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Original poster

On work trip abroad. Colleague gone crazy

788 replies

Eastie77 · 08/05/2019 19:52

Just that really. I'm abroad for work, 2 days in a major European city with a client meeting tomorrow morning. I've travelled with a female colleague who, like me, has 2 young DC. When we found out about this trip she messaged me to say she was desperately looking forward to it as she needs a break from the DC and is run ragged juggling everything. I said I totally sympathised and she replied that we should use this trip as an opportunity to get rat arsed on the company's money. I just laughed.

Arrived at the airport this morning for our early flight to find she had already had downed 2 pints but was at least sober. She kicked up a fuss on the plane as there was no alcohol on sale - not massively but enough to embarrass me. Landed and she bought more alcohol and has generally been increasingly drunk, hyper and shrill since saying this is 'her time'. We arrived at the hotel at 3pm and were meant to go over our presentation for tomorrow but I've had zero input from her. I need her to contribute a bunch of slides and practice a demo of the technical solution we are meant to be presenting to the client but she is not playing ball and has just been propping up the bar. I'm stressed. It looks as if I will have to do her slides and I don't have enough knowledge so emailing colleagues back home. I don't want to speak to my manager about this. She is normally quite conscientiousSad

OP posts:
AntennaReborn · 09/05/2019 05:34

Good luck this morning OP!

MyNameIsJane · 09/05/2019 05:45

Best of luck today. Another vote for an e-mail to boss beforehand.

Medievalist · 09/05/2019 05:46

Agree with Mummyoflittledragon above.

Good luck today op 🤞

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Pluckedpencil · 09/05/2019 05:54

Good luck today OP. As a manager, I'd have preferred to know the night before, even if I could do nothing, just so I could give you my input on how it should be handled (i.e. I would not want your colleague anywhere near this thing).
I'm not sure telling him or her afterwards will go down well....

Pluckedpencil · 09/05/2019 05:59

My email would be:

Dear boss,
I had to pull a rabbit out of a hat yesterday because colleague has not taken this presentation seriously enough and not done the preparation either before the event or yesterday. Slide deck not even drafted.
I have done my utmost with other colleagues to cover her material and will present alone today to avoid embarrassment with the clients.
I'll let you know how it goes, but if you do want to talk I'm available until 10am.
Thanks,
OP

GirlFliesHome · 09/05/2019 06:01

Good luck today

CupoTeap · 09/05/2019 06:03

Good luck op.

Will you be trying to speak to her this morning?

QuilliamCakespeare · 09/05/2019 06:05

I'd definitely inform the manager before the presentation in case he gets a phone call immediately afterwards from the client. Your colleague has been utterly unprofessional and it won't reflect well on you that you tried to cover for her.

Good luck today. It sounds like you know your stuff and will smash it.

michellelouise1982 · 09/05/2019 06:06

I can't add much else to what's already been said to be honest. I really feel for you, I know I'd be a nervous wreck if i had a huge presentation to do and no input over half of it which I knew was going to turn to shit. How can you adequately do your job if she won't do hers. I know it's awful telling on someone but you really need to cover your back. You are going to be really embarrassed at this meeting and look like an amateur because of this ridiculous woman. Cover your back. Short term yeah, it feels awful telling on someone. Long term, this is your professional reputation.

OhioOhioOhio · 09/05/2019 06:07

Sounds like you are handling it. I like your managers words about drama at his door.

whiteroseredrose · 09/05/2019 06:14

Good luck for today.

BurnerPhone · 09/05/2019 06:17

Good luck today OP x

PancakePatti · 09/05/2019 06:19

When you check out of the hotel don’t let you colleague pull some sort of stunt (Oh it loooks like i’ve left my card at home...) that means you have to pay her (bar bill) so that her drinking appears in your expenses claim!

StealthPolarBear · 09/05/2019 06:20

Good luck op, what time is the presentation?

Juanmorebeer · 09/05/2019 06:21

OP thinking of you today I hope it goes ok for you.

SinkGirl · 09/05/2019 06:25

It’s time for a WWAMD? moment

What would a man do in this situation? He would not be covering for someone fucking irresponsible, I’ll tell you that. Email your boss before the meeting - the first he hears of this needs to come from you, not her or your helpful colleague or the client.

Managers can’t say they don’t like dealing with drama FFS - dealing with problems is a large part of managing people!

