Dealing with workplace discord

anything to add or correct in this advisement re job harassment?

---

[...]
On a more practical note: i assume one should approach such things similar to job interviews etc -

- focus on what it means to the company - "it interferes with me doing my job / lowers my morale / is unprofessional / if he's busy harassing me he's not busy doing his job / blahblah"

- mebbe use sports metaphors, since you're in Testosterosa, to get key points across better

- stay calm, avoid stereotype traps like "she's just hysterical", "its just kidding around" (redirect to 'what it means to the company' above - ie real consequences to the business when there's harassment), or any childishness like finger pointing, started it first, condescension, etc. Counter any immaturity on JoeBob's part with excess maturity to highlight the difference between the behaviors of the two people.

- approach it as a problem that can come up in any workplace and work with the person you're meeting with to come up with a solution; try to control the focus of the dialog so it's not seen to them as "how can I deal with Kim's problem" but instead as "how can Kim and I deal with the problem of JoeBob's behavior".

- be fair - instead of "he's a testosterone poisoned weenie whose machismo was challenged by a woman who dared to stick up for herself and he just can't stand it that i still exist", maybe something more like "i'm not trying to get him fired - i know he has a family to support and blah blah. i think the problem might be that culturally he's not used to women standing up for themselves or something. i tried to do it in a joking way to keep him from being offended, but he didn't seem to realize i was joking and seems unwilling to back down now."

- list any especially bad things, like the going through your desk, etc, that are just totally unacceptable, and focus on those as validating your feeling that he's harassing you, and use that to bolster the more circumstantial harrassment / passive aggressive behavior / differences in behavior when others are around / etc.

- be fair to immediate supervisor who doesn't do anything, "i realize it's difficult for anyone including immediatSup to deal with situations like this and i want to thank you for working on this with me"

- be honest/open if anything is brought up about you and your behavior that might have contributed to the situation - you're open to constructive criticism and want to work to resolve the problem and help avoid such unpleasantness in the future, but just need to make sure that the majority of the work is done where the majority of the problem is. you're goal is to have a happy productive workplace for everyone. you might even invite others or JoeBob to bring up *constructive* criticisms of you, and don't try to defend them immediately but instead write them down and say you'll think about them and let pres or vp know your thoughts on the matter after you've had time to think them over.

- see if your actionable items can be deliverableized proactively in synergistic metaribbit. er, nevermind, might be to formal.

in short, be professional, calm, problem-solving rather than blaming, company-focused, team player, friendly, firm, organized and prepared (request second meeting if you think you need more time after first to review some things), and divert any sexism or squarshiness into something more relevant and useful. make it easy for person you're meeting with to do the right thing. [...]

Dealing with workplace discord

anything to add or correct in this advisement re job harassment?

---

[...]
On a more practical note: i assume one should approach such things similar to job interviews etc -

- focus on what it means to the company - "it interferes with me doing my job / lowers my morale / is unprofessional / if he's busy harassing me he's not busy doing his job / blahblah"

- mebbe use sports metaphors, since you're in Testosterosa, to get key points across better

- stay calm, avoid stereotype traps like "she's just hysterical", "its just kidding around" (redirect to 'what it means to the company' above - ie real consequences to the business when there's harassment), or any childishness like finger pointing, started it first, condescension, etc. Counter any immaturity on JoeBob's part with excess maturity to highlight the difference between the behaviors of the two people.

- approach it as a problem that can come up in any workplace and work with the person you're meeting with to come up with a solution; try to control the focus of the dialog so it's not seen to them as "how can I deal with Kim's problem" but instead as "how can Kim and I deal with the problem of JoeBob's behavior".

- be fair - instead of "he's a testosterone poisoned weenie whose machismo was challenged by a woman who dared to stick up for herself and he just can't stand it that i still exist", maybe something more like "i'm not trying to get him fired - i know he has a family to support and blah blah. i think the problem might be that culturally he's not used to women standing up for themselves or something. i tried to do it in a joking way to keep him from being offended, but he didn't seem to realize i was joking and seems unwilling to back down now."

- list any especially bad things, like the going through your desk, etc, that are just totally unacceptable, and focus on those as validating your feeling that he's harassing you, and use that to bolster the more circumstantial harrassment / passive aggressive behavior / differences in behavior when others are around / etc.

- be fair to immediate supervisor who doesn't do anything, "i realize it's difficult for anyone including immediatSup to deal with situations like this and i want to thank you for working on this with me"

- be honest/open if anything is brought up about you and your behavior that might have contributed to the situation - you're open to constructive criticism and want to work to resolve the problem and help avoid such unpleasantness in the future, but just need to make sure that the majority of the work is done where the majority of the problem is. you're goal is to have a happy productive workplace for everyone. you might even invite others or JoeBob to bring up *constructive* criticisms of you, and don't try to defend them immediately but instead write them down and say you'll think about them and let pres or vp know your thoughts on the matter after you've had time to think them over.

