Dealing with a difficult colleague

[Rapidmama]

I’ve been given a job to do alongside another colleague. It’s her job but I’ve been drafted in to change some things as the way she is working isn’t working for the department.

She was sent an email last night telling her I would be helping today and asking her to give me access to her files.

She’s come in this morning and is flatly refusing . Our manager is away for two weeks now and this needs doing ASAP. Her argument is that she doesn’t want to work that way, my argument is she doesn’t really have a choice, we’ve been told to do something, we have to do it. She’s just gone for a meeting and refused to give me the password to access the files.

Wtf do I do now?!

Escalate upwards. Her manager's manager?

Although to be fair, I think this has been poorly communicated to her. A conversation rather than email. And your manager has timed it in a cowardly way.

She knew it was coming. We’ve been trying to gentle get her to change the way she was working for months. This is her being told to change the way she’s working. I’d be pissed off too but we still need to do the bloody work

Escalate it to your manager (next one up).

Yep, escalate to manager's manager, who will likely be very impressed with her. Fgs don't do nothing that makes you look like the lazy/incompetent one!