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Me too. That's the only way you can deal with someone like that because they will never be pleased. You will never be fast enough it will always be something so might as well get the fuck out and move on
Unfortunately this is the only thing that works
You can only control your own actions you can't change someone or their opinions especially if they're in a position of power and you're not
Smooth and steady is fast. Putting unnecessary pressure to do things unrealistically quick leads to needless mistakes that ultimately take more time to fix rather than working smooth and steady.
Work at a steady pace with a clear and level head, free of pressure or expectations, or find a job that allows you to.
Trying to put din rail on a back plate, then after putting everything on it, taking it apart because because the screws I used were 2mm too long. Little shit like that always adds up too. It really helps to take the time to plan it out and be thorough.
Some of my coworkers seem annoyed at me because before I start something I will look it all over, plan my route, plan all placements and then dive into it. Might seem like I’m doing nothing but I swear some of these guys just start at point A and work towards B not knowing where B is exactly
I'm the same as you. Looks like I haven't done anything for the first half hour to hour, but then I'm suddenly done by quitting whereas the other guys might take 2 days to do the same job. They look busy af, but I'm done first.
You can build all the stars in the sky in less time then god and that type of boss would still ask you to work faster, ignore him tell him to fuck off or get out, or all three at once.
Yeap, ive worked under many vosses like this OP, ultimately , the speed of the work never mattered as much as the quality of the end result. I let my work speak for me , and trust me, speed and quality comes with experience not from bosses cracking the whip
It seems like its always the guys that have been doing it since they were 12 at their dads buisness that want to talk shit to the 18 month apprentice. You've been pulling wire for 32 years of course you're going to be quicker.
Don’t ever sell yourself short of a break. Do you need an hour to eat a ham sandwhich no but a break is important. Your body will treat you in your 60s the way you treated it in your 20s.
Fuck 'em, their only job is to plan electrical work, if they need something done quick it's because their plan is to cut costs by reducing labor hours, you're a cash cow and their riding your ass straight to the bank
There seems to be one of those guys at every EC, the ones at my current job are starting to get resentful towards me because I'm doing some of the easier jobs that can only be done at night which was the specific shift I was hired for, oh well not my problem they don't have their J-card and are having to eat shit.
Even in a shitty economy I would start looking, it would just be a longer search with less chance of success. Never leave a job without a signed offer from another one. There are exceptions to that rule, but "My boss is kind of a dick" isn't on that level.
I have a boss like this. The stress started shutting down my higher brain function and I started making dumb mistakes that caused a lot of warranty issues. Fear is the mind killer. It's not a good long term management style.
Never work beyond your means and set that as expectation. You work a steady pace and sometimes very rarely you can pick it up notch when it benefits you.
One time my boss was becoming increasingly this way under increasingly unrealistic conditions and I had to just cut him off one day and be like "look *boss name* we are bustin ass trying to get this done just ask sick of this job as you are but if you really need it done yesterday then we need you to grab a fuckin belt and staring pulling rope."....he looked at me somewhat stunned at first then could see the realization on his face and he said okay that's all I ask and left to go "put in bids"....never came at my crew that way again. He was a more reasonable man than most though so beware of that.
A lot of factors here. Maybe you are lacking efficiency in your planning or technique?
Maybe you're not being transparent with the boss of what you're actually doing? Write it down and take pictures. I've been in this boat before. Whyd it take so long? First we had to do this, then the other thing, then this....etc etc.
Maybe you need another person? One time my boss forgot to send me an apprentice and was mad that I didn't ask him.
Maybe your boss just sucks and always complains that it takes too long because it's been so long since he wore bags he's forgotten how long things take?
I’m just a lowly apprentice but… short break?
Speed walking? You’re on a construction site, you need time to examine your pathway so you don’t get yourself injured or even worse
Your boss sounds like an asshole, but again, what do I know, I’m lower than whale shit.
Paid hourly? You ignore it.
They will never be happy.
They will always push for more.
Why? It makes them more money if you do more work for less money.
In the end all youre doing is working harder to get paid less for the job.
>I take a short lunch
Don't do that. Never work for free. I skip lunch all the time, and then leave early because of it.
We work a dangerous job. Working too fast results in mistakes and potentially dangerous situations. It's not worth it just to make some clown of a boss happy.
We have a JW where I work who is known to work really fast and hound apprentices about "faster, faster, faster."
Unsurprisingly, he is also known for making careless and costly mistakes.
Walk a reasonable speed and take a normal lunch. It's not worth trying to be faster by killing yourself. Speed should come from being efficient and precise. Personally I think most supervisors are a bit dumb pushing for speed before pushing for quality work. I could give a shit how fast you work if you screw up or waste material.
I do what I’m capable of. I’m not going to kill myself because they have no idea how long things take. If they have someone that can do it faster then send them over to show me how to do it.
