Some workplaces prioritize appearances over actual productivity.

This man, who was an IT specialist in a hospital, decided to maximize time by multitasking.

However, his manager accused him of being lazy and issued a formal warning.

Even though he tried to explain, his manager said that looking busy is better than being productive.

Read the full story below to find out more.

More important to look busy than be busy.

Early 2000s, I had my first proper I.T. job in a hospital.

They had very little money to spare for fancy deployment tools.

So we built every new computer with a Windows XP CD.

We installed all the programs they’d need and did all the Windows Updates by hand.

This man managed to multitask while waiting for the computers to finish installing.

A lot of that time would be spent waiting for bars to scroll across the screen.

As the computers had never heard of fast.

Rather than sit in the build room and watch bars scroll, I’d set a few machines off.

Then go sit on the help desk and take calls if they came through.

Then flip-flop between the two.

However, his manager thought he wasn’t being productive.

No problem, right? Or so you’d think.

This absolute tool of a manager didn’t ask me anything about what I was doing.

If the phones were quiet, I’d just be functionally sat doing nothing.

So she assumed that meant I was sat “doing nothing.”

He was called for a disciplinary meeting.

So without any prior warning, I was hauled into a disciplinary meeting.

And issued a formal written warning for sitting about doing nothing.

In the meeting, I explained to the HR nobber and the manager exactly my thought process.

I said that I was, in total fact, doing more.

And making myself available more by doing this back-and-forth work.

The manager told him that looking busy is better than being productive.

She didn’t back down as she had to “prove her worth to all these men.”

So she told me (in front of HR, who sided with her), that it was “more important to look busy than to be busy.”

So from then on, we changed our working style when building computers.

Not just I, but all the techs.

So, he and other IT people focused on computer work only.

We stayed with them (computers) until the job was done.

It actually must’ve killed her having to hire extra help desk staff.

But again, she could not be seen to back down.

Born leader, that one.

Let’s find out what others have to say about this.

This user makes a valid point.

This person suggests putting it in writing.

This one got it on point.

Here’s an honest opinion from this user.

Finally, another “productivity hack.”

For some bosses, looking busy is more important than being actually busy.

Just ask George Costanza.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.