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Working with a lazy half a job Bob who cuts corners

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Does anyone know what a 'Bob' is?  It's seems I'm surrounded by them everywhere I go in particular in the workplace.  Bob is the nickname I've decided to give someone who only does half a job, doesn't complete a job or doesn't actually do the job properly.  I'm sure you've all heard of Half a job Bob.  Anyway, my point is that I can't stand Bobs and they are really bothering me at the moment.

Is it so difficult for someone to actually finish something they started or at least do a half-decent job of it?  In my workplace there is a girl that is a perfect example of a Bob.  She only ever does part of a task and then delegates the rest to someone else because she is too damn lazy.  Before you say anything, she is not a manager, she just does the bare minimum and somehow always gets the credit.  Another trick she does to get someone else to do her work for her is to coach them, well that's what she calls it.  What it really is is her getting you to do the thinking for her because she can't be bothered.  Then when the task is completed and handed back to her she'll forward it on to her manager and take all the credit and you won't get a mention.  Surely this isn't right, but what do you do about it?

People at work having a meeting Today this same person did a task I usually complete in 1 hour and 15 minutes but surprisingly it only took her 35 minutes.  I questioned how you managed to do it so quickly and she just laughed.  All I can say is she couldn't have done a thorough job of it, in fact as the day progressed I found she had actually cut corners.  The thing is her manager doesn't know this and she has potentially made me look bad. 

There was another incident where I was working on a project with this same girl and she actually got me to do all the work but actually told her manager she was coaching me.  How can that be right?  We were supposed to be working on the project as a team.  One particular thing that bothered me about this project was that I had spent ages putting a document together and when it was complete she offered to email it to our manager for approval.  I actually jumped in and said I would do it as I knew she would get all the credit otherwise.  Don't you just hate people like that?

By: Liz


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I'm No Bob A Job Just A Hard Worker

I'm No Bob A Job Just A Hard Worker

I had a supervisor like that, she would spend most of her time dishing out orders while she sat at the PC filing her nails! She used to constantly moan about people taking their time doing work when she hardly did any herself. She complained about some typing work once to one of the bosses but it backfired on her because I never typed it! So I went into the boss and told him it wasn't me who typed it. She was just a trouble maker who had a hang up against the other females in the office!
26/02/14 I'm No Bob A Job Just A Hard Worker
0
ahforfoulkessake

ahforfoulkessake

whoever low rated my last comment needs to liven up.
I was simply pointing out that there's not that big a gap between the low paid and the homeless in the way people are treated overall by society ie being made to feel a loser.
Yet the one that tries to be respectable and fit into the rat race is left feeling worse than the one who doesn't give a toss.
22/06/13 ahforfoulkessake
-1
ahforfoulkessake

ahforfoulkessake

Taking it one step further,
I sometimes think the bums who drink all day on benches have it sussed.
They get money from benefits, some of them for disability for being addicted to something or other, or a health problem arising from it, the jobcentre aren't on their case about finding some low paid crap that barely leaves them any better off than they are now cos they know that most employers with any sense wouldn't bother hiring them and they don't have the stress of dealing with some total hitler who they'd like to strangle while toiling for a pittance all day.
One of my mum and dad's old mates was one such type and every winter or at least every 2 years he'd get himself sent to prison for the coldest part of the year say nov-feb for some petty crime as he had no home.
3 meals, some clothing, a bed. all piad for by taxpayers
We're the mad ones for not living that way.
30/05/13 ahforfoulkessake
-1
edison

edison

Well how did she manage to earn the trust of her manager while being a Bob then? Maybe coz she has big Bo*bs?
15/05/13 edison
-4
8raven4

8raven4

I agree miserablemoaninggit, if your paid peanuts why go above and beyond.
25/11/11 8raven4
9
miserablemoaninggit

miserablemoaninggit

In this age of pay freezes, unfairness (we are NOT all in it together), attacks on pensions, attacks on conditions of service, basically workers being treated like idiots by both government and employers, then I think we all should become like these 'Bobs'. Doing the minimum seems like a sensible approach when doing the maximum gains no additional rewards, and actually will probably 'raise the bar' in terms of expectations, leading to more work for the same, if not less, pay.

Of course, the problem is the implications for other workers, so a successful 'Bob' should have some sort of moral code to follow, and ensure that their minimalist approach has minimal impact upon their colleagues, although this excludes senior management and a 'Bob' should try to ensure that the senior managers actually earn their 'fat cat' salaries, and actually do some work.

Liz, before I realised that voting in the UK is almost pointless, and that the wealth distribution of this country is sickening, and that we had a succession of governments that consisted primarily of public school boys, most of whom have never seen a gas or electricity bill, or have ever done a proper job outside of politics, I would have been fully sympathetic to your post. However, my sympathies like with the 'Bobs' of this world - it's the rest of us that are the idiots!
21/11/11 miserablemoaninggit
19
kharma

kharma

What makes me tick is that there are so many bobs in jobs these days, it's unreal. I say, get shot of the bobs and bring in more jobs for the unemployed who are actually struggling to look for a job, none of these scroungers who will just end up being the next generation of job bobs in Britain.
21/11/11 kharma
-12
Grumpy xx

Grumpy xx

I don't like it when people don't do their work properly either. Nevertheless, organisational culture is often to blame - not the actions of individuals - as you seem to suggest. In the age of lowering standards, mediocrity and what used to be viewed as 'sub-standard' is the new 'expertise' these days, and anyone who really is dedicated and conscientious is viewed as a tall poppy, which must be lopped down to size or bullied out of their jobs. After all, these type of people are misconstrued - to the average majority - as nuisances that raise the standards thresh hold to senior management and show all the real 'Bobs' up, fuelling fears that they would be out of job instead. So it's better to get rid of the tall poppy by undermining them, overloading them with work, shunning them and generally making their lives such a misery they can't wait to leave.
19/11/11 Grumpy xx
-15
Timelord

Timelord

I sympathise with your problems with "Bobs", though it's something that should addressed by the management at your workplace. I assume you have some sort of annual appraisal? Raise your concerns there, I assume that "Bob" is not the boss's daughter?
19/11/11 Timelord
0

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