Pulled up for “picking on someone at work”.

I would look for another job tbh, I work with a pair like you describe and have raised it through the correct channels but nothing has changed so I am job hunting!

I think you are making a leap here. It sounds very much to me that the team is poorly managed.

but clearly you lack the skills to communicate effectively.

@janeintheframe or she works with people who just don't pull their weight and feel that an equal shouldn't be asking them to do their jobs. I have worked wth people like that and it is soul destroying. You are very quick to blame the OP.

Funny that she won’t tell us! Why mention it if she won’t explain?

Do your work and tidy away after you. Don’t do it for anyone else, I fell into that trap and was borderline doing the work for 3 very slacking people. Nothing changed after raising it so I did leave.

At one point two of them were running round the office with mini water guns having a water fight, manager said it was good for the team morale 😂 yeah we will do their work as long as they get to act like children eh!

I don't agree with this at all - it is definitely industry dependent I will grant you but we should all feel able to challenge others (in a positive polite way) for not doing their job in a way that impacts others. If I am waiting for someone to do something why on earth would I bleat to a manager because they haven't done it? You should always try to get it resolved yourself first- but without getting into interpersonal conflict. It really isn't hard. Obviously you can't tell them they aren't doing their job but saying- we agreed you would do X, you have left me in a tough spot because you haven't, can we avoid this in future please? Is fine.

That’s sarcastic and unnecessary. It doesn’t help to solve the problem, but probably makes you feel better!

I think it is relatively simple ,- don't pick up the slack for them anymore. If we keep propping up a failing system it never fails and no one needs to act. Let it fail - bit he clear to seniors that's what is happening/has happened. Copy them in to messages where appropriate. I'd say you're doing it to ensure continuity of service given some staff work part time, so manager has an overview.

'Oh, that hasn't been completed, I'm so sorry I handed it over to Bob on Wednesday and it was 90% there. Not sure why he hasnt picked it up.' 'Bob, I have completed XYZ of this report, by Thursday I need you to have completed ABC so I can finish X on Friday. I will not have capacity to also do ABC on Friday so grateful if you can prioritise this please.' Etc.

Use tone appropriate to your industry (be assertive but with appropriate softening eg in my work people make everything very nice and jovial, in my friend's job it is very direct - where is the report wedl agreed you'd send me, grateful if you could get this to me in the next hour please' etc.

Initiate a discussion on ways of working and team culture - include stuff like cleaning up after oneself. Agree a set of behaviours/principles out of it and then when Bob isn't doing his share you can respectfully remind him of the agreed principles.

In the original post the OP said that she is returning after a few weeks' holiday. With luck, in this time, these colleagues will have exposed their lazy ways to their colleagues and managers. And nothing to do with her!
In any event, this is now a good time for a firm re-set of boundaries and expectations with a good dollop of "grey rock" replies thrown in.
Good luck to the OP!

There are always wannabe managers willing to do a manager's work for free, or for a pat on the head.

They never seem to realise that when it goes wrong, because they've stuck their necks out too far, management will throw them straight under the bus.

Stay in your lane unless you're paid to step outside of it.

This is the problem I’m afraid. Colleagues on the same level never take well to be told what to do, it’s why line managers exist.

Unless someone is my manager, husband or parent they shouldn't be "assertively" asking or telling me anything.

If you have concerns with a colleague, raise it with management. It isn't your place to nitpick at others. Yes, it's frustrating when people don't pull their weight, but you aren't in a position to do anything about it, and in trying to, you have made people feel like you are picking on them.

Well she's already got that coming up.

You're in no position to pull them up. Sounds like you were completely in the wrong. Focus on your own job instead of trying to micro manage others who you're not even a manager for!

YOu need to document their lack of work, which is impacting yours and company deadlines, and stop picking up after them. Ask for a meeting with management.

You start documenting. When you come in Wednesday and have poor handover and work isn't done, you send an email to whole team Inc management stating factually that x,y and z is still outstanding and could you get clarification on the handover as details are missing. Rinse and repeat

I had a colleague take it upon themselves to “clean up my mess” of an expensive thermos flask - by putting it straight in the bin. Because she decided drinks weren’t allowed in that area. If you have concerns raise them through the correct formal channels.

Surely the answer is obvious- you put your complaints in writing to the line manager every single time it happens.
You need to act with utmost professionalism now otherwise it will be you in trouble, not them

It really suck doesn't it? In my experience, 10% of employees do 90% of the work.

I think once this starts getting to you in a team, it becomes personal, and it's time to look for another job. Otherwise it descends into HR complaints and massive stress.

Good luck.

It centred around a number of new-ish people we have in our dept. They’ve been there about 6 months. They literally do no work, do not hand over any completed work and even just leave things in the sink for other people to wash up after them etc.

