One horror story could be when a stage manager lost all the cue sheets right before a big performance. It was a complete chaos as the actors and technicians were relying on those cues for lighting, sound, and scene changes. Another could be a stage manager who accidentally booked two different shows on the same stage at the same time, leading to major disputes between the production teams.
Sure. There was a stage manager who thought they had arranged for all the props to be in place. But on the day of the performance, they realized that half of the important props were missing. It was a mad scramble to find replacements or improvise. Another horror story is when the stage manager misread the dimensions of the stage and ordered a set that was way too big to fit. It took a lot of effort to modify the set at the last minute.
There was a manager in a company I know who took credit for all the good ideas of his team. Whenever the team presented a great solution to a problem, he would present it to upper management as his own. This led to a lot of resentment among the team members and eventually high turnover. They felt unappreciated and used. It was a real horror story in terms of management ethics.
One horror story is when a district manager forced unrealistic sales targets on the stores in the district. Employees were overworked and stressed trying to meet these impossible goals. Some stores had to cut staff hours just to try and balance the books, which led to poor customer service and a high turnover rate among employees.
I heard of a hiring manager who asked inappropriate and discriminatory questions during the interview. For example, asking about a candidate's family planning when it had no relation to the job. This made the candidate uncomfortable and violated equal opportunity employment laws. It shows a lack of proper training and professionalism on the part of the hiring manager.
There are stories of managers who play favorites. They give all the good shifts and opportunities for advancement to certain employees while ignoring the hard work of others. This creates a very negative and unmotivated work environment for those who are not in the 'in - group'.
One stage mom horror story is when a mom forced her daughter to practice dancing for 10 hours a day. The girl got injured but the mom still pushed her to keep going, ignoring the doctor's advice. It was really cruel.
Well, micromanagement is a big one. District managers who focus on every tiny detail instead of the overall performance of the store can make the work environment unbearable. Also, there's favoritism in some cases. If a district manager has favorites among the store managers, it can lead to unfair treatment of others. And of course, there's the matter of unqualified district managers who make bad decisions that impact the stores negatively, like ordering the wrong inventory or not planning for seasonal trends.
Well, I heard one where a Burger King manager was really mean to the employees. He would constantly yell at them for minor mistakes. One time, an employee accidentally dropped a few fries while packing an order, and the manager made him clean the whole kitchen area as punishment.
Perhaps a Burger King manager who mismanaged the inventory. They ordered too much of some items and not enough of others. This resulted in a lot of waste for the items that were overstocked and shortages for popular items. Customers were disappointed when they couldn't get what they wanted, and it also cost the store extra money due to the wasted inventory.