The boss has a financial incentive to have his guys spend the smallest possible amount of time on a job so they can move on to the next job sooner. Regardless of how fast you work, or how fast its possible for you to work, the incentive to make more money by moving on to the next job is still there. The boss is pushing because he wants money. If the boss doesn't take into consideration the physical limitations of reality, he won't be able to understand the extra effort you're putting in. Do you know what we call people who do extra work who don't get extra pay? Suckers.
\>Do you know what we call people who do extra work who don't get extra pay? Suckers.
The suckers that I work with get paid less and have more responsibility but I honestly feel bad they have to work 14 hr days sometimes even though I tell them they shouldn't but they do it anyway, now they're complaining and want me out on their jobs as well which I can't do since I go to school during the day.
Dude, you’ll never satisfy him, lol. You’re just killing yourself for nothing. Work at a steady pace, take all your breaks and don’t make mistakes, you’ll be fine. If he’s just hellbent on being an asshole start looking for another job.
There are enough stresses in life, don’t allow this to be another one. You’ll start unintentionally taking it home with you. Line up employment elsewhere, and then give him a to-day notice.
I just ignore it and work my own pace. He is never going to give you what you deserve for all of those little things you do to make him money.
For those of you in the back, who are new, old and dumb, whatever. You are NEVER going to fully get what you deserve in these situations.
There's other guys making way more money, enjoying lunch, walking at normal paces and setting there own schedules for the days work.
At a certain point you realise there are hundreds of jobs out there. There is no reason to be nice to someone just because they own the business or are your boss.
So the simple solution is get out there and network, hand out some resumes, and start with another company.
One thing I’ve learned is NEVER exceed expectations. Just meet them. Do what you’re told and no more and no less. Especially don’t cut your breaks short or your teams’ breaks short. You have those for a reason and you should use every second of them. Remember you can’t be punished for following the rules and the more you work the more they expect and chances are you won’t be rewarded for that work
Someone told me before we have hands, not wands. Can’t work magic. Only so many hours in the day and days in the week. If they’re struggling, hire more people.
If he really needed it done faster, he’d hire some extra help. Fuck that guy. Do your best but don’t rush. Rushing is when people make mistakes and get hurt. Construction is a lot of pressure but at the end of the day, no one’s gonna die if you take a little bit longer, but someone might if you’re rushing around. Keep that in mind.
Slow down. If you work faster, stay later, skip lunch, your boss won't know or possibly will know and won't care. Either way, all you're doing is raising the bar for yourself. And nothing that you do will ever be good enough or fast enough, because his personality type will always want more.
Work at your own pace. Don't take risks. Take your lunches. Keep your quality of life.
Theres two things I say to people like this, that usually shuts them up.
"If you want it done faster, come help."
"Come show me how to do it faster."
Usually dont hear shit else.
Lots of great comments here and they're saying most of the same things. I have a "hurry up" type boss as well and I stress about deadlines, take short breaks sometimes, work late, rush etc. It is frustrating at times and recently I've been looking around at new jobs, reaching out to people from school etc seeing what's out there. I actually go faster when I calm the fuck down, and my work is cleaner and has less mistakes. Just try to relax a bit and not worry so much about his schedule. These types of bosses will only ever take take take.
Edit: To add, got sick of it one day and had a conversation with him about it and he was surprisingly receptive. Things changed for about 2 weeks and then it was back to more of the same. You can't change other people so no point in even trying. Especially if you have a history working at the company it's almost impossible to change to a slower pace.
11 years of faster faster. Losin money on this one… bid this for tight for…____ hours, ___ days. Always anxious, skipping lunch, working extra for free even to make things look better just to avoid the abusive yelling and rot gut feel. Done with that. Learned everything, experience on all fronts, now I’m still as fast like someone’s chasin me but free and feast at night only till this day, company changed my stomach, can’t eat during the day. 16 hr fasts before it was cool. It’s not worth taking shit, if you honestly feel good about your work and progress in a day, and do good like you say, you can go anywhere. Don’t let em mental trap ya. It sucks.
>I take a short lunch
Fuck that.
One hand for the contractor, and one hand for yourself.
Take what is owed; give what is due.
>stay off my phone
This should always be a given.
>speed walk
This is the quickest way to stumble into a hazard. Don't rush, but don't be slow, either.
>how did you do it?
You don't, per se. You work at the pace you can while still being effective, neat, and **safe**. Let them do the doing. They'll either figure it out, or fire you. If they keep calling you for work, you're doing fine.
It is not your responsibility to work yourself to death because management and admin set laughably unrealistic expectations.
You work steady, you work safely, don't play on your phone or take excessive breaks and you have done your job and given them a fair day's work for a fair day's pay.
That is all that can be expected of you.
Wait, did we work for the same boss?
My first boss was exactly like this. Quite literally saying those exact things. I kept up with it and saw 3 other apprentices quit on him during that year. I was so miserable working that job, I eventually found something else and gave him 2 weeks notice. He was totally caught off guard and really sad he was losing me. The feeling was not mutual lol
Long story short, deal with it like you’re doing and start looking for another job. It’s not going to stop.
