my new team thinks they’re incredibly overworked, but they actually do nothing

A reader writes:

What do you do when you work with a team that seems to ignore the reality of a job?

I’ve been seconded to a team within my organization. Thank God, it’s only for a few months. The team is absolutely huge and amount of work we have is light at best. I’ve never had so little to do at work before. I actually tracked it today, and in the space of a 10-hour shift I did 46 minutes of work.

And that would be fine — it’s only for a few months, and I can use the time to make connections and contacts and work on some projects I’ve always wanted to pitch and never had time to. What I’m struggling with is how the team behaves, more specifically how busy they think we are. To be honest, it’s … bizarre.

There’s a firm belief that this is the busiest, most in-demand team in the organization — constantly working, putting out fires, no one is as under pressure as we are. This belief persists even when one person is openly reading War and Peace in the office. The other day I spent four hours helping a colleague list his (extensive) record collection on eBay.

I think some of it stems from the fact that the team believes simple tasks need several brains. It’s not uncommon to see four people tackling a request that in a normal office, one person would comfortably manage. (I’ve noticed that beyond the inefficiency, this adds a layer of unnecessary complexity and confusion to proceedings.)

On one occasion, I needed to call an external stakeholder with a 30-second, yes/no question. Think, “Would you be able to send me that spreadsheet you made last week?” Very normal. The person sitting next to me insisted on looking up the number from our database (which I have access to) and reading it out to me, on the basis that I was “already going to have to make a phone call.” Make a phone call. In an office. Can you imagine.

The weirdest part of all is that I’ve actually asked if there’s more tasks I can take on, only to be told that “there’s not much work in this role.” There’s a weird cognitive dissonance at play — people openly acknowledge there’s little to do, yet still believe they’re operating at full capacity. It’s as if the performance of being busy has replaced the reality of meaningful work.

I’m doing my best, but I’m just really struggling to go along with the Pantomime of Busyness. I’m routinely asked “how I’m coping” or get comments about how crazy my day has been, and I’m really struggling to continue the pretense that this is anything other than a vacation for me.

If I make any type of comment about it, they get very, very offended. Maybe I should just be kind and join in the “we’re so busy” comments? Is that the right thing to do?

I have spoken to my manager and she was also extremely offended that I’d acknowledged the big, pink, under-utilized elephant in the room. I’m at a total loss.

Is there any script for what I can say when people are complaining about being busy, while simultaneously organizing their book collection alphabetically?

First, I love that the subject line of your email to me was “the team that work forgot.”

In any case, this is actually kind of amazing! How is possible to have people alphabetizing their book collections, listing their record collections on eBay, and literally reading War and Peace (!) at work while still feeling so beleaguered by the workload?

It’s a fascinating collective delusion, and since you have been unable to break the spell they’re under, all you really can or should do is sit back and try to enjoy it as entertainment.

I would have a different answer if you were stuck there long-term. In that case I’d encourage you to think about getting out, because staying in an environment where nothing happens would be bad for your career in the long-term; it would limit your ability to develop your skills and build your professional accomplishments. But you’re only there for a few months, so that’s not a concern! You have the luxury of looking at it as dropping in on a very weird planet where you’re glad you don’t have to remain.

(Side note: imagine coming in as a new manager of this team and having to convince these very stressed people that they need to produce more than the tiny but apparently quite onerous amount of work they’re currently producing.)

As for what to say when people complain about being busy: you’ve seen it doesn’t work to try to get them to see reason, so just make vaguely sympathetic noises and count down the days on your calendar until you’re out of there.

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