Prank calls at work aren't just a joke
Q: One of our colleagues is known for hiring internet services to make prank calls to others in our department. Apparently, she tells some colleagues when she's chosen her latest victim to prank.
At least some people in our department's management team are aware of this, but they are apparently unwilling to address it.
A: I'm assuming you're referring to online prank-call services that allow you to send a prerecorded message that strings the target along in a fake conversation to generate a reaction. These calls can range from annoying to genuinely upsetting, depending on how fast the mark catches on. At minimum, they interrupt concentration - and the fact that your colleague is "known" for this prank suggests these disruptions are frequent. If it's becoming a hindrance to productivity, perhaps it's time to make your entire management team - and HR, if available - aware. Or maybe if enough targets let the prankster know that what she thinks is fun is instead annoying and unwelcome, she'll be reluctant to repeat the calls.
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Because I enjoy a well-played, friendly gag, I asked readers where they draw the line on office pranks.
Responses ran the gamut. Some find all workplace pranks inappropriate, especially in high-risk environments such as a hospital lab. Even if no harm is done, gags such as changing computer settings, hiding equipment and ordering prank calls can create distrust, enable bullying and spark escalating cycles of retaliation, notes Houston engineer Elizabeth Huber.
And I think we all can agree some malicious acts are out of bounds: sabotaging work product intended for clients or the public, planting material or spreading falsehoods that could get the target disciplined or fired, and causing damage to the target's property or well-being - for example, deliberately exposing a peanut-allergic colleague to peanut butter, or leaving a rubber tarantula on an arachnophobe's desk. And as anyone familiar with sexual harassment and the #MeToo movement knows, "It was just a joke" is often used as a disingenuous defense for indefensible acts.
At the other extreme, however, are random acts of whimsy intended to entertain the target as much as the perpetrator. When she was a programmer at Industrial Light & Magic, my friend Ari Rapkin Blenkhorn kept a toy alien figure from the "Toy Story" movies on top of her large monitor. For two years, whenever she was away, she would return to an ever-growing crowd of the little green guys. The prank culminated in a creative desktop scene involving an alien trapped in a jar being rescued by her office mate's Lego figurines.
Blenkhorn was amused, as her unknown prankster clearly knew she would be - but a different person in a different workplace may not have been. That's why smart employers will heed complaints, and why smart pranksters limit their activities to appropriate circumstances and appreciative targets.
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PRO TIP: The website stopprankcalls.com offers links to the opt-out pages of prank-calling sites, so you can ensure the calls never reach you.
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Ask Karla Miller about your work dramas and traumas by emailing wpmagazine@washpost.com.