Toxic environment with over the top micromanaging - Ops Manager PlantingSpace Employee Review

1.0
Aug 25, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The tech side of the business seems happy with sufficient autonomy. They have the right intentions and desire for building an interesting organisation with novel ways of doing things.

Cons

In the non-tech side it's pretty brutal. The founder is almost a parody of a bad manager. There's a lot of talk about autonomy and freedom to work on what you like but this seems to be reserved for the tech side of the business. I experienced huge amount of micromanagement to the point where the founder was literally watching me work in a shared spreadsheet whilst providing 'helpful' comments in a passive aggressive way in a group chat on things like column widths or size of fonts. There's an expectation to be available at any time of the day, in my first week I was on a very non-essential call until 10pm in the evening on a Friday with zero acknowledgement or gratitude expressed for my willingness to stay on. There's very little kindness or compassion and little regard for your wellbeing, apparently the work is supposed to be fulfilling in itself so you don't need any other support or niceness.

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PlantingSpace Response
1y
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate all feedback from our former team members, even if they are with us for a short time. While we understand that our work environment may not be the right fit for everyone, it's important to clarify a few points for future candidates. Following our decision not to proceed beyond your probationary period, we did provide an extended notice period beyond the statutory requirement as a gesture of goodwill, with the understanding that you would remain engaged and contribute to the team during this time. We recognise that job searches can be demanding, and we supported your parallel efforts. However, it’s worth noting that there was a noticeable decline in productivity as time went on which ultimately led us to end the contract at that point. Additionally, we respectfully disagree with some of the claims made in your review. For instance, while we understand long hours can be challenging, our records show that late calls with a US-based supplier never extended beyond 8 PM your local time. We strive to maintain a healthy work-life balance for our whole team; team members have a wide range of autonomy to plan and manage their work time, as well as the responsibility to do so. As for the concern about micromanagement, we believe in a collaborative approach where every team member's work is reviewed by peers to ensure the highest standards. This "four eyes" check is part of our commitment to excellence and continuous improvement, and it's a process that involves all colleagues, not just managers. We wish you the best in your future endeavours and hope you find a role that aligns well with your expectations and strengths.

Explore other reviews about PlantingSpace

5.0
Aug 19, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

* Good onboarding process * Incredible team * Very comfortable place to work * Retreats every 3 months * Interesting and challenging tasks

Cons

* The company is not very large yet, so the scale of operations is still limited

5.0
Aug 7, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Working on foundational AI technology, not just some OpenAI wrapper, and if we're successful the upside is huge, The team is incredibly smart in their fields, sometimes I feel like I'm working at Bell Labs in the 60s or something with the way I'm surrounded by expert researchers. Inspiring retreats in beautiful locations in Europe every three months.

Cons

You need to really be comfortable working remotely and async, the team works in a tool called Quire which is task oriented and requires you to keep track of things in a written way. You don't really have a manager monitoring you to make sure you're working on the right things, so you need to be pretty self-driven and oriented around getting results on your own. The company is small and the organisation is flat, so there aren't a lot of opportunities to become a middle manager (though, as a startup, there are plenty of opportunities to just grab some important work and do it outside of your official role). These aren't really positives or negatives per se, but different people might fit well in this or other kinds of companies so wanted to mention.

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PlantingSpace Response
1y
Thank you for taking the time to share your positive experience at PlantingSpace. We're thrilled to hear that you find our work and our goal as inspiring as we do. We're especially grateful for your feedback on remote and asynchronous work. Building an effective remote-first culture is something we take seriously, and we're constantly refining our processes to ensure that every team member, regardless of location, can contribute meaningfully and feel supported. We're excited about the journey ahead and are glad to have you on board with us.
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