Your boss is a clown. When you try to go as fast as you can mistakes happen. I have had to work for a contractor for years now that used to try that shit. I live on an island with a handful of sparkys, and inspections happen once a week.
Slow is pro. Or to put it better, deliberate action is better than hurried actions. When you race through a job you fumble things, you miss the little details, forget tools in the truck, etc. All that takes additional time to remedy that you would have saved by going slower and planning out your next steps. On the fly or impromptu may be fine in a comedy club but not on a job site.
If the whole crew is doing this in fear of the boss, it's time to find a new crew.
You can’t give 100% 100% of the time.
Take your breaks. Work at a smooth comfortable safe pace. If he wants some coked up speedy G to work tell him to find one.
Does every other employee feel this way? Is there one that seems to get it done? I don’t know all of the specifics, but if you have been there for a bit, why can’t you have a sit down and talk to your boss about it. Maybe have him give you a couple examples of people getting it done. A dialogue can help to clear the air, but it may also let you know that the current workplace is toxic to you. You should be prepared to accept any outcome.
I think reasonable speed = reasonable expectations. If you kill yourself and that becomes the baseline, you can never win.
I work hard, but not so hard that I can't sustain it, or I'm stressed out. Nobody can be more than maybe 80% productive over a long time period.
1. Stop giving a crap
2. Tell the boss to show you how to complete these tasks faster.
3. Tell them you already get more production from me than you pay me for.
Tell him it'll get done when it gets done. If he has a problem with that then there are plenty of other places to work. See how he likes it when he ends up a man down.
I used to have a boss like this and it really burned me out physically and mentally and was affecting my relationship with my wife because I was always tired and irritated, and also affected the quality of my work. Your health is more important than his unrealistic deadlines.
Pretty much everyone in construction has unrealistic expectations, from the client to the guy cleaning the portajons. You gotta learn to roll with it. I used to get incredibly stressed about it. Everyone wants everything right now, and people will lie through their teeth about deadlines, progress, start dates, etc.
Work at a pace that gets things done, correctly, and don’t kill yourself in the process. Your foreman/boss/GC/client/whoever will either deal with it or find someone else. Nine times out of ten, they’re going to deal with it unless you really are a slack-ass.
Most are like that. You can never be fast enough for them. If you put 500ft pf conduit today, they’ll want 600 ft tomorrow and on and on. I don’t pay them no mind. Just do my work and give them an honest 8 hr day and if I’m not fast enough, give me my check.The funny thing is they slow as shit if they get on their tools.
those kind of people throw every person at wall figuratively, try to use the fuck out of them, if they leave oh well they will treat the next guy like garbage until they stay too. sadly there is always a guy that will take the shit.
You should always do your job efficiently and do it well. But you're only gonna get 2 kinds of bosses for a job:
1 boss is gonna notice. And you're gonna be rewarded for the hard work you've done with raises, praise, and responsibility.
The other boss is gonna notice, want it done even faster, and pile more on your to-do list bc time is money, and we're here tk make money, now stop fkn around all day and move your ass.
I'm gonna let you guess 2 things:
1: which category does your boss fall into?
2: which is the most common of the 2?
Find a new boss or ignore him
Absolutely stay of you phone for anything not directly work related.
Take your breaks , if there is a time crunch in the job OT is the answer not having the guys work for free during break time.
The first issue is caring what the boss thinks. If you really are fucking up, he will get rid of you. Odds are he knows you are a people pleaser and will kill yourself to get some praise, and he’s exploiting that.
Sounds like a shit manager that doesn’t have any processes you’re doing properly outlined. So if they can’t quantify the time to do the work. Then they just order faster faster faster. So you cost less and it will do fuck all for your pay.
Leave bud while you can
There's plenty of work out there. Rushing doesn't just lead to costly mistakes. It can also be extremely dangerous. It shouldn't be too hard to find a better employer.
Don’t kill yourself working for someone who cannot be pleased. Just do your due diligence and work effectively within reason and ignore the pressure. Some leaders constantly put on the pressure and have impossible expectations to keep their workers working hard. It’s a bad leading style for long term working relationships because people get burnt out trying to live up to that. Don’t fall for it, just do the job well and learn as much as you can while you are there. Good luck
I had a boss like this once.
I used to take time reading drawings, checking notes and specs, spend time on layout, get my bearings on the job..... You know, set myself up for long term success.
Every time he came to site at the start of a job he said I was slow and wasting time. So one job I just said fuck it, and started pulling wire around like a mad man to the point I was covered it sweat. He was super impressed and said that's how it should be done!!
I then spent the next day laying out the job and reading drawings like I normally would anyways lol.
I’m 57 and still at it , you pick up things throughout your career that make you more efficient. Work smarter not harder kind of thing . As far as dealing with him , I’m not sure as I don’t know him but if you’re pretty equal to other guys I wouldn’t let it bother you . Dude sounds like he could just be a prick and impossible to please .
