Manager Didn’t Allow This Supervisor’s Subordinates To Leave Until They Answered All The Calls, So They Came Up With A Genius Workaround
by Heide Lazaro
Teamwork makes work more fun and easier.
This supervisor wanted to help his subordinates go home before they’d miss their buses.
However, when his supervisor found out, he told them to end it right away.
Thankfully, his wife came up with a genius solution to this problem.
Read the story below to find out what they did.
You need to speak to the supervisor.
About 20 years ago, I was the supervisor of a small group (3 including me).
I have two subordinates, let’s call them Linda and Bob.
They spent their days answering phone calls for the company.
These two were awesome.
This man never had a problem with his subordinates.
Their call averages were under 3 minutes, and it was constant calls.
They almost never received complaints.
They never had to escalate the call to me as the supervisor.
I’m talking maybe a couple of times in a year.
They leave work before closing so they won’t miss their buses.
We were in a large city.
They both took transit to work.
They got off work near the start of rush hour.
This is important because missing the early bus could mean an easy hour delay in getting home.
When they leave, he would take the calls for them.
Our phones were controlled by computer, and at quitting time, they would play a message that we were closed.
But any calls in the queue had to be answered.
Since I was there for an hour past closing, I would have them log out and I would take the calls.
It was a small thing I could do to help them.
His manager didn’t agree to this arrangement.
Here’s the problem.
My manager was reviewing the call logs and noticed the pattern.
He demanded an immediate end to the practice.
So, for a week, I had my two wonderful employees routinely stuck answering calls past closing.
Of course, they were missing their buses.
Then, my brilliant wife said something that gave me an idea.
He shared a possible solution to the problem.
Now, for the solution.
On Monday morning before work, I spoke to Linda and Bob.
I mentioned that if there were any late calls that needed a supervisor, remember that I worked an hour later than them and not to worry if they needed transfer calls.
Linda caught my meaning (I think she had to explain it to Bob).
Now, all calls after closing were “transferred” to their supervisor.
It was amazing how many calls needed a supervisor at closing.
Of course, the reports showed they answered the calls, but they didn’t recorded transferred calls.
Best of all, no more missed busses.
They pull it off for 5 years!
We did this for almost 5 years until I moved to a new position.
Both Linda and Bob are retired now, but we still laugh about this.
To my knowledge my manager never knew what we did.
He sounds like a great supervisor! Let’s find out what others have to say about this on Reddit.
Here’s a positive remark from this user.
People are commending him.
And of course, the wife.
This user shares their personal thoughts.
And lastly, another inspiring comment.
Employees stay if they have a boss who has their backs.
If you liked that post, check out this one about an employee that got revenge on HR when they refused to reimburse his travel.

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