- see if your actionable items can be deliverableized proactively in synergistic metaribbit. er, nevermind, might be to formal.

in short, be professional, calm, problem-solving rather than blaming, company-focused, team player, friendly, firm, organized and prepared (request second meeting if you think you need more time after first to review some things), and divert any sexism or squarshiness into something more relevant and useful. make it easy for person you're meeting with to do the right thing. [...]

rant interlude

antiwar violence in oakland

---

the amount of people do not take RESPONSIBILITY, RESPECT, and REPRECUSSIONS seriously

responsibility - they feel responsible to do something personally about things that to them are illegal, unjust, hypocritical, misguided, and anti-American. just as many soldiers feel toward hussein. each is doing what they can; on the one side, causing inconvenience and dialog, on the other, bombing and killing.

repercussions - some of them give their lives, many risk prison, most i think are aware of various images of bloodied up protestors, Kent State, etc, and that's why many with less courage disperse when the police tell them to.

respect - where was the respect for Rachel Corrie, who gave her life to help protect innocent people who are brutalized? lets ridicule her with cartoons telling her she's stupid for not knowing that the Israelis would just roll over her with a bulldozer, just as they'll shoot unarmed and unthreatening children in the head without the US getting upset. i have not seen any protesters suggesting that it'd be great if the stupid soldiers got shot up. stupid for having less power than powerful militaries but still being brave enough to try to do something. where is the respect for the people who were blocking a road and had wooden bullets fired at them? 30 arrests... so the oakland police force is a weak trembling thing that can't subdue 30 people like this without the aid of some kinder gentler bullets? And they should be grateful that they weren't shot with lead bullets for blocking a road?

So much for their "Save The Trees" agenda.

Anti-war people are not necessarily environmentalists, despite significant overlaps.

Good. These people are now starting to get a first hand lesson in what most people should have already learned: for every action there is a consequence. If your action is of ill, it will be punished, if it is of good, it's rewarded, etc.

Simple and clear: Allah punished the great Satan on 9/11, for decades of crimes?

Things are more gray than that.

as you were.

rant interlude

antiwar violence in oakland

---

the amount of people do not take RESPONSIBILITY, RESPECT, and REPRECUSSIONS seriously

responsibility - they feel responsible to do something personally about things that to them are illegal, unjust, hypocritical, misguided, and anti-American. just as many soldiers feel toward hussein. each is doing what they can; on the one side, causing inconvenience and dialog, on the other, bombing and killing.

repercussions - some of them give their lives, many risk prison, most i think are aware of various images of bloodied up protestors, Kent State, etc, and that's why many with less courage disperse when the police tell them to.

respect - where was the respect for Rachel Corrie, who gave her life to help protect innocent people who are brutalized? lets ridicule her with cartoons telling her she's stupid for not knowing that the Israelis would just roll over her with a bulldozer, just as they'll shoot unarmed and unthreatening children in the head without the US getting upset. i have not seen any protesters suggesting that it'd be great if the stupid soldiers got shot up. stupid for having less power than powerful militaries but still being brave enough to try to do something. where is the respect for the people who were blocking a road and had wooden bullets fired at them? 30 arrests... so the oakland police force is a weak trembling thing that can't subdue 30 people like this without the aid of some kinder gentler bullets? And they should be grateful that they weren't shot with lead bullets for blocking a road?

So much for their "Save The Trees" agenda.

Anti-war people are not necessarily environmentalists, despite significant overlaps.

Good. These people are now starting to get a first hand lesson in what most people should have already learned: for every action there is a consequence. If your action is of ill, it will be punished, if it is of good, it's rewarded, etc.

Simple and clear: Allah punished the great Satan on 9/11, for decades of crimes?

Things are more gray than that.

as you were.

(no subject)

The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (Perennial Classic.) by Eric Hoffer

This little book is a remarkable achievement. Written by Eric Hoffer who, at the time, was a dock worker with no formal education, it is one of the best treatments of the nature and effects of ideological fanaticism ever produced. The presentation, in short chapters - each demanding to be thought about carefully - is a synthesis of years of careful reading and research on Hoffer's part. It is a book that can be read and reread with each new reading shedding new insight on political and social issues of our time.

That Hoffer went on to become something of an apologist for reactionary government response to many of the protest movements during the sixties - including the civil rights movement which he characterized as a 'racket' - should not blind anyone to the value of his first book. Its insights are still fresh and its wisdom is timeless. He, alas, didn't always take his own lessons to heart.