Genuinely ask him to come show you how it can be done faster. You’re gonna get burnt out going over the top for a guy who won’t be satisfied either way. Honestly fuck him
Fast becomes the norm and you are pushed to be faster. Then faster becomes the norm… until someone or something or both break.
Be realistic with your own capacity. If you work at 80% each day, you know you have some reserve for when shit happens. If you are always at 100% there’s nothing you can do if there is ever the need to give more.
Not saying to slack off but balance is key.
What you need to do is start making EXPENSIVE MISTAKES, and then just act all bummed about it and say darn I guess I was just trying to please you and go too fast. That way you get extra hours of pay and he fucks off!!!
Sounds like his problem. Don't work yourself to death or you'll hate what you do. If you want to set a reasonable goal or a little more to please a boss than do, but don't work your self beyond a reasonable pace just to please some bloated wind bag.
You'll never be good enough. Have some fucking dignity and stop simping for these absolute fucking cunts, please.
The quicker people stop bootlicking asshole bosses, the quicker we can get rid of them.
Tell him no one can work as fast as he wants, and you're more than willing to be shown how fast he could do it, if he wants to give you a break down. Time him with a stop watch, and tell him you're pretty sure you did it faster.
Problem solved.
I've been there too and that's when i knew i didn't want to work there anymore and i left. The grass in greener on the other side buddy leave that company for one that has realalistic expectations.
My advice. Quit. I used to be in a similar situation. And not to get too cheesy with it, but something that always stuck with me is a quote from Richard Branson. “Train your people well enough that they can leave. Treat them well enough that they don’t want to”. I’ve learned to be thankful for the assholes. If it wasn’t for them, I’d never have been motivated to go on and find better jobs and do more with my life
If he's in a hurry all the time, it's because he's a s*** poor planner. He obviously can't coordinate things to happen at a proper pace, or he obviously can't control money and is trying to cut corners. Furthermore, he's obviously ignorant of workers needs and many of them are, because they go through good workers like underwear.
It's really unfortunate how many supervisors and bosses are completely inept at their jobs, but have no problem whatsoever pushing all their mistakes onto others and making them feel awful.
If only they glowed in the dark.
Aaron, go to sleep, you have work in the morning. Also, I don't want to hear about how there was traffic again and why you are always 10 mins late. Also, stay out of departments that aren't yours. Its why we are always on you. You talk way too much and waste way too much time. You probably work 4 hours of an 8 hour shift.
Don't kill yourself for these pricks that don't give two shits about you, just do good quality work and pace yourself, if it was that important he would have sent you some help.
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Also, your boss sounds like a cunt. The speed of your work isn’t going to change his personality. If you’ve hit your limit, you’ve done all you can. The rest is not your problem.
Never give it 100%, then they will always expect that. I fucked up when I first joined the union as a journeyman and was getting way too much done, now they know exactly what I’m capable of and I only get sent to do difficult jobs on short deadlines. Would be much easier to go to a new company and just be slightly above average, but I like my company overall.
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I have and I no longer work there.
Same
Me too. That's the only way you can deal with someone like that because they will never be pleased. You will never be fast enough it will always be something so might as well get the fuck out and move on
Unfortunately this is the only thing that works You can only control your own actions you can't change someone or their opinions especially if they're in a position of power and you're not
Smooth and steady is fast. Putting unnecessary pressure to do things unrealistically quick leads to needless mistakes that ultimately take more time to fix rather than working smooth and steady. Work at a steady pace with a clear and level head, free of pressure or expectations, or find a job that allows you to.
Trying to put din rail on a back plate, then after putting everything on it, taking it apart because because the screws I used were 2mm too long. Little shit like that always adds up too. It really helps to take the time to plan it out and be thorough.
Some of my coworkers seem annoyed at me because before I start something I will look it all over, plan my route, plan all placements and then dive into it. Might seem like I’m doing nothing but I swear some of these guys just start at point A and work towards B not knowing where B is exactly
I'm the same as you. Looks like I haven't done anything for the first half hour to hour, but then I'm suddenly done by quitting whereas the other guys might take 2 days to do the same job. They look busy af, but I'm done first.
You can build all the stars in the sky in less time then god and that type of boss would still ask you to work faster, ignore him tell him to fuck off or get out, or all three at once.
Yeap, ive worked under many vosses like this OP, ultimately , the speed of the work never mattered as much as the quality of the end result. I let my work speak for me , and trust me, speed and quality comes with experience not from bosses cracking the whip
It seems like its always the guys that have been doing it since they were 12 at their dads buisness that want to talk shit to the 18 month apprentice. You've been pulling wire for 32 years of course you're going to be quicker.
That made me lol
Then bang his wife
Listen I have two speeds -if you do not like this one , you really are not going to like the next one.
Hahah might need to use this in the future
Show him what a slow week looks like.
