A Worker Has Been Booking Fake Meetings With Himself for Months — Internet Says That’s Actually Genius

A Reddit user's description of their coworker's odd calendar habit has led to a debate, as the post said the employee in question was scheduling fake meetings with himself for months to avoid disruptions. The post was shared on r/work by user @pathetic_lineage. The user explained that he had found out the coworker had been scheduling meetings on his calendar even though he had no real meeting with anyone else.

The poster said that a manager had asked for more information regarding the coworker's schedule, too. That's when Reddit users began discussing whether the employee should be reported or given a warning, and whether the fake meetings were a problem to begin with.

Most commenters supported the coworker, as booking time on a calendar is a standard way of reserving uninterrupted work time. "He's using it to work, and so people don't bother him," one commenter noted, and questioned what was wrong with this practice.

One commenter called the strategy "genius," on the grounds that the employee was not spending the time on personal matters but setting boundaries. Another said that he was "owning [his] calendar" and that the real issue might be a workplace which does not respect employees' schedules.

A number of commenters said they use the same strategies without having meetings. Some of them block out sections of their calendars as "focus time", while others name the blocks the particular projects or tasks they plan to do. One Redditor said that they usually block out most of the workday and have meetings only during the time slots that remained. They said that one week, they forgot to do this and ended up with 36 hours of meetings and achieved almost no other work.

Most commenters said that unnecessary meetings can take up hours which employees need for their real duties. On the other hand, some acknowledged that meetings are necessary when a given team needs to deal with complex issues, make decisions or reach a consensus.

A commenter who identified themselves as a former product manager, now working as a program manager, proposed combining the two methods. According to them, meetings could still be held in cases where discussion is actually needed. At the same time, shared documents and task reminders could be used for routine collaboration. If there is nothing to discuss, the meeting could just be canceled.

The commenters were divided over whether or not to tell the manager about the coworker's alleged fake meetings. Some suggested that the employee be warned so that they could get ready in case the manager decided to attend one of the scheduled meetings. Others, however, told the poster to stay away from the matter.

Many stressed that the OP didn't necessarily know all the facts. One user noted that the coworker might have had real meetings as well, making it hard to know for certain what was actually happening.