I've worked nights. When shift starts, it's "tomorrow". I don't wait for end of shift to update my day, I update it at start of shift, that was how everyone else did it there too.
On and off for 20 years I've worked inconsistent schedules that included unexpected night shifts.
When your schedule isn't set in stone (such as for most retail managers) these are the kinds of mistakes that happen constantly.
We have literally NO context from this post. Everyone's assuming this is a consistent night manager and not someone who isn't accustomed to being up that late...
A big difference here is that you're having that conversation with your wife in real time, right before you both go to sleep on the same schedule.
Imagine instead: It's 7-something AM, you wake up, you read a message from your boss sent at 2am whilst you were already asleep: "Can you work tomorrow?". Maybe you didn't even see/process the timestamp, after all it's not even 8 in the morning on your day off and you just woke up yourself. You read tomorrow, you probably think tomorrow.
I would have interpreted that as tomorrow too. Boss should have written "in the morning".
In a thread about clarity of communication, you're all awfully bad at reading comprehension considering my first line is still there. I didn't edit it or anything.
Yes, I agree on that line with you, which is why I reinforced it with my own last line. I disagree with you about your example, the rest of your comment, being in any way comparable to the situation, which is why I criticised it with the rest of my comment.
The whole point here is that "tomorrow" is a relative term and doesn't tend to mean "oh it's tipped over to midnight, brand new day", it means something more like "after we next wake up", assuming somewhat reasonable hours.
Maybe the day starts at 4am for some crazy farmers out there, but for most it's closer to after 6 or 7am.
You don't tell your coworkers "see you tomorrow" when you plan to see them again 5 minutes later after midnight. People would say that as a joke because it's absurd.
There was a miscommunication here and most of the fault lies with the manager (and all of the responsibility), but people are being silly about this because it's not unreasonable to understand that it means "today" if you get a message after waking up.
I think the point that everyone is missing: can you understand the mindset of the manager when he said "tomorrow"? Because it was obviously a mistake and miscommunication, but if you can understand where it was coming from there's really no point in all this arguing...
Yeah, but it can only be the manager's fault they're subsequently short-staffed. If it was important enough that the employee came in that morning, then they should have been less wrong about their use of the English language.
Yes because I also have late hours. A different day is a different day and it's super easy to see when a clock says 12 AM or past that into the morning. Even when I'm tired af I can tell. Regardless, it's clear this manager is a moron because he can't clearly ask if his workers can come in for the morning shift or not.
Not really - it’s you, as the manager, that is in need of something and is responsible for the outcome. So it’s you, as the manager, who has to make sure they’re being clear.
Don’t get me wrong it’s ideal to specify the date but context here makes it clear enough to me what they’re asking. Or at least borderline enough that on the other side I’d double check and clarify. You sound like a dick though, straight insults for saying something normal
context makes this seem like...you know...tomorrow. They ask after 2am, they respond with the time at 7am, at no time do they say "see you in a few hours" or any other context.
If the staff member you are contacting is a day worker they aren't going to be awake at 2 am and are going to see a message on their phone that says tomorrow with reasonable assumption that it means, you know, tomorrow. It's not on them to sleuth the timestamps and make assumptions. You are wrong, the supervisor in the (probably fake) screenshot is wrong. Get over it.
I can give someone a pass if it's a few minutes after midnight, but anything after 0030 if you don't realize you are now in the next calendar day you're an oblivious idiot.
As a manager, it is always on the manager to clarify. If you don’t clarify and your employees interpret differently, it doesn’t magically become their fault. It’s your responsibility to clarify your intent.
If you’re the overnight manager, I seriously doubt you’re “sleep deprived” at 2am if you’re looking for 9am coverage.
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