In the workplace - being told to work differently / slower

[Beanfinity]

This just occurred to me today, and I am even at work right now typing this up (on my morning break, not eating into work time). I don't mean this as a 'flex' as I know autistic people have trouble with their jobs, so I hope it isn't taken that way (my workplace issues have always been socially based. And I did previously have a job where my contract was not extended, despite producing better results, and I'm pretty sure it was cuz I didn't 'mesh' well with the people. Anyway).

I've always excelled at certain aspects of my work, and am luckily in a position now that really leans into my strengths. I work a lot with Excel, data, organizational tasks, and analysis. Things you can really put your head down and dig into, to hyperfocus on with little need to collaborate during the task. So, when given the time, quiet, and space I can really pump through a lot of work quickly, and with quality results.

However, I have had supervisors tell me to slow down. This has happened to me before in another data entry-ish job. I was going through my tasks too fast, in comparison to colleagues, so I was told to 'take it easy'.

I am finding it odd that being good at my job is being met with some... criticism? Is it criticism? I think it's because there is a certain standard here to be maintained, not exceeded. If I am good at what I am doing, why do less?

 

[WiffingWaffles]

This just occurred to me today, and I am even at work right now typing this up (on my morning break, not eating into work time). I don't mean this as a 'flex' as I know autistic people have trouble with their jobs, so I hope it isn't taken that way (my workplace issues have always been socially based. And I did previously have a job where my contract was not extended, despite producing better results, and I'm pretty sure it was cuz I didn't 'mesh' well with the people. Anyway).

I've always excelled at certain aspects of my work, and am luckily in a position now that really leans into my strengths. I work a lot with Excel, data, organizational tasks, and analysis. Things you can really put your head down and dig into, to hyperfocus on with little need to collaborate during the task. So, when given the time, quiet, and space I can really pump through a lot of work quickly, and with quality results.

However, I have had supervisors tell me to slow down. This has happened to me before in another data entry-ish job. I was going through my tasks too fast, in comparison to colleagues, so I was told to 'take it easy'.

I am finding it odd that being good at my job is being met with some... criticism? Is it criticism? I think it's because there is a certain standard here to be maintained, not exceeded. If I am good at what I am doing, why do less?

perhaps it's because you're disrupting the workflow, as in there is a quota and time frame for the amount of tasks being done for the week.

You could (at the pace being described here), be done with all your tasks by Wednesday and have nothing to do on say Friday, which means they might send you home.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Aspychata]

Maybe you could self contract exel jobs online if you are that efficient. Like at home in a remote set up. There are websites where you list what you do, and then people hire you for their project. You build up your reputation from good reviews.

 

[Judge]

And I did previously have a job where my contract was not extended, despite producing better results, and I'm pretty sure it was cuz I didn't 'mesh' well with the people.

Are you still employed as an independent contractor in your present position? (I'm assuming the speed of which you are performing your job functions has not resulted in higher error rates or they would have told you.) Consider the appearance of such a situation if you are in fact an outside, independent contractor. In the eyes of lower management and other employees working in a similar capacity, you are doing one thing critically wrong.

- You're making them all look bad.

Putting someone in lower management "between a rock and a hard place". They can't reward your efforts because it would continue to reflect the disparity between your performance and theirs. And if they replace you, they'd have to lie as to why. Worse still if they draw a contractor whose performance is considerably less than your own. Leaving some schmuck to candidly tell you to slow down, without explaining why.

Preposterous, yet it happens. I once worked a few years as a contract worker in website design. I quickly realized that while we were paid well without any benefits, we were to be seen and not heard. That the corporate culture that had only nominal benchmarks in mind regarding our performance on the job. Normally I would have loathed working under such conditions, but the pay and the job itself were too good to pass up.

 

[Beanfinity]

perhaps it's because you're disrupting the workflow, as in there is a quota and time frame for the amount of tasks being done for the week.

You could (at the pace being described here), be done with all your tasks by Wednesday and have nothing to do on say Friday, which means they might send you home.

Just my 2 cents.

