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 agree with this:

“mathanxiety Wed 08-May-19 20:56:29
Your priority here is to make a great presentation.

You need to work backwards from that end point to determine what steps you need to take to ensure that result, and you need to let your boss know what steps you are taking, given the circumstances, to ensure a positive outcome to the trip. Find solutions, then present them to your manager. Don't land your problem on her lap.

If you end up cobbling together something that is second rate out of a misplaced sense of loyalty to this colleague, there will be repercussions for you. “

You do need to cover your arse for sure. You’ve not done anything wrong atm but you may be if you keep this to yourself, why on earth should you cover for her?

Tell your boss. This is totally unacceptable. She is meant to be representing your company, and present alongside you. You should not be carrying her. Not only has she not provided the required slides, but she is also causing you stress not knowing whether you are on your own tomorrow or not.

I would send her a message (email and text) to say that she is not required for the presentation tomorrow and you will deal with it yourself. I would blind copy your boss on this (after you have spoken to your boss) so that there is no misunderstanding.

I would be utterly furious in your position. If you cannot rely on your colleagues, then they should not be working with you.

Honestly, I’d film the football drunken behaviour.

She’s going to wake up feeling fragile and I’d expect her to go on the attack. I’d rather have some evidence backing me if she goes to the boss first.

Is she a Spurs fan?! She will be going nuts!!
What a nightmare for you, I think you should have some bloody strong words about how she’s going to let you down. She needs a shed load of coffee. What time is the presentation?

But well done on getting the slides together. NFW would I have even got on a plane without having them done first though!

Phone Boss. She might have to be pulled from meeting now.
Her turning up hungover and with no (useful) work done will not make your company look good.

Sounds like you’ll be doing this one alone. You must tell your manager what has really happened first thing tomorrow morning to cover your own back.

Meeting-wise, you could suggest to your manager to get the colleague who prepared the slides to attend by phone / Skype / Teams link to give input where needed, as colleague on the trip is ‘unwell’.

Is the drinking a symptom of her falling apart more generally? I'd be concerned that even if sober tomorrow, her head might not be in the right place to be presenting such an important job... Maybe going it alone regardless would be best (obviously you have a better idea of the sort of mental state she's in, so perhaps it's not an issue)?

Being hung over is no great shakes
its the fact that she was drunk on work time BEFORE the meeting that is unacceptable.
Do not cover for her.
Look after your own bonus.

I'm in the tell your manager before the meeting camp. If the meeting goes badly, you need to show that you had concerns before. Otherwise it might look like you're making excuses and blaming her after you both messed up.

Get your prep done tonight and leave her a message to tell her catagorically NOT to take any further part. She will be hungover to hell, probably stink like a wine barrel. The client does not need to see her.
Then I would email your manager to say you have completed your presentation however X did not play any part and that you will leave it to her to explain why.
Best of luck to you OP.

Are you able to do the practical demo on your own? I’d advise getting back to your hotel ASAP and ordering a pot of coffee (for you) and running through it all tonight by yourself.

You’ll have to tell a superior, not only is she going to be hungover, her work wasn’t up to standard and she will stink of booze. Not the look your company wants to sell.

I used to travel a lot and have been in a similar situation. It's horrible. So stressful.

Good luck OP. As others have said - you just have to do a seriously good presentation. You know the client, you know the product - you will be fine.

Sounds like you'll be doing her presentation. You need to tell your boss because if everything goes sideways, you'll get blamed and pulled down with her drunken ass.

Bollocks to saying that she was “sick” when you get back to the UK. Would she cover your back?? Really???

By all means keep your company’s professional reputation by explaining to the client that she’s sick, but don’t cover for her.

I can't believe your colleague, wrong on so many levels. I echo previous posters, tell the boss. If you feel guilty think about all the people out there that would love the chance at this job, that would do a great job, and be the colleague that would support and enhance your skillset.

Good luck tomorrow

Good luck!

You can do this. All good wishes!

I can't believe all the knee jerk "tell your manager" responses which always accompany any sort of problem at work!

If you are senior enough to be sent overseas to present to a client then you should be senior enough to sort this out without dragging your boss in to it. Work on your presentation, gather as much info as you can, be prepared to do it alone! Tell your colleague exactly what you think of her behaviour if it makes you feel better.

When you get back to the office, tell your boss what happened and how you sorted it out and refuse to do any more presentations with flakey colleague!

What a bitch!

Good luck tomorrow!

DO NOT COVER FOR HER. She planned to be "rat arsed on the company's money" before you even set off. She's a fool, and you don't want her to kill your career the way she's killing hers.

North or South Portugal?

What a nightmare.
It sounds as if you’ll do a better job on your own tomorrow, so I definitely wouldn’t be waking her up. If she’s up and ready, fine, but don’t go dragging her out of bed because she’ll mess it up for you.