Management Lessons From Office Space

To truly gain insight into the intricacies of the employee-employer relationship, you may only need to go as far as the local video store. In the 1999 cult classic Office Space, we get an insider’s view of the workplace through the eyes of its disenchanted employees. And, eccentric as the characters may seem, they do provide some valuable advice for avoiding a few common managerial faux pas.

“If you want me to wear more flair, then say wear more flair!”
Joanna, an increasingly disgruntled restaurant employee, expresses her frustration with her manager’s passive-aggressive attempts to encourage her to add a few more buttons or “flair,” to her apron through an explosive display of emotion and carefully selected hand gestures. Passive-aggressive communication is easily misunderstood and never appreciated. That’s why it’s best to clearly and directly tell an employee what you expect from them instead of dropping hints and hoping they eventually figure it out.

“Yeeeeah, we’re going to need you to go ahead and come on in this weekend.” Following a thwarted Friday afternoon attempt to escape the office without running into his boss, Peter, a despondent computer programmer, is roped into working over the weekend to “play a little catch-up” after workload increased due to some downsizing. Friday at 4:59 in the afternoon is never a good time to ask your staff to spend part of their hard-earned weekend at the office. Show your employees you respect their personal time and let them know as early in the week as possible if you need them to come in over the weekend so they can plan accordingly.

“I have eight bosses. So, when I make a mistake, I have eight people coming by to tell me about it.” Peter vents his frustration with the excessive amount of supervision he is forced to work under to workplace consultants hired to streamline and improve productivity within the company. Having to be reminded all day long about a small mistake can be stressful for an employee, and it can really take a toll on their productivity. So, it’s important to have a well defined chain of command within the company.

“We fixed the glitch. He won’t be receiving a paycheck anymore. So, the problem should work itself out naturally.”
Milton, a meek, obsessive, and often overlooked employee, was supposed to have been fired months ago, but was still receiving a paycheck due to an accounting glitch. Management decided to simply fix the glitch and let Milton figure out on his own that he was out of a job instead of risking a confrontation. But, avoiding conflict is never the right solution. The best approach to take when you’re forced to let someone go is to be upfront and honest. Avoiding problems won’t make them disappear, it only makes them bigger.

“Yeeeeah, we’re gonna need to go ahead and move you downstairs into storage B.” It’s probably safe to assume that Milton felt a little underappreciated when an ever increasing pile of boxes slowly pushed him out of his cube and into the basement. Sometimes, something as insignificant as asking an employee to store some boxes in their cube or to switch desks with a co-worker can be misconstrued as a reflection on their value within the company. Be sure to communicate the reasoning behind such actions to avoid causing any confusion or insecurity among your staff.

“I could set the building on fire.”
Everyone has their breaking point. However, most of us don’t take as aggressive of an approach to expressing it as Milton did when he burned down the building. Remember to take time to show your employees how much you appreciate them and the work they do. It can go a long way toward keeping your workforce happy and productive.

Your employees are probably not quite as eccentric as the characters in Office Space, but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn from these management mistakes. Remember, leadership is a big responsibility that requires earning the trust and respect of your team. So, if you find your management style resembles those from the movie, you may be setting yourself up for a staring role in the Office Space sequel.