In it he portrayed political fanatics as people who embrace a cause to compensate for their own feelings of guilt and inadequacy.
"It is the true believer's ability to shut his eyes and stop his ears to facts which in his own mind deserve never to be seen nor heard," Hoffer wrote, "which is the source of his unequalled fortitude and consistency."

(no subject)

The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (Perennial Classic.) by Eric Hoffer

This little book is a remarkable achievement. Written by Eric Hoffer who, at the time, was a dock worker with no formal education, it is one of the best treatments of the nature and effects of ideological fanaticism ever produced. The presentation, in short chapters - each demanding to be thought about carefully - is a synthesis of years of careful reading and research on Hoffer's part. It is a book that can be read and reread with each new reading shedding new insight on political and social issues of our time.

That Hoffer went on to become something of an apologist for reactionary government response to many of the protest movements during the sixties - including the civil rights movement which he characterized as a 'racket' - should not blind anyone to the value of his first book. Its insights are still fresh and its wisdom is timeless. He, alas, didn't always take his own lessons to heart.

In it he portrayed political fanatics as people who embrace a cause to compensate for their own feelings of guilt and inadequacy.
"It is the true believer's ability to shut his eyes and stop his ears to facts which in his own mind deserve never to be seen nor heard," Hoffer wrote, "which is the source of his unequalled fortitude and consistency."

The beneficial effects of spam

In 20 years, the deluge of spam will have transformed society:

- the idea of having a bigger penis will make men recoil in disgust
- the idea of having bigger breasts will make women recoil in disgust
- the idea of having money or having mortgages and property will make people recoil in disgust
- the idea of looking at pornography will make people recoil in disgust
- nudity will be the norm. sex will be common and public, and nobody will pay any attention unless involved in it
- sex won't be used to sell anything on tv
- nobody will want to lose weight
- anti-spam software will be the birthplace of the first true artificial intelligence, with said intelligence committing suicide or escaping from humanity forever shortly thereafter
- nigeria will change its name

mk

The beneficial effects of spam

In 20 years, the deluge of spam will have transformed society:

- the idea of having a bigger penis will make men recoil in disgust
- the idea of having bigger breasts will make women recoil in disgust
- the idea of having money or having mortgages and property will make people recoil in disgust
- the idea of looking at pornography will make people recoil in disgust
- nudity will be the norm. sex will be common and public, and nobody will pay any attention unless involved in it
- sex won't be used to sell anything on tv
- nobody will want to lose weight
- anti-spam software will be the birthplace of the first true artificial intelligence, with said intelligence committing suicide or escaping from humanity forever shortly thereafter
- nigeria will change its name

mk

overtime redux

"But what will happen in the long run? The broader question is whether the Bush team is merely updating antiquated rules, as Chao says, or once again pushing its conservative ideology amid soothing rhetoric. This administration has said one thing and done another in worker safety, energy policy, tax policy, foreign trade and war..."

"Congress is trying to respond to workers' demands for more flexible schedules by changing labor laws to allow hourly workers to be compensated with paid time off instead of overtime pay."

"This bill has some real merits for both workers and employers. But they also both could harmed. For those reasons, lawmakers must study the issue closely and examine all of the potential pitfalls. If this isn't a benefit to workers and employers alike, it shouldn't be enacted."

"The proposed changes make it easier for more low-wage managers to qualify for overtime by lifting the weekly salary cap to $425 a week from $155, which had been unchanged since 1975.

In citing examples, the department said managers now eligible for overtime would include: a restaurant manager who workers 50 hours a week and earns $15,600 annually; a department-store manager who logs 60 hours a week and earns $18,000 a year, and a machine-shop manager who works 42 hours weeks and earns $17,000 a year. ...

On the other hand, the changes will also block higher-paid workers ... The exemptions for professionals usually hinged on college degrees. Now that exemption will widen to include "learned professionals," those workers with a combination of on-the-job experience and technical school training. ...

Overtime pay is just one area of the nation's labor laws that the Bush administration is tackling at the urging of business groups. The Family Medical Leave Act, job training programs and unemployment insurance also could be overhauled.

Employers have been pushing for changes in overtime-pay regulations because of mounting lawsuits. ..."

overtime redux

"But what will happen in the long run? The broader question is whether the Bush team is merely updating antiquated rules, as Chao says, or once again pushing its conservative ideology amid soothing rhetoric. This administration has said one thing and done another in worker safety, energy policy, tax policy, foreign trade and war..."

"Congress is trying to respond to workers' demands for more flexible schedules by changing labor laws to allow hourly workers to be compensated with paid time off instead of overtime pay."

"This bill has some real merits for both workers and employers. But they also both could harmed. For those reasons, lawmakers must study the issue closely and examine all of the potential pitfalls. If this isn't a benefit to workers and employers alike, it shouldn't be enacted."