Keep the email factual:

  • Colleague has been either unable or unwilling to work on the presentation since your arrival due to heavy drinking (if this is going on the company CC your manager may be made aware of this this morning, depending on how on the ball your finance team are - do not let him think it was you!)
  • Your understanding was that you had both prepared your parts of the presentation and you simply needed to combine the deck and go over the presentation together during the day after you arrived (note for you if asked: this is a working day, not a jolly, so there’s no problem with you having to do work on that day!)
  • She was avoiding giving you her slides. You were concerned so you contacted colleague X, who very helpfully supplied some to you that you could adapt if needed (colleague X should also get credit for being so helpful here)
  • When you finally got them at x hour, the slides she had “prepared” were generic and unusable
  • You are unsure whether she will be attending the meeting but if not you will handle it by yourself

No drama, no bitching - just facts, but you need to get your side on the record first before others do. A man would. And make sure you do not use apologetic language anywhere in that email - you’ve done nothing wrong!

NicoAndTheNiners · 09/05/2019 06:28

If she has small kids she might be a mumsnetter. Could be interesting.

Good luck, but maybe get this deleted?

Fedupofballs · 09/05/2019 06:33

I think you should tell the client your colleague is sick, but as for your manager you have to tell the truth. You had a good few hours of work/travel time where you could have discussed and worked on the presentation, but a colleague not on the trip has had to step in.

I would be sending an email this morning outlining your plans for the day and why you think it would be a better outcome if you present and attend the client alone. What happens when this colleague goes on another ‘jolly’ and a different colleague ends up in this position. You need to speak up now and she can get the help she needs. This is not professional or acceptable and by not telling your manager the truth and reasons behind your decisions you are enabling her behaviour.

TheLastNigel · 09/05/2019 06:34

I loathe managers that say they 'don't want to deal with drama' -thats like saying you don't want to do two thirds of your job!
I had one that Constantly said ' don't give me problems, I want solutions'-fine as a tools to empower your team, not fine when there is only one solution which is that the manager has to get off their own arse and make some tough decisions! But I digress....

See how she is at breakfast then call it. If she is in a state tell her that you will present alone. Then email your boss, briefly and factually say what happened-she got drunk, failed to contribute her promised slides, is now unable to present, you have organised replacement slides and will present alone.

It's not nice to have to do it but you must-you have to cover yourself and actually work need to support her through whatever she is going through-she sounds like she isn't handling her work life balance too well and maybe they could help with that. But not at your expense.

Good luck op-I'm sure you will smash it!

LoubyLou1234 · 09/05/2019 06:35

Good luck op it sounds like luckily you've got this
I'm with other posters I would speak to management it's your rep and bonus on the line. Single busy mum or not it's not an excuse to behave like that at least get the job done before relaxing. It's still work.

mathanxiety · 09/05/2019 06:35

She had download a generic deck from our international sales portal but it is not tailored for the client so cannot be used. No client logos, their use cases etc. so I am going to have to use the slides my colleague thankfully sent me for a similar vertical client and present alone and do the demo on my own.

The trouble with that explanation is that the colleague may well have prepared appropriate slides and may well be able to prove it. If the manager decides to hold a post mortem it will be up to the OP to explain what the heck really happened and it will all be a case of 'she said vs she said', with the OP coming across very poorly because it will look like a case of mutual blame and decision making on communication that was flawed.

The best policy is the unvarnished truth asap imo.

Xiaoxiong · 09/05/2019 06:37

Everything sinkgirl has said!! Definitely email your manager before the presentation. If you conclude the email with your proposed solution then you're still being a deal maker, not a deal breaker.

Frouby · 09/05/2019 06:43

If my team flew anywhere on company money, with an incomplete presentation I would be questioning their suitability to the role. Either of you could get genuinely sick, could be unable to travel, have technical problems, lose a laptop blah blah blah.

And I would be paying for early flights either, nor would they be staying on the night after the presentation.

QuickQuestion2019 · 09/05/2019 06:43

Good luck OP. I'm staggered at this thread!!

ShitAtScarbble · 09/05/2019 06:47

If she has small kids she might be a mumsnetter. Could be interesting

Good luck, but maybe get this deleted?

Well if that were grounds for deletion Mumsnet would be page after page of fairly tedious deletion messages wouldn't it.

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