Chaos at work...
If word on the street is any indication, we aspies and auties are in for revenge from NT's at work.
My job coach and I straightened things out with my boss that my coworker needed to understand my problems. We were going over a couple of things that needed to be worked upon, one being communication between us and the other being things needed to be done at my department (I won't discuss my workplace for the sake of retail purposes)
Boy was I in for something...
Though my boss told me that he was unsure about writing a list at a retail chain with similar rules, he had the coworker write one, and I could not understand a thing. So I ended up following the directions on the list as I thought. There were a bunch of grills in the room outside that needed to be moved, yet they did not list what grills specifically. I found myself "blinding" my way through last Sunday without knowing if it was the right thing to do.
Has anyone here had similar experiences involving "vague" details at work, at least to them?
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I'm just being myself. Nothing more.
While a lot of what you wrote there made little sense to me, I think you're talking about being asked to do things at work but not being given enough instruction on how to do those things.
'Clean the kitchen' could mean tidy up a stack of papers through to scrubbing the floors and and washing up.
I've had that problem. My last job was in a large restaurant that employed about 40 people, and the training was minimal or exceptionally vague. In a few instances I hurt myself badly by following the instructions I was given. Asking for clarification was met with blank stares or being told they'd show me how to do it after they'd finished doing something but they never came back.
Several times I had to close the bar but wasn't ever shown how - then the manager yelled at me for doing it wrong. Asking for help? "The instructions are written on a sheet in the register!" was the answer I received three times, and the sheet had instructions that were sorely incomplete and when followed made no sense at all.
Is there a magical NT language?
Nope.
I've asked a few people and it turns out that poor communication and lack of training is a sign of a poorly managed workplace. IE, a Bad Job.
There is no NT/AS gap, and your opening line:
makes me sad. Some people have poor communication skills - this includes the dreaded NT. They're called dumb people. Dumb people are everywhere. Dumb NTs, and plenty of dumb aspies. You'll find a lot of dumb people in unskilled positions, so keep an eye out for them.
Oh, yeah. Instructions.
One thing I've developed over the last 4 years or so is a dogged determination in getting clear instructions. I'll push and push and push until I get the information I want, no matter how much it irritates the other person. Maybe I'll apologize afterwards for being so pushy, but seriously, it beats that "You are so stupid" look that comes from people not bothering to explain and then being all shocked when I make a mistake.
People are basically dumb, and believe it or not deep down inside are marshmallowy soft. They put on a good show of being beeeg and scaawy but if you push harder usually you can get what you want, as long as you can take the heat.
My advice? Corner somebody (or several somebodies) and nail them with questions about what you specifically need to know. Don't give in until you've got what you want. Sometimes that's the only way you can have any hope of doing your job. Seriously.
I think, and this is honest, that NGTs do not give us clear instructions for two reasons: 1. they don't think clearly, 2. If they did and we followed the instructions and things were bolloxed, then they may have to take some of the blame.
Live in a vague world - be NT.
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Still Moofy after all these years
It is by will alone that I set my mind in motion
cynicism occurs immediately upon pressing your brain's start button
I just got a new job and my assistant manager(who I do like)was giving me and my co-worker "orders"...do this,do that,do this.....She over heard me joking with my co-worker that I only had two hands and couldnt tell if she wanted me to stop what I was doing and do the next three things or just giving me things to do,after I finished...it was all very confusing.
She justified her actions as...."when we get really busy,you will need to be doing many things at once..."OK.I am not great at multi-tasking but can do some in a pinch.What I cant do is be in two places at once,which is what she was asking us to do.(This isnt a desk job.....I have to phtsically move from one job to the next.Anyway,I thought it was funny...first that she thought I could teleport myself from one job to the next and second her rather lame justification.
I really think that many NT have theory of mind problems.Because they aren't able to visualize the tasks in their minds,they have difficulty telling someone else how to do it...step by (logical)step.
Other issues....when they ask you to do something but dont provide the supplies to do the job.........They tell you to do something that they really dont want you to do(because it cost to much money or time)but that they are required to tell you to do because it follows some corporate rule(that never makes sense because they have no idea what actual work is)or that is required by law as a safty OSHA rule and they will get in trouble if it is found out they are not doing it.....So they will say some thing vague like......."you are SUPPOSED TO.....ABC,but most people just BDF,so you decide how it works best for you"
Also....love it when they have you trained in by other staff or two different managers who cant agree on how to do something
and when you do it the way one person says you get yelled at by the other one,or get the staff mad at you because they told you the "easy" way to do it and not the correct way and when you say...."but I was told by -------to do it this way",they get yelled at....
Work is so fun!! !!That must be why they pay me?
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Absolute_Zero
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Joined: 8 Dec 2004
Age: 45
Gender: Male
Posts: 643
Location: New Brunswick, Canada
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