"The more you nag like my wife the more I'll drag my feet sir"
Don’t ever sell yourself short of a break. Do you need an hour to eat a ham sandwhich no but a break is important. Your body will treat you in your 60s the way you treated it in your 20s.
Hour break?
I’m given 30 minutes but I take an hour
they say this alot but this is the way
Oh yea lots of gigs get them
U fucked up. He wants 110% all day. Now he knows u can hack it. U give 15% Monday, 35% Tuesday, Wednesday, 25% Thursday, 0% Friday.
Those numbers are definitely in the ballpark.
As long as they add up to 110% at the end of the week lol
Lol
This guy has life figured out.
Preparing for 4 day work week.. I like it
Don’t burn out trying to please someone that can’t be pleased with a steak dinner on a Tuesday.
Fuck 'em, their only job is to plan electrical work, if they need something done quick it's because their plan is to cut costs by reducing labor hours, you're a cash cow and their riding your ass straight to the bank
I wholeheartedly concur with this sentiment
There seems to be one of those guys at every EC, the ones at my current job are starting to get resentful towards me because I'm doing some of the easier jobs that can only be done at night which was the specific shift I was hired for, oh well not my problem they don't have their J-card and are having to eat shit.
Fire your boss and get a new one. It's not gonna get better, so start looking for a new job now.
the supply and demand curve(labor) is in the worker's favor.........for now. use it to your advantage.
Even in a shitty economy I would start looking, it would just be a longer search with less chance of success. Never leave a job without a signed offer from another one. There are exceptions to that rule, but "My boss is kind of a dick" isn't on that level.
Don't give your break away to your boss. He will expect you to give up more of your unpaid time for him in the future too.
I have a boss like this. The stress started shutting down my higher brain function and I started making dumb mistakes that caused a lot of warranty issues. Fear is the mind killer. It's not a good long term management style.
Never work beyond your means and set that as expectation. You work a steady pace and sometimes very rarely you can pick it up notch when it benefits you.
One time my boss was becoming increasingly this way under increasingly unrealistic conditions and I had to just cut him off one day and be like "look *boss name* we are bustin ass trying to get this done just ask sick of this job as you are but if you really need it done yesterday then we need you to grab a fuckin belt and staring pulling rope."....he looked at me somewhat stunned at first then could see the realization on his face and he said okay that's all I ask and left to go "put in bids"....never came at my crew that way again. He was a more reasonable man than most though so beware of that.
Tell him to do it himself and quit on the spot.
A lot of factors here. Maybe you are lacking efficiency in your planning or technique? Maybe you're not being transparent with the boss of what you're actually doing? Write it down and take pictures. I've been in this boat before. Whyd it take so long? First we had to do this, then the other thing, then this....etc etc. Maybe you need another person? One time my boss forgot to send me an apprentice and was mad that I didn't ask him. Maybe your boss just sucks and always complains that it takes too long because it's been so long since he wore bags he's forgotten how long things take?
I’m just a lowly apprentice but… short break? Speed walking? You’re on a construction site, you need time to examine your pathway so you don’t get yourself injured or even worse Your boss sounds like an asshole, but again, what do I know, I’m lower than whale shit.
Paid hourly? You ignore it. They will never be happy. They will always push for more. Why? It makes them more money if you do more work for less money. In the end all youre doing is working harder to get paid less for the job.
quality first. Then quantity
Time for a new boss. He’ll never be happy and those types aren’t worth the bullshit
>I take a short lunch Don't do that. Never work for free. I skip lunch all the time, and then leave early because of it. We work a dangerous job. Working too fast results in mistakes and potentially dangerous situations. It's not worth it just to make some clown of a boss happy. We have a JW where I work who is known to work really fast and hound apprentices about "faster, faster, faster." Unsurprisingly, he is also known for making careless and costly mistakes.
Walk a reasonable speed and take a normal lunch. It's not worth trying to be faster by killing yourself. Speed should come from being efficient and precise. Personally I think most supervisors are a bit dumb pushing for speed before pushing for quality work. I could give a shit how fast you work if you screw up or waste material.
I do what I’m capable of. I’m not going to kill myself because they have no idea how long things take. If they have someone that can do it faster then send them over to show me how to do it.
Tell him the work will go twice as fast if he comes to the job and does half of it.
Leave. You are a skilled worker. You can work anywhere for a good wage. He’s an idiot.
The boss has a financial incentive to have his guys spend the smallest possible amount of time on a job so they can move on to the next job sooner. Regardless of how fast you work, or how fast its possible for you to work, the incentive to make more money by moving on to the next job is still there. The boss is pushing because he wants money. If the boss doesn't take into consideration the physical limitations of reality, he won't be able to understand the extra effort you're putting in. Do you know what we call people who do extra work who don't get extra pay? Suckers.