Hm, interesting, at a previous job my supervisor got mad at me for finishing a task too fast. She told me to do it slowly, since she was looking for other work for me to do after. I really did try to go through slowly, but I was literally falling asleep without something to occupy my attention. She couldn't just 'send me home', it was an office job as opposed to shift work. But we did only get a certain amount of files at a time to work on. So I suppose her frustration was understandable, I just don't see it as being my fault lol

 

[Beanfinity]

Maybe you could self contract exel jobs online if you are that efficient. Like at home in a remote set up. There are websites where you list what you do, and then people hire you for their project. You build up your reputation from good reviews.

That would be a good side gig, I think, thanks for the suggestion! Didn't know you could just do Excel for a living. My current job is full-time employment (no longer contract) so I can't use work time for it (even if I have nothing else left to do that day). But certainly on the weekends maybe I can make some extra dollars.

 

[Beanfinity]

Are you still employed as an independent contractor in your present position? (I'm assuming the speed of which you are performing your job functions has not resulted in higher error rates or they would have told you.) Consider the appearance of such a situation if you are in fact an outside, independent contractor. In the eyes of lower management and other employees working in a similar capacity, you are doing one thing critically wrong.

- You're making them all look bad.

Putting someone in lower management "between a rock and a hard place". They can't reward your efforts because it would continue to reflect the disparity between your performance and theirs. And if they replace you, they'd have to lie as to why. Worse still if they draw a contractor whose performance is considerably less than your own. Leaving some schmuck to candidly tell you to slow down, without explaining why.

Preposterous, yet it happens. I once worked a few years as a contract worker in website design. I quickly realized that while we were paid well without any benefits, we were to be seen and not heard. That the corporate culture that had only nominal benchmarks in mind regarding our performance on the job. Normally I would have loathed working under such conditions, but the pay and the job itself were too good to pass up.

I am not on contract anymore, I have full-time employment now, on salary.

This thought did cross mind, but I thought it rather egotistical of me to think I am 'better' or making people look bad (it's not like they are performing poorly, they are meeting job expectations too). Also, I am only better in some respects, I am sure some people find it odd/difficult to work with me, and they are much better at collaborative projects, or taking leadership.

The explanation for me for 'slowing down' was 'to avoid burnout'. Which is a legitimate concern, but I am just going at my usual pace, I am not rushing. I suppose it's more of an optics / office politics thing (which I hate). I am always of the mind, what benefits the organization trumps the little things. But I guess that's not true for everyone?

 

[Au Naturel]

This just occurred to me today, and I am even at work right now typing this up (on my morning break, not eating into work time). I don't mean this as a 'flex' as I know autistic people have trouble with their jobs, so I hope it isn't taken that way (my workplace issues have always been socially based. And I did previously have a job where my contract was not extended, despite producing better results, and I'm pretty sure it was cuz I didn't 'mesh' well with the people. Anyway).

I've always excelled at certain aspects of my work, and am luckily in a position now that really leans into my strengths. I work a lot with Excel, data, organizational tasks, and analysis. Things you can really put your head down and dig into, to hyperfocus on with little need to collaborate during the task. So, when given the time, quiet, and space I can really pump through a lot of work quickly, and with quality results.

However, I have had supervisors tell me to slow down. This has happened to me before in another data entry-ish job. I was going through my tasks too fast, in comparison to colleagues, so I was told to 'take it easy'.

I am finding it odd that being good at my job is being met with some... criticism? Is it criticism? I think it's because there is a certain standard here to be maintained, not exceeded. If I am good at what I am doing, why do less?

There is the social aspect of work that you may be missing. Social harmony is more important than raw productivity. By producing so much, you put the other workers to shame and threaten their economic viability. That's never good. The ideal pace would be only slightly faster than the next person. You get the kudos for being a good worker, but the other person doesn't have cause to resent you for making them look bad.

In a union shop, this equality of output issue is extremely important. Hate and sabotage might follow.

There is a practical issue where most jobs are part of a chain of activities. By being overproductive, your output could be piling up faster than the next input can accept it. That's never a good thing. either.

Perhaps what this says is that you need a more demanding job. Or perhaps you need to slow down and smell the roses.

 

[Bolletje]

Yeah, I’ve often been told to slow down too. I’m a race car, but my boss wants a steady diesel.

Edited to add: my boss explained that my work speed messes up the work flow, because I do the vast majority of the day’s workload in the first half of the day. This makes my coworkers lazy, and everyone gets sluggish in the afternoon because there’s not enough to do, but we can’t close early.