@ThunderRoadRunner what ages are these people? Are they Gen Z * * (born 1997 – 2012 so for these purposes 18 - 27)? If so, it's well known that they have a work ethic cultural problem - they are late, opinionated and very aggressive about asserting boundaries. They expect to be able to do what they want to do when they want to do it.

https://www.generationtechblog.com/p/gen-z-really-does-have-a-work-ethic

You need to make a formal complaint preferably in conjunction with your other colleague and document precise instances of problems - dates, times and what the issue was. If you can't identify anythign specific now, record it going forward

We had a similar problem at work with lazy new people. The answer was to stop managing them, and working hard to make up their short fall. Let them be late, send emails to the manager highlighting no work's been done and handed over. Allow the deadline to be missed. Document it all and email the manager. This led to them being pulled up, and eventually disciplined. Do it the right way. But you have to go against your nature, and allow the deadlines to be missed. If you keep covering for them, it appears to be no problem. So let the problem happen, and sit back.

I had a similar situation except there were two of us in the office and I was senior due to longer service. She decided she wanted to go to another dept and when I came back from 1 weeks leave was surprised to see a different person in my office. We had a lot of problems as work was not being done and I ended up picking up the slack. When I spoke to the newbie it transpired that the previous one, who "showed" her how to do the job had made such a mess of it the new girl didn't have a clue what do. I went through everything with her till she understood and this solved the problem. All jobs done on time.

The problem resurfaced when original girl wanted to come back and the two of them swapped depts, except original one wanted my job, which she got. She also wanted more money, which she got. All I got was a load of shit from the owners for things not being done. This was because she didn't know what to do or how to do it. The owner suggested I point this person in the right direction. I said she is being paid more than I was for doing the job so she can do it. I asked for a complete list of my new tasks, which I got, and stuck to it. When there was moaning about this, that and the other not being done properly/on time etc I would tell them not my job description, not my pay grade.

It is bloody annoying when your own job is compromised by someone else's poor efforts. My advice would be to take a step back and don't care as much. You won't be any better thought of. If the handover work isn't ready for you to carry on/complete ask your manager where it is. Tell them you can't do your job until you receive it. If it is only partially completed tell them you can't do everything and ask what you should prioritise. At the end of the day these people are being paid to do the work. It is difficult to know exactly what to say without knowing, roughly, what sort of job you do and what it entails. If it is medical/life threatening then that is one thing, but if its just office based and targets aren't being met then I would just do your job as best you can and go home. Fair enough if you are paid decent overtime and you could do with the extra cash (who couldn't) but if its a flat wage/salary its not worth getting yourself worked up about. You may even find that on Monday the whole thing has blown over and been forgotten. Don't engage with them again if their work is still slack but go to the management. They are paid to manage, you are not.

Those people are not being managed properly.

Expecting people to sort things out without managers is an invitation for conflict and clashes - and a neat cop-out for the managers, as you try to do their probably higher paid job for them. Stop that.

The situation should not be causing you so much stress that you lose it.

Do you have a union, a staff wellbeing team?

With each project, you all need clear agreements in writing re who does what by when, led by a leader who can actually lead.

Dates diaried for progress reports. Deadlines.

Regular meetings with your own line manager to update them on your own progress, where you can highlight how you're ready - and are waiting for the others to be, too. Same for the other team members. Their managers need to liaise with yours, if they're not the same person. This will highlight how while some are delivering, others are slacking.

In my last contract, we had weekly catch ups and monthly formal 1-1s to build the annual performance report content. Have to confess, that really focussed and tightened up my own tendency to 'relax', to do the thing I fancied doing rather than the thing I needed to do!

Does your org have this culture?

If not, it's setting you, your team and the LM up for failure.

You may need to be proactive and diary and press for the regular 1-1 with your LM yourself.

And if they resist, you have a LM attitude and employer culture problem that goes far deeper than a few lazy-arsed coasters.

Also, stop cleaning up after them. You're not their mum. Be scrupulous about being clean and tidy yourself and leave them to their mess.

I don't think thats great management (from them, not you). They're basically leaving you to do the difficult bits and then when it goes south it leads to situations like this. If they were aware of these issues already they'd have been able to step in and/or be able to counter the claims that you've been picking on them.

I’m not the manager. We have always been told that we are mature enough to talk to our peers directly about issues, and not involve management.

Well that's not working is it?

So it should be abundantly clear you need to involve management.

How did you 'lose it'?

Write down everything that you are having to do to pick up the slack, detail what they should be doing and aren't. Ask for a meeting with management. It would be better if you could get together with the others who feel like you.

The new ones should be on probation and should be being managed properly. Their probation can be extended if they aren't doing the job properly.

Make it quite clear to management that you aren't picking on anyone, merely asking them to do the job that they are employed to do, which includes keeping the working space clean and tidy.