Remote Worker Blasts "Chat Checks," a Phenomenon that is Driving Those Working from Home Crazy

A well-known remote work phenomenon is driving employees mad: chat checks. And TikToker Koffee Hill (@koffee_hill) recently went viral sharing just how overzealous her workplace management team is at utilizing them to ensure their workers are actually at their computers.

If you're wondering what a chat check is but are adept at identifying context clues then you can probably surmise its definition. It's when management uses your company's messaging client of choice to see if employees are actively working.

Koffee vented in her video, which amassed over 190,000 views on the widely used social media platform, that she received two back-to-back chat checks a minute apart from each other. What's more, she says, is that the same team member sent the chat checks to workers, but in different group chats.

What began as an online gripe session transmogrified into a discussion on micro-management in the comments section of Koffee's TikTok. And several people discussed just how frustrating and inefficient of a managerial style this distrustful approach of checking in on employees is.

"Y'all ... let me show you what I'm talking about," Koffee says at the top of her TikTok. "So that y'all can understand what I mean when I say a chat check." The TikToker widens her eyes and places her fingers in quotation marks in order to indicate that she probably isn't too happy with the chat checks in question.

The TikToker continued after a screenshot of the chat check populates the screen: "These chat checks were done a minute apart. In two different chat Teams chat groups. And we had to acknowledge both of them by the same person. Within a minute from each other."

Koffee went on to criticize the practice throughout her video.

"Y'all I can't make this stuff up, if y'all didn't see it, y'all wouldn't believe it. Or maybe y'all would cause y'all understand that it's micromanaging at its finest. But, it's crazy work, it's crazy work, crazy!" she says at the end of the clip, closing it out.

Billionaire Elon Musk, who ushered electric vehicles into the mainstream and created a globally desired car brand with Tesla motors, has actually spoken out against micro-management.

While the X owner was criticized for being one of the first major companies to demand employees return to the office in the aftermath of the COVID-19 shutdowns, he isn't a fan of being overly analytical of workers.

Fortune has the scoop, stating that Musk has indeed gone on record saying attention to detail is essential when designing perfect products. However, he also stated that "the best employees actually need little management."

Basically, if a worker is producing and doing their job, then don't gum up the work by being their electric eye.

Furthermore, job placement site Talent Bridge penned a piece on the pitfalls of micro-managing. The over-arching sentiment expressed by the site is that this approach to overseeing workers is ultimately demoralizing, which can have severe effects on job performance.

Chief among them is "disengagement," which the article says snowballs into an apathetic approach to work. Consequently, workers simply go on "autopilot" when it comes to their tasks, as they know a micromanager is going to delineate what each portion of their job should look like along the way.

Of course, micromanagement doesn't just pertain to individual work tasks, but also workflow confirmations. Having to constantly seek approval from higher-ups is "a slow, steady death" to creativity, according to Talent Bridge.

The sum of all these parts, the article says will finally culminate in rebellion.

Because persistent micromanagement festers into these employee sentiments, the piece writes that this can often lead to a culture of attrition. Uninspired workers will feel less compelled to "work overtime when needed" and "mediocrity may become the norm."

TikTokers shared in Koffee's distaste of micromanagement as well. One wrote: "Sounds like the supervisor doesn’t have enough work and they are the guilty party of not working!"

Whereas someone else said that they would probably miss these "chat checks" not because they were off performing errands during their designated work hours. But rather, because they were too engrossed in their job to notice them. "I’d actually be too busy working to acknowledge this."

If you're a remote worker who's been subjected to "chat checks" — what do you think of them? Are they a blight on your otherwise happy engagement in day to day tasks? Or does this kind of persistent checking make you feel as if you're being unjustly policed?

Or are you of the opinion that this just comes with the territory? After all, there have been studies conducted that show large percentages of work-from-home employees have faked being active on their job's messaging clients.