 

[Judge]

The explanation for me for 'slowing down' was 'to avoid burnout'. Which is a legitimate concern, but I am just going at my usual pace, I am not rushing. I suppose it's more of an optics / office politics thing (which I hate). I am always of the mind, what benefits the organization trumps the little things. But I guess that's not true for everyone?

LOL...then it could be a lot worse. Personally I just can't imagine any of my prior employers being genuinely concerned about my health or stress over the job. I still recall how my father left his job after his second heart attack to seek permanent disability coverage, with his job being reassigned to no less than three people who all quit given the stress.

 

[AutistAcolyte]

you could always just keep doing your work quickly and find something you want to spend the rest of your time doing to appear busy.

its silly for them to criticize you for being too quick unless youre making mistakes, but it doesn't sound like you are.

 

[autism-and-autotune]

This just occurred to me today, and I am even at work right now typing this up (on my morning break, not eating into work time). I don't mean this as a 'flex' as I know autistic people have trouble with their jobs, so I hope it isn't taken that way (my workplace issues have always been socially based. And I did previously have a job where my contract was not extended, despite producing better results, and I'm pretty sure it was cuz I didn't 'mesh' well with the people. Anyway).

I've always excelled at certain aspects of my work, and am luckily in a position now that really leans into my strengths. I work a lot with Excel, data, organizational tasks, and analysis. Things you can really put your head down and dig into, to hyperfocus on with little need to collaborate during the task. So, when given the time, quiet, and space I can really pump through a lot of work quickly, and with quality results.

However, I have had supervisors tell me to slow down. This has happened to me before in another data entry-ish job. I was going through my tasks too fast, in comparison to colleagues, so I was told to 'take it easy'.

I am finding it odd that being good at my job is being met with some... criticism? Is it criticism? I think it's because there is a certain standard here to be maintained, not exceeded. If I am good at what I am doing, why do less?

Regarding 'slowing down'...these words have definitely been told to me once, at the first place where I was a cashier. It felt very odd to hear from one of my managers, because everyone knew me as 'one of the fastest cashiers in the place.' This was when I didn't know I have autism, and I still masked in terms of personality which, I'll admit, people liked. Anyways--one of my managers lamented that customers found my speed 'rude and unfriendly' which baffled me.

I could not relate to customers who wanted to have their ears talked off by a cashier; meanwhile five or six people waited impatiently behind them. Granted, where I worked was mostly older-generational folks. I did admit that yes, there were times where people overwhelmed me and sometimes I wanted them gone, but only because I could tell they were impatient and needed to get along with their day. At the time though the criticism did hurt.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

This just occurred to me today, and I am even at work right now typing this up (on my morning break, not eating into work time). I don't mean this as a 'flex' as I know autistic people have trouble with their jobs, so I hope it isn't taken that way (my workplace issues have always been socially based. And I did previously have a job where my contract was not extended, despite producing better results, and I'm pretty sure it was cuz I didn't 'mesh' well with the people. Anyway).

I've always excelled at certain aspects of my work, and am luckily in a position now that really leans into my strengths. I work a lot with Excel, data, organizational tasks, and analysis. Things you can really put your head down and dig into, to hyperfocus on with little need to collaborate during the task. So, when given the time, quiet, and space I can really pump through a lot of work quickly, and with quality results.

However, I have had supervisors tell me to slow down. This has happened to me before in another data entry-ish job. I was going through my tasks too fast, in comparison to colleagues, so I was told to 'take it easy'.

I am finding it odd that being good at my job is being met with some... criticism? Is it criticism? I think it's because there is a certain standard here to be maintained, not exceeded. If I am good at what I am doing, why do less?

I might be inclined to ask those follow-up questions.

If your completed work is then sent on to another person as part of a much larger process, then that next person might be overloaded. If you can imagine a production line, you can't have one process exceeding the speed of, or slowing down the line.

 

[AutistAcolyte]

I just thought of another solution if the work piling up for the next person is an issue: you could just ask what pace they want you to work at and then finish your work however you like and wait to send it on to the next person until they're ready.

