Co-worker schedules 4:00 p.m. meeting on Friday

suck it up wrote:

40 hours per week is pretty light for a professional job, so honestly I can't see complaining about it in this scenario. If you were coming to the end of a 60 or 80 hour work week, I could understand being exhausted and just saying "F it, I'm ready to be done for the week and I'm not up for one more meeting." But if you're only working 9-5 M-F, just appreciate that you don't have to work very many hours and actually work all of them.

Look at you, such a good little capitalist. Brainwashed to want to WORK WORK WORK. How does it feel to be a cog in the machine?

8-4 or 9-5 is an 8 hour day? I guess you don’t eat lunch. Sounds like an east coast thing. On the west coast an 8 hour day is 8-5 or 8-4:30 depending on whether you take an hour or half hour for lunch....even if you eat it at your desk

However, a 4pm meeting on a Friday is bad form unless it’s some kind of emergency, quarter/year end, or something if that kind.

office etiquette wrote:

HM guy wrote:

Not trying to pick a fight, I genuinely would not have known this. If it's a 30 minute meeting at 4pm, you're not delaying the end of the week, right?

A lot of people try and leave a little early on Friday to get an early start on the weekend. It's sort of an unwritten rule not to schedule meetings EOD on Friday.

Weak. You’re paid to work, so do what you’ve contracted to do. Are you really that soft?

UsedToLiveThere wrote:

suck it up wrote:

40 hours per week is pretty light for a professional job, so honestly I can't see complaining about it in this scenario. If you were coming to the end of a 60 or 80 hour work week, I could understand being exhausted and just saying "F it, I'm ready to be done for the week and I'm not up for one more meeting." But if you're only working 9-5 M-F, just appreciate that you don't have to work very many hours and actually work all of them.

Look at you, such a good little capitalist. Brainwashed to want to WORK WORK WORK. How does it feel to be a cog in the machine?

This kind of attitude creeping into our culture is exactly why the US is slipping as world economic leader. China, among others, will be eating the US's lunch within our lifetimes because they have a hunger to contribute to success rather than do only as much as possible to hang onto their job and continually seek ways to diminish that. Our Welfare Queen Entitlement society is growing fast.

I don't schedule meetings at 4:00 PM on Friday for reasons cited, but have no problem attending a Friday 4:00 PM meeting.

Follow-up question: How do you feel about Monday 8:00 AM meetings?

DeBron Lames wrote:

Co-worker who has worked from home since Covid began schedules a 4pm meeting today. The rest of us have been back in the office for 40 hours per week since May 2020 doing 8-4 or 9-5. She has an immune issue and works from home "when she feels like it".

I consider a Friday 4pm meeting an egregious violation of unwritten workplace etiquette. What say you?

I think this depends a little on the place of work. My current office has a culture where this would be accepted if necessary. But my previous people would have rolled their eyes.

I think there are also a couple of layers. Is this a one of or a standing meeting. If it's a one off you should deal with it.

Is this a meeting that requires a client or outside vendor and this was the time it needed to be or is it an internal team meeting that could have easily been scheduled earlier in the day or at the start of next week. If this falls in the latter category I'd say this was a rude move regardless. If this was an important business meeting that was time-sensitive then having it at an inconvenient time is justified.

Paul2432 wrote:

I don't schedule meetings at 4:00 PM on Friday for reasons cited, but have no problem attending a Friday 4:00 PM meeting.

Follow-up question: How do you feel about Monday 8:00 AM meetings?

I would be OK with this. I'm usually in by 7:30. I would never schedule it, though, because most of my co-workers arrive around 9am.

The meeting was ok, organizer was chastised by her boss on the call for scheduling something at 4:00 p.m. on a Friday. So I guess that's not happening again.

UsedToLiveThere wrote:

suck it up wrote:

40 hours per week is pretty light for a professional job, so honestly I can't see complaining about it in this scenario. If you were coming to the end of a 60 or 80 hour work week, I could understand being exhausted and just saying "F it, I'm ready to be done for the week and I'm not up for one more meeting." But if you're only working 9-5 M-F, just appreciate that you don't have to work very many hours and actually work all of them.

Look at you, such a good little capitalist. Brainwashed to want to WORK WORK WORK. How does it feel to be a cog in the machine?

I feel fine about working the hours I agree to work.

Tell me this: if you or a loved one show up at the emergency department and need to be admitted to the hospital, would you like to sit around the ED all night because the admitting hospitalist was nearing the end of his work week and didn't feel like doing any more work, or would you rather the doctor just suck it up and do the job he's paid to do? If the latter, maybe you should be thanking me instead of calling me brainwashed.

Paul2432 wrote:

I don't schedule meetings at 4:00 PM on Friday for reasons cited, but have no problem attending a Friday 4:00 PM meeting.

Follow-up question: How do you feel about Monday 8:00 AM meetings?

They are the worst. Decline and propose a new time. Like one of the previous posters, if I have a big workout on the schedule, I block time off my calendar so nobody schedules anything.

Are you all government and union workers? What the hell professions are you in where calling a 4:00 pm Friday meeting is such a horrible violation of "workplace etiquette?"

Gentleman Savage wrote:

UsedToLiveThere wrote:

Look at you, such a good little capitalist. Brainwashed to want to WORK WORK WORK. How does it feel to be a cog in the machine?

This kind of attitude creeping into our culture is exactly why the US is slipping as world economic leader. China, among others, will be eating the US's lunch within our lifetimes because they have a hunger to contribute to success rather than do only as much as possible to hang onto their job and continually seek ways to diminish that. Our Welfare Queen Entitlement society is growing fast.

I find your post interesting as I see the exact opposite happening. I am programmed to work hard, so I have always just worked my butt off at work. I am in my 40s and pretty much work non-stop. I like my job so it's a non-issue.

But think back to pre-iPhone time when people left the office at 5:00PM and didn't do anything until the next day. 3 martini lunches. That kind of thing... I think we're all working too hard these days.

Maybe it depends on the industry/profession.

Gentleman Savage wrote:

UsedToLiveThere wrote:

Look at you, such a good little capitalist. Brainwashed to want to WORK WORK WORK. How does it feel to be a cog in the machine?

This kind of attitude creeping into our culture is exactly why the US is slipping as world economic leader. China, among others, will be eating the US's lunch within our lifetimes because they have a hunger to contribute to success rather than do only as much as possible to hang onto their job and continually seek ways to diminish that. Our Welfare Queen Entitlement society is growing fast.

Yes, its the liberal mentality in action. How can the U.S. compete globally with half the country thinking they are entitled to whatever they want, and have been oppressed all their lives? We don't have a chance.

A 4:00 Friday meeting is just dastardly.