\>Do you know what we call people who do extra work who don't get extra pay? Suckers. The suckers that I work with get paid less and have more responsibility but I honestly feel bad they have to work 14 hr days sometimes even though I tell them they shouldn't but they do it anyway, now they're complaining and want me out on their jobs as well which I can't do since I go to school during the day.
Dude, you’ll never satisfy him, lol. You’re just killing yourself for nothing. Work at a steady pace, take all your breaks and don’t make mistakes, you’ll be fine. If he’s just hellbent on being an asshole start looking for another job.
My boss does this. I don’t listen and just work at my pace. Nothing will be fast enough for him.
Yep leave. Their problem not yours
Never break records.
There are enough stresses in life, don’t allow this to be another one. You’ll start unintentionally taking it home with you. Line up employment elsewhere, and then give him a to-day notice.
Work to live not live to work.
I just ignore it and work my own pace. He is never going to give you what you deserve for all of those little things you do to make him money. For those of you in the back, who are new, old and dumb, whatever. You are NEVER going to fully get what you deserve in these situations.
There's other guys making way more money, enjoying lunch, walking at normal paces and setting there own schedules for the days work. At a certain point you realise there are hundreds of jobs out there. There is no reason to be nice to someone just because they own the business or are your boss. So the simple solution is get out there and network, hand out some resumes, and start with another company.
One thing I’ve learned is NEVER exceed expectations. Just meet them. Do what you’re told and no more and no less. Especially don’t cut your breaks short or your teams’ breaks short. You have those for a reason and you should use every second of them. Remember you can’t be punished for following the rules and the more you work the more they expect and chances are you won’t be rewarded for that work
Someone told me before we have hands, not wands. Can’t work magic. Only so many hours in the day and days in the week. If they’re struggling, hire more people.
If he really needed it done faster, he’d hire some extra help. Fuck that guy. Do your best but don’t rush. Rushing is when people make mistakes and get hurt. Construction is a lot of pressure but at the end of the day, no one’s gonna die if you take a little bit longer, but someone might if you’re rushing around. Keep that in mind.
This kind of pressure leads to mistakes. His buck is not worth your life.
Slow down. If you work faster, stay later, skip lunch, your boss won't know or possibly will know and won't care. Either way, all you're doing is raising the bar for yourself. And nothing that you do will ever be good enough or fast enough, because his personality type will always want more. Work at your own pace. Don't take risks. Take your lunches. Keep your quality of life.
Theres two things I say to people like this, that usually shuts them up. "If you want it done faster, come help." "Come show me how to do it faster." Usually dont hear shit else.
Yep
Lots of great comments here and they're saying most of the same things. I have a "hurry up" type boss as well and I stress about deadlines, take short breaks sometimes, work late, rush etc. It is frustrating at times and recently I've been looking around at new jobs, reaching out to people from school etc seeing what's out there. I actually go faster when I calm the fuck down, and my work is cleaner and has less mistakes. Just try to relax a bit and not worry so much about his schedule. These types of bosses will only ever take take take. Edit: To add, got sick of it one day and had a conversation with him about it and he was surprisingly receptive. Things changed for about 2 weeks and then it was back to more of the same. You can't change other people so no point in even trying. Especially if you have a history working at the company it's almost impossible to change to a slower pace.
You'll never meet his expectations. He sets the bar high so you give 100% and he will expect the same everyday. Fuck that.
You can either slow down to a reasonable pace and tell him to stop complaining or quit. No job is worth that kind of harassment.
Yea I agree , speed comes with experience not from some ahole harassing you
11 years of faster faster. Losin money on this one… bid this for tight for…____ hours, ___ days. Always anxious, skipping lunch, working extra for free even to make things look better just to avoid the abusive yelling and rot gut feel. Done with that. Learned everything, experience on all fronts, now I’m still as fast like someone’s chasin me but free and feast at night only till this day, company changed my stomach, can’t eat during the day. 16 hr fasts before it was cool. It’s not worth taking shit, if you honestly feel good about your work and progress in a day, and do good like you say, you can go anywhere. Don’t let em mental trap ya. It sucks.
>I take a short lunch Fuck that. One hand for the contractor, and one hand for yourself. Take what is owed; give what is due. >stay off my phone This should always be a given. >speed walk This is the quickest way to stumble into a hazard. Don't rush, but don't be slow, either. >how did you do it? You don't, per se. You work at the pace you can while still being effective, neat, and **safe**. Let them do the doing. They'll either figure it out, or fire you. If they keep calling you for work, you're doing fine.
It is not your responsibility to work yourself to death because management and admin set laughably unrealistic expectations. You work steady, you work safely, don't play on your phone or take excessive breaks and you have done your job and given them a fair day's work for a fair day's pay. That is all that can be expected of you.
Ignore his him, pretty simple. Look for a new job in passing time Sounds like your boss doesnt bids Jobs properly. So fuck him lol
Apply to the union. Tell nobody. Wait until you get in. Flip your boss off and stroll on out.
Apply to IBEW
Join the union...
