As a fed, anything plugged into a port is automatically logged and checked, and can result in a nastygram or more serious infraction. We periodically get emails about inappropriate connections - we can't even use the USB to charge our work phones.
Then came the email that told us they knew about X instances of mouse jigglers and told us to cut it out. I wonder if managers got notified.
Luckily my boss and colleagues all recognize Teams limitations on the idle status and we just get our work done. I'm not going to attempt to game it - but then I work when I say I'm working and the job gets done, so management isn't breathing down our necks about idle status.
In the early days of the pandemic, I got a low-tech version of that: I had one of those electric desk fans that move from left to right and back again to keep a room cool. I took an old wire coat hanger and bent it to attach one part to the fan, and one part to my mouse. As the fan moved, so did my mouse, so I always appeared active in Teams.
Software solutions like powershell scripts are neat, but they can be detected by IT. They can't really detect a hardware solution without a lot of digging though, and as long as I'm still getting my work done, they have no reason to dig.
I quickly stopped caring about it though. Like OP, I go inactive for long periods of time, but fortunately, my manager is smart enough to recognize that my work's still getting done, so he doesn't care at all. Same thing for my direct reports: As long as we continue to meet deadlines, I don't care if they're working 40 hours / week or 10 hours / week.
Back in Reddit, I might have also have seen this in "TalesFromTheFrontDesk", which is another one I'm missing over here right now. It's one of those great "ticks the boxes of both" stories.
I’m a remote employee in a similar position, I also finish my work in about 3-4 hours in any given day (mileage varies). My performance reports have been at a consecutive 100% and I don’t see why I should change my ways. Honestly I don’t give a damn if people think I’m slacking off if I go and do some gardening during the day, if anything finishing my work early just makes me very productive :)
We use Teams and if I notice that I’ve been on the yellow idle icon for too long I’ll give my mouse a jiggle, at which point I see all my colleagues are on idle too… it’s a very relaxed environment. I hope you can continue working remotely in the future!
The problem with Team is it goes yellow when IT'S idle, not you. That was a big adjustment when we went to Teams, understanding that someone can be furiously working away at their computer while Teams is reporting yellow. You send them a message and BAM it goes green when they see the notification and read your message. Pretty ridiculous, really, since the bulk of the software is all Microsoft...why can't Outlook tell Teams, "Hey, she's writing an email, the icon says green, silly."
Some of us don't live in shithole countries with trigger happy cops.
Around here it is news when a police man has to discharge his/her weapon for anything other than training or mercy killing wild animals after a collision.
If only everyone thought like you. I don't mind being treated like I'm invisible, some folks are just busy or tired. But some folks actively spend time and energy trying to be rude.
People in the office work the same amount of time. The rest of the time they are talking to other people distracting them from their work or their pretending to work. These antiquated ideas of productivity, primarily working in an office makes you more productive, need to die.
Regarding that part of the second edit: a very wise colleague of mine with managerial duties once told me that he expects people to give 50 to 70% every day. First, it’s unsustainable to give 100% all the time, and burnout has far worse direct and indirect consequences than simply scaling the operation up to allow more slack time. Second, when shit actually hits the fan and you need all hands on deck, there’s no more that can be given if you were already giving it 100%
In some countries (e.g. Japan), the floor you enter the building at is the first floor, and in others (e.g. UK) it's the ground floor. So if there are 4 floors, they could be 1, 2, 3, 4, or they could be G, 1, 2, 3.
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