if you dislike boss, why hang out on personal time

[Otto the Orange]

So the people I work with just mentioned a gathering and if I wanted to go, I legitimately have other plans so I couldn't go, but thought it would have been good to see some people out of the office

(I am relatively new, and most places where I have worked the people have been close or gotten along pretty well...I'm still new so forming an oppinion about this place)...

However I just found out the boss is going, and most people say they dislike her.....so if so, why hang out on personal time?

For those who think for job security or promotion or something, we are governnment--so not so much....

Thoughts?

[Deleted]

You go and have some "face time". Go with the idea of getting to know your boss a bit better and your boss getting to know you. Keep it light and pleasant though.

[Bluerobin]

Bill, it is called sucking up. A must in the business world. Some refer to it as networking.

[happyhoix]

Kind of depends on the boss.

I had one boss who kept score. When his admin assistant went around collecting money for his Christmas gift, she always kept a list of who gave what (and who didn't give) because the boss wanted to know. The boss would occasionally have a party at his house and most of us went and stayed a certain minimum time (I figured 45 minutes was long enough) because if you didn't show up, the boss made a big point of finding you the next day at work and grilling you to find out what you had to do that was so important you couldn't come to his party. If he invited you out someplace after work, it was more of a command rather than a request. He ruled work like a monarch, and like a monarch required homage. I hated the guy and thought he was a lousy boss but went to his parties so I didn't end up on his shit list.
(The happy ending to this story was the guy ended up being fired for unethical behavior).

Most of the other bosses I've had haven't been as sensitive, fortunately. But I liked most of the rest of them, so I didn't mind going to one of their social events.

As the new guy, I would take my cues from your co-workers. If some of them are going despite the fact they hate the boss, it probably means she is one of those score keeping bosses who gets offended if her minions don't show up at her soirees.

[Deleted]

Boss pays for the drinks?

[zibazinski]

My EX was a boss just like this and he kept track. It can come back to haunt you. Suck up. Sorry.

[Tennesseer]

You only know your boss from how they interact with you and your co-workers. Nothing wrong with discovering how they interact with the work group outside of the work environment.

[zibazinski]

True enough. My dept head was a total a-hole at work. In a social setting he was charming. Much like my EX.

[thyme4change]

What are you going to do? Invite everyone except the boss? That doesn't seem very nice.

[zibazinski]

A lot of people do just that. You are all on the same level. We used to give a company Christmas party. Some people bitched they'd rather have 50 bucks than have to come. I'd have rather given them the 50 bucks and not had them come but the EX demanded attendance at his party, so they came and bitched the whole time. Lovely party, btw. Dancing, DJ, and all, my kinda party. I sure miss that.dancing, that is.

[jaya3300]

Sept 6, 2012 6:48:32 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

Kind of depends on the boss.

I had one boss who kept score. When his admin assistant went around collecting money for his Christmas gift, she always kept a list of who gave what (and who didn't give) because the boss wanted to know. The boss would occasionally have a party at his house and most of us went and stayed a certain minimum time (I figured 45 minutes was long enough) because if you didn't show up, the boss made a big point of finding you the next day at work and grilling you to find out what you had to do that was so important you couldn't come to his party. If he invited you out someplace after work, it was more of a command rather than a request. He ruled work like a monarch, and like a monarch required homage. I hated the guy and thought he was a lousy boss but went to his parties so I didn't end up on his shit list.
(The happy ending to this story was the guy ended up being fired for unethical behavior).

Most of the other bosses I've had haven't been as sensitive, fortunately. But I liked most of the rest of them, so I didn't mind going to one of their social events.

As the new guy, I would take my cues from your co-workers. If some of them are going despite the fact they hate the boss, it probably means she is one of those score keeping bosses who gets offended if her minions don't show up at her soirees.

OMG. boss from hell.

[Apple]

For those who think for job security or promotion or something, we are governnment--so not so much....

hahahahahahahahahahahahaha...breath...hahahahahahahahahahahahah

Sorry. I work for the government too, this is EXACTLY how several people have gotten their promotion. We had one girl who was the head admin, pretty much anyone who slept with her found themselves in an upper-level job, qualified or not (she has since moved on to another location, same deal there). The top couple bosses started out going out drinking together with other people after work as coworkers. One became a boss, then he hired another of them, then another, etc. In no way does "being government" prevent this. Sadly, the longer you work there, the more of it you're likely to see.

[happyhoix]

"OMG. boss from hell."

Absolutely. Add to his general dickishness was his absolute refusal to do anything for himself (like open his own emails - his admin assistant had to open them, print them out and place them on his desk for him. Or even signing paperwork - his admin had to bring him a stack of documents to sign and place them in front of him one at a time while he signed each one and handed it back to her. If she just left them for him on his desk he threw them into the trash.

We had an awesome party when he got fired. Everyone wanted to come to that one. ;D

[jaya3300]

Sept 6, 2012 10:26:37 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

"OMG. boss from hell."

Absolutely. Add to his general dickishness was his absolute refusal to do anything for himself (like open his own emails - his admin assistant had to open them, print them out and place them on his desk for him. Or even signing paperwork - his admin had to bring him a stack of documents to sign and place them in front of him one at a time while he signed each one and handed it back to her. If she just left them for him on his desk he threw them into the trash.

We had an awesome party when he got fired. Everyone wanted to come to that one. ;D

Surprised to hear that he got fired. Most bosses from hell outlive , outstay everyone else.

[happyhoix]

Sept 6, 2012 12:35:27 GMT -5 jaya3300 said:

Sept 6, 2012 10:26:37 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

"OMG. boss from hell."

Absolutely. Add to his general dickishness was his absolute refusal to do anything for himself (like open his own emails - his admin assistant had to open them, print them out and place them on his desk for him. Or even signing paperwork - his admin had to bring him a stack of documents to sign and place them in front of him one at a time while he signed each one and handed it back to her. If she just left them for him on his desk he threw them into the trash.

We had an awesome party when he got fired. Everyone wanted to come to that one. ;D

Surprised to hear that he got fired. Most bosses from hell outlive , outstay everyone else.

They didn't fire him for being an ass. They fired him because they caught him cooking the books - he was faking the sales numbers to inflate our income and he failed to authorize major facility repairs (to artificially reduce our expenses). The combination of fake income and some serious equipment failures due to lack of routine maintenance finally got him canned.

Otherwise I'm sure he'd still be there today.

[thyme4change]

Surprised to hear that he got fired. Most bosses from hell outlive , outstay everyone else.

I'm a total ass - I guess that is why they haven't fired me yet either.