On work trip abroad. Colleague gone crazy

[Eastie77]

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 conscientious

I’m glad the manager found out.

I would’ve gone postal if a colleague of mine had done this. Get the work stuff done first then relax and have a drink. Not get pissed and behave like an irresponsible teenager and leave everything to your co worker to sort out.

No way would I be covering for a person who did this. I’d be making sure my arse was covered and the management knew what work I’d had to put in to cover the stuff my colleague was supposed to do. She wouldn’t be taking any credit for the efforts I’d put in!

Glad everything on your side went ok OP. Curious to know how boss responds to colleague when you get back!

CCTV still on film and proves the point durr yea.film not readily or immediately available to op
How’s that play out in your mind bumble,the op asks a hotel for cctv to support a work related difficulty
Because the hotel simply won’t hand cctv over to op.and the op won’t actually be able to use it in a tah-dah,look at this way
It’s a work gripe not jack reacher plot

@exWifebeginsat40

i’m a little bit aghast that you left your colleague in a bar with strangers last night. work nightmare aside - this is Not Cool.

You're having a laugh, surely? The op isn't this dimwit's mum or caregiver, fgs. Co-worker is a grown woman is responsible for her own choices.

Well done OP - let us know how it pans out. I think you did all you could. I'm sorry your co worker let you down - but most of all herself. I hope you got the contract renewed.

I’m glad you managed to get through the presentation without too much embarrassment. I suspect your colleague must feel awful for letting both herself and you down so badly, I hope she’s apologised.

Another laughing at the prospect of getting management to sign off a presentation. Can only assume that those suggesting OP needs to "lighten up" and "give colleague a break" do not present formally in front of clients, nor do their bonuses rest on said presentations.

Perfectly normal to put final touches, add slides and make amends to a client presentation the day before (if we are pitching there are usually tweaks made at breakfast the next morning!)

@Eastie77 - you sound like you handled a very stressful situation incredibly well. I hope your boss gives you both the recognition you deserve.

I haven't been expected to run my presentation past a manager since I was a trainee. The last boss who insisted on checking my work was actually doing it so he could pass it off as his own

Agree there are some odd replies to this thread! Well done on getting the work done, Eastie77, and I'm delighted hungover UI lady actually did turn up & do her stuff. Unless the client's an absolute bastard, s/he's unlikely to be overly worried about having to do some of the navigation himself. We all have off-days (he doesn't need to know why her day was off!) and it let him show off a bit.

Good luck. Hope it turns out as desired, and I hope you're busy painting Lisbon a deep shade of magenta yourself! It's a lovely city.

It was a brilliant win for Spurs though.

Get support from colleagues, if you have to do it on your own do your best. If she doesn't turn up, is there but incapable then write a detailed statement straight afterwards and email it to your boss.
Any employment solicitors on her to give op a bit of advice? Good luck x

Maths why do you assume that the manager is a male? :-)

Go straight to her now and tell her to pull herself together immediately as she is jeopardising your job as well as her own by being so unprofessional.

RTFT

Maths why do you assume that the manager is a male? :-)

OP referred to her manager as he

Wow. Just wow. Well done OP - here’s hoping the kick up the bum sorts your colleague out.

I have read all of this in real time! OP pls pls update us what happens as a result
Fingers crossed you have managed the renewal and won the bonus!

Eh no dont let us know how its planned out.

For everyone pilling on about the OP work colleague for being unprofessional this thread is equally unprofessional just in a different way.

I would be in serious serious shit in work if I posted this much detail about a professional situation. I'm glad it went well but I think this thread has gotten way out of hand.

I give presentations to foreign companies, governments, VIPs etc all the time. I haven't had to 'sign off' a presentation with a manager since I was about 23! Professional, high performing staff would not generally be micromanaged in this way. Also, as we are all so busy & work many additional hours anyway, it is perfectly normal to write your presentation on the flight out ("that's what they're for, right?") and in the hotel room until late in the night.

The colleague's drunken behaviour would be gross misconduct where I work. It's normal to have a few drinks at social events, indeed a certain alcohol tolerance is expected, but the work always takes priority. In all my career, I've never seen a colleague get properly pissed. A little merry maybe, when drinking as part of a social event related to the meeting/conference, but not like this.

Maybe83 I think you are right about too much detail.

@Eastie77 hoping the presentation went well!

FWIW I'm glad your manager knows as would be incredibly unfair for you to get dragged down because of her unprofessional behaviour.

And that your my side of NL is happy tonight

@Yb23487643 - I find the fact that the presentation wasn’t prepared & checked by management before you went out very odd/unprofessional.

Where on earth do you work that your presentations are checked by a manager? I've been working for 35 years in a variety of roles and organisations. All my jobs required presentations. I have never had a manager check my presentation. When I was a new graduate, I may have been given a few pointers regarding the topics to include but that's it. Re the advance prep - sometimes that can be done, other times a lot of it is done while on the trip. If you're giving regular presentations, you know what to do and how long it will take to prepare.

Feel that OP & “colleague from office” (if they really exist) have been jobsworths & I feel sorry for the lady letti g her hair down. I’d also not have left a drink female alone. You can go around feeling better than her but what if she’d been mugged or attacked...

I hardly think taking your job seriously is being a jobsworth. It's what the op is paid to do. I would expect my colleagues to also take their jobs seriously. It is not my job to babysit my colleagues to the detriment of my own job.

COME ON GUNNERS

^^ that

oooops that was meant for @churchthecat!!

17:15 today

result of meeting

Yassssss