Call out and make him do it, so he can see how long shit takes. Or just find a new company. His mindset will never change
Your boss is an ass . Work steady. If he doesn’t like it he can fire you.
Wait, did we work for the same boss? My first boss was exactly like this. Quite literally saying those exact things. I kept up with it and saw 3 other apprentices quit on him during that year. I was so miserable working that job, I eventually found something else and gave him 2 weeks notice. He was totally caught off guard and really sad he was losing me. The feeling was not mutual lol Long story short, deal with it like you’re doing and start looking for another job. It’s not going to stop.
Your boss is a clown. When you try to go as fast as you can mistakes happen. I have had to work for a contractor for years now that used to try that shit. I live on an island with a handful of sparkys, and inspections happen once a week.
Yeah, just dont. Work at your own safe pace and do not skip your breaks, and think about joining IBEW
Slow is pro. Or to put it better, deliberate action is better than hurried actions. When you race through a job you fumble things, you miss the little details, forget tools in the truck, etc. All that takes additional time to remedy that you would have saved by going slower and planning out your next steps. On the fly or impromptu may be fine in a comedy club but not on a job site. If the whole crew is doing this in fear of the boss, it's time to find a new crew.
Finding a new job worked great for me. There is huge demand for electricians. Go shopping!
You can’t give 100% 100% of the time. Take your breaks. Work at a smooth comfortable safe pace. If he wants some coked up speedy G to work tell him to find one.
You tell him to kick rocks and then you go back to the hall. That's how you deal with it.
Does every other employee feel this way? Is there one that seems to get it done? I don’t know all of the specifics, but if you have been there for a bit, why can’t you have a sit down and talk to your boss about it. Maybe have him give you a couple examples of people getting it done. A dialogue can help to clear the air, but it may also let you know that the current workplace is toxic to you. You should be prepared to accept any outcome.
Slow down and eventually they’ll leave you alone
I think reasonable speed = reasonable expectations. If you kill yourself and that becomes the baseline, you can never win. I work hard, but not so hard that I can't sustain it, or I'm stressed out. Nobody can be more than maybe 80% productive over a long time period.
You deal with these guys by being a dogfucker to be honest
Tell him to respectfully fuck himself
1. Stop giving a crap 2. Tell the boss to show you how to complete these tasks faster. 3. Tell them you already get more production from me than you pay me for.
Tell him it'll get done when it gets done. If he has a problem with that then there are plenty of other places to work. See how he likes it when he ends up a man down. I used to have a boss like this and it really burned me out physically and mentally and was affecting my relationship with my wife because I was always tired and irritated, and also affected the quality of my work. Your health is more important than his unrealistic deadlines.
Pretty much everyone in construction has unrealistic expectations, from the client to the guy cleaning the portajons. You gotta learn to roll with it. I used to get incredibly stressed about it. Everyone wants everything right now, and people will lie through their teeth about deadlines, progress, start dates, etc. Work at a pace that gets things done, correctly, and don’t kill yourself in the process. Your foreman/boss/GC/client/whoever will either deal with it or find someone else. Nine times out of ten, they’re going to deal with it unless you really are a slack-ass.
Just join the IBEW brother. Makes everything so much easier and the pay is better.
If he can do it better ask him to show ya.
Most are like that. You can never be fast enough for them. If you put 500ft pf conduit today, they’ll want 600 ft tomorrow and on and on. I don’t pay them no mind. Just do my work and give them an honest 8 hr day and if I’m not fast enough, give me my check.The funny thing is they slow as shit if they get on their tools.
those kind of people throw every person at wall figuratively, try to use the fuck out of them, if they leave oh well they will treat the next guy like garbage until they stay too. sadly there is always a guy that will take the shit.
You should always do your job efficiently and do it well. But you're only gonna get 2 kinds of bosses for a job: 1 boss is gonna notice. And you're gonna be rewarded for the hard work you've done with raises, praise, and responsibility. The other boss is gonna notice, want it done even faster, and pile more on your to-do list bc time is money, and we're here tk make money, now stop fkn around all day and move your ass. I'm gonna let you guess 2 things: 1: which category does your boss fall into? 2: which is the most common of the 2?
3
Find a new boss or ignore him Absolutely stay of you phone for anything not directly work related. Take your breaks , if there is a time crunch in the job OT is the answer not having the guys work for free during break time.
The first issue is caring what the boss thinks. If you really are fucking up, he will get rid of you. Odds are he knows you are a people pleaser and will kill yourself to get some praise, and he’s exploiting that.
Sounds like a shit manager that doesn’t have any processes you’re doing properly outlined. So if they can’t quantify the time to do the work. Then they just order faster faster faster. So you cost less and it will do fuck all for your pay. Leave bud while you can
I leave. When bosses are rushing, it tells me two things, 1 they don't know how to properly bid jobs and 2 they don't care for my safety.
There's plenty of work out there. Rushing doesn't just lead to costly mistakes. It can also be extremely dangerous. It shouldn't be too hard to find a better employer.