 

[Beanfinity]

There is the social aspect of work that you may be missing. Social harmony is more important than raw productivity. By producing so much, you put the other workers to shame and threaten their economic viability. That's never good. The ideal pace would be only slightly faster than the next person. You get the kudos for being a good worker, but the other person doesn't have cause to resent you for making them look bad.

In a union shop, this equality of output issue is extremely important. Hate and sabotage might follow.

There is a practical issue where most jobs are part of a chain of activities. By being overproductive, your output could be piling up faster than the next input can accept it. That's never a good thing. either.

Perhaps what this says is that you need a more demanding job. Or perhaps you need to slow down and smell the roses.

Hmm, I understand social harmony is important. I feel I can separate work performance from social interactions, even at work, so I'm still friendly if the person is friendly, even if their work performance is not up to par. Just because you're an ok, or even bad employee doesn't always mean you're a bad person.

BUT I suppose people combine the two in some sense. My attitude is that, if I'm better than you, and that threatens you, that's your own emotional problem and self-esteem issues. So I find it weird when a manager comes to me to tell me to make adjustments, when the other person has the problem (I assume, since no one ever says these things directly). I don't know if I'm explaining this well, but my logic leads me in a way other direction for problem solving.

 

[Beanfinity]

Yeah, I’ve often been told to slow down too. I’m a race car, but my boss wants a steady diesel.

Edited to add: my boss explained that my work speed messes up the work flow, because I do the vast majority of the day’s workload in the first half of the day. This makes my coworkers lazy, and everyone gets sluggish in the afternoon because there’s not enough to do, but we can’t close early.

LOL this also confuses me. If everyone is done early, you don't have to go home or sit and do nothing, but you can enjoy yourself or just relax? I wouldn't call it being lazy, you're just done. There are lots of studies that the enforced 8 hr work day is not productive, and work by goals and task completion leads to more productivity and happier employees. I think Germany or some European country follows this model. I'd rather go 100mph for 4 hours than 50mph for 8.

 

[Beanfinity]

LOL...then it could be a lot worse. Personally I just can't imagine any of my prior employers being genuinely concerned about my health or stress over the job. I still recall how my father left his job after his second heart attack to seek permanent disability coverage, with his job being reassigned to no less than three people who all quit given the stress.

Haha yeah I am not concerned about my job security or anything, I just had a realization that there is a pattern in how I'm treated at my jobs

 

[Beanfinity]

you could always just keep doing your work quickly and find something you want to spend the rest of your time doing to appear busy.

its silly for them to criticize you for being too quick unless youre making mistakes, but it doesn't sound like you are.

I try to do that sometimes, but then I feel guilty for goofing off a little while others are probably working hard. But I'm sure they find time to goof off too (one of my old coworkers chatted with me one day and said they spent all morning looking at real estate to purchase lol)

 

[Beanfinity]

Regarding 'slowing down'...these words have definitely been told to me once, at the first place where I was a cashier. It felt very odd to hear from one of my managers, because everyone knew me as 'one of the fastest cashiers in the place.' This was when I didn't know I have autism, and I still masked in terms of personality which, I'll admit, people liked. Anyways--one of my managers lamented that customers found my speed 'rude and unfriendly' which baffled me.

I could not relate to customers who wanted to have their ears talked off by a cashier; meanwhile five or six people waited impatiently behind them. Granted, where I worked was mostly older-generational folks. I did admit that yes, there were times where people overwhelmed me and sometimes I wanted them gone, but only because I could tell they were impatient and needed to get along with their day. At the time though the criticism did hurt.

Ok, yeah, this too! I also had a retail job in the past. I loved when they scheduled me for POS/cashier. I had built up a script to be pleasant with people while cashing them out quickly. Still hated the small talk, but at least I could say a scripted response and not have to think. So I could daydream instead and go through repetitive, well rehearsed motions.

I did get dinged by my supervisor for not having a farewell phrase, so I thought of "enjoy your day!" and used that forevermore.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

I guess I've been lucky evert job I held allowed me to work alone. with minimal supervision always planned my day
emphasized how I could improve the process, after all I was a chemical engineering technologist. noticed quickly.
I had a real knack for spotting process weakness management noticed this in pretty well every company, that I had this ability, and no one obstructed me. rather I was encouraged. and supported. Only complaint was no promotions.