by u/GrapefruitPrimary453 in antiwork
Moving on, she said that she tried explaining to her manager that she was being unreasonable, but she simply ignored it. "I told her that I refuse to participate in this because I told her multiple times I'm not comfortable with this approach. Also, I told her that I hate when people are forced to talk when they have nothing relevant to say," she said. The manager was not happy but told the employee that she wanted her to have a meeting with their main manager because of her "inappropriate behavior." Meanwhile, reacting to the story, u/steal_your_face55 suggested, "If you have an HR, contact them. You are being forced, upon threat of punishment, to reveal non-work-related information. You expressed discomfort and were ignored. That's called harassment. Tell HR you feel harassed and bullied! But remember, HR is not your friend. Be careful what you reveal to them. Don't admit to breaking any policies other than your manager's weird request. Good luck!"
Similarly, a user who goes by u/initial_witness8074 said, "It sounds like your manager has a degree in psychology and decided that she should use that degree as a manager. She should have instead learned how to manage and stick to business." u/wilgrove commented, "Why is your manager treating everyone like they're in kindergarten? What's with this 'describe your mood with a weather' bullsh*t? Also, unless your personal life directly intersects with your work life, you don't owe her a damn thing. I hate it when people try to force you to be their friend. If push comes to shove, I'll just start talking about the life and times of Joseph Smith and how he was truly the last prophet of the Christian god."
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