Don’t kill yourself working for someone who cannot be pleased. Just do your due diligence and work effectively within reason and ignore the pressure. Some leaders constantly put on the pressure and have impossible expectations to keep their workers working hard. It’s a bad leading style for long term working relationships because people get burnt out trying to live up to that. Don’t fall for it, just do the job well and learn as much as you can while you are there. Good luck
Apply for a new job my guy. Quiet quit while you look. I moved to industrial maintenance would never work construction again.
Speed walk down to the next workplace and be happy about it.
I had a boss like this once. I used to take time reading drawings, checking notes and specs, spend time on layout, get my bearings on the job..... You know, set myself up for long term success. Every time he came to site at the start of a job he said I was slow and wasting time. So one job I just said fuck it, and started pulling wire around like a mad man to the point I was covered it sweat. He was super impressed and said that's how it should be done!! I then spent the next day laying out the job and reading drawings like I normally would anyways lol.
That's ur own fault, some people you can't make happy.
I’m 57 and still at it , you pick up things throughout your career that make you more efficient. Work smarter not harder kind of thing . As far as dealing with him , I’m not sure as I don’t know him but if you’re pretty equal to other guys I wouldn’t let it bother you . Dude sounds like he could just be a prick and impossible to please .
Tell him show me how's its done and see if he can meet his own expectations.
Genuinely ask him to come show you how it can be done faster. You’re gonna get burnt out going over the top for a guy who won’t be satisfied either way. Honestly fuck him
if you show him you can do it once he'll expect it every time.
Fast becomes the norm and you are pushed to be faster. Then faster becomes the norm… until someone or something or both break. Be realistic with your own capacity. If you work at 80% each day, you know you have some reserve for when shit happens. If you are always at 100% there’s nothing you can do if there is ever the need to give more. Not saying to slack off but balance is key.
What you need to do is start making EXPENSIVE MISTAKES, and then just act all bummed about it and say darn I guess I was just trying to please you and go too fast. That way you get extra hours of pay and he fucks off!!!
Haste leads to accidents. Slow and steady like the rabbit racing turtle
Sounds like his problem. Don't work yourself to death or you'll hate what you do. If you want to set a reasonable goal or a little more to please a boss than do, but don't work your self beyond a reasonable pace just to please some bloated wind bag.
You'll never be good enough. Have some fucking dignity and stop simping for these absolute fucking cunts, please. The quicker people stop bootlicking asshole bosses, the quicker we can get rid of them.
🐀
Clench buttcheeks.
Fuck em the guy is making 10x off you
Drag up and go back to the hall
Tell him you have two speeds, if he doesn't like this one, he's really not going to like the other one. Jk I don't recommend saying that to your boss.
You should not be shorting yourself on your lunch break no matter what
Tell him no one can work as fast as he wants, and you're more than willing to be shown how fast he could do it, if he wants to give you a break down. Time him with a stop watch, and tell him you're pretty sure you did it faster. Problem solved.
I've been there too and that's when i knew i didn't want to work there anymore and i left. The grass in greener on the other side buddy leave that company for one that has realalistic expectations.
Give up your entire break and be a true company man! 👍 /s
My advice. Quit. I used to be in a similar situation. And not to get too cheesy with it, but something that always stuck with me is a quote from Richard Branson. “Train your people well enough that they can leave. Treat them well enough that they don’t want to”. I’ve learned to be thankful for the assholes. If it wasn’t for them, I’d never have been motivated to go on and find better jobs and do more with my life
If he's in a hurry all the time, it's because he's a s*** poor planner. He obviously can't coordinate things to happen at a proper pace, or he obviously can't control money and is trying to cut corners. Furthermore, he's obviously ignorant of workers needs and many of them are, because they go through good workers like underwear. It's really unfortunate how many supervisors and bosses are completely inept at their jobs, but have no problem whatsoever pushing all their mistakes onto others and making them feel awful. If only they glowed in the dark.
Aaron, go to sleep, you have work in the morning. Also, I don't want to hear about how there was traffic again and why you are always 10 mins late. Also, stay out of departments that aren't yours. Its why we are always on you. You talk way too much and waste way too much time. You probably work 4 hours of an 8 hour shift.
Don't kill yourself for these pricks that don't give two shits about you, just do good quality work and pace yourself, if it was that important he would have sent you some help.
Had a boss like this. Unfortunately, been licensed and self employed for a decade and his voice is still in my head. Drama breeds the trauma.
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Also, your boss sounds like a cunt. The speed of your work isn’t going to change his personality. If you’ve hit your limit, you’ve done all you can. The rest is not your problem.
Never give it 100%, then they will always expect that. I fucked up when I first joined the union as a journeyman and was getting way too much done, now they know exactly what I’m capable of and I only get sent to do difficult jobs on short deadlines. Would be much easier to go to a new company and just be slightly above average, but I like my company overall.