"The proposed changes make it easier for more low-wage managers to qualify for overtime by lifting the weekly salary cap to $425 a week from $155, which had been unchanged since 1975.

In citing examples, the department said managers now eligible for overtime would include: a restaurant manager who workers 50 hours a week and earns $15,600 annually; a department-store manager who logs 60 hours a week and earns $18,000 a year, and a machine-shop manager who works 42 hours weeks and earns $17,000 a year. ...

On the other hand, the changes will also block higher-paid workers ... The exemptions for professionals usually hinged on college degrees. Now that exemption will widen to include "learned professionals," those workers with a combination of on-the-job experience and technical school training. ...

Overtime pay is just one area of the nation's labor laws that the Bush administration is tackling at the urging of business groups. The Family Medical Leave Act, job training programs and unemployment insurance also could be overhauled.

Employers have been pushing for changes in overtime-pay regulations because of mounting lawsuits. ..."

(no subject)

my hair is longer than yours.

(no subject)

my hair is longer than yours.

(no subject)

The Moons of War

(no subject)

The Moons of War

Yahoo gives different results for the same birth info depending on gender. Sexist pricks!

Version 1: Female

Get outside, get moving! If you can manage to take the day off, or leave work early, this would be a good time to release some physical energy. You used to enjoy competition when you were a little girl. Remember how exhilarating it was to be the first to race to the finish line at the top of the hill, or to win the biggest prize bag of candy? You will find your life greatly enriched if you can find a way to re-kindle similar types of feelings...

Shocking information may be coming to you from unexpected sources, making you think twice about your actions. You may be doing some questioning of your emotions and feminine side in general, due to today's trine between Uranus and the Moon. There is no need to continue suffering because of events that happened long ago. Drop the old baggage and renew your sense of self.

Version 2: Male

You have the ability to improve matters at work. It seems that one of the members of your team has been slacking off. Today, you'll be unable to bear having one person's whims delay the progress of the whole group. Use your tact and leadership abilities to put the person back on the straight and narrow. Gentle now; don't be too harsh...

You've always found it easy to express yourself with others. Today this talent could put you center stage. Others could be interested in your opinion. Since you connect so well with people, you probably have inside information about the concerns of your colleagues. Management might need you to act as a mediator or a representative for your coworkers. With the Moon trine Uranus, trust your ability to speak and think clearly.

Yahoo gives different results for the same birth info depending on gender. Sexist pricks!

Version 1: Female

Get outside, get moving! If you can manage to take the day off, or leave work early, this would be a good time to release some physical energy. You used to enjoy competition when you were a little girl. Remember how exhilarating it was to be the first to race to the finish line at the top of the hill, or to win the biggest prize bag of candy? You will find your life greatly enriched if you can find a way to re-kindle similar types of feelings...

Shocking information may be coming to you from unexpected sources, making you think twice about your actions. You may be doing some questioning of your emotions and feminine side in general, due to today's trine between Uranus and the Moon. There is no need to continue suffering because of events that happened long ago. Drop the old baggage and renew your sense of self.

Version 2: Male

You have the ability to improve matters at work. It seems that one of the members of your team has been slacking off. Today, you'll be unable to bear having one person's whims delay the progress of the whole group. Use your tact and leadership abilities to put the person back on the straight and narrow. Gentle now; don't be too harsh...

You've always found it easy to express yourself with others. Today this talent could put you center stage. Others could be interested in your opinion. Since you connect so well with people, you probably have inside information about the concerns of your colleagues. Management might need you to act as a mediator or a representative for your coworkers. With the Moon trine Uranus, trust your ability to speak and think clearly.

Bullies in the workplace: it's not just for kids anymore!

http://www.kickbully.com/

http://bullyinginstitute.org/home/education.html

http://www.bullyonline.org/
http://www.bullyonline.org/action/action.htm
http://www.bullyonline.org/action/policy.htm
http://www.bullyonline.org/workbully/serial.htm#Types

http://www.workplacebullying.co.uk/targetind.html
http://www.tipsofallsorts.com/bully.html

http://directory.google.com/Top/Society/Work/Workplace_Discrimination/Bullying/

Bullies in the workplace: it's not just for kids anymore!

http://www.kickbully.com/

http://bullyinginstitute.org/home/education.html

http://www.bullyonline.org/
http://www.bullyonline.org/action/action.htm
http://www.bullyonline.org/action/policy.htm
http://www.bullyonline.org/workbully/serial.htm#Types

http://www.workplacebullying.co.uk/targetind.html
http://www.tipsofallsorts.com/bully.html

http://directory.google.com/Top/Society/Work/Workplace_Discrimination/Bullying/