Please help! How would you address this with your manager?

[chatenoire]

I've been in this role for close to two years, and my manager is a nice lady but the "pastoral care" is next to non-existent (I never have 1:1s for example). I have issues with my colleague (who has the same title as me) but some could be seen as petty.

Our skill sets are different and I've always diversified myself more. This has never been addressed by our manager and it has only added to the friction.

One I want to talk to my manager about is twofold:

1. for the differences in our roles to be formally explained

2. for me to formally share my time with a different department (that still has to be confirmed by that department)

The question is, would you wait to resolve point 2, before having this chat?

Is point 1 worth talking about?

TIA!

I think it's definitely worth talking about point 1 but you need to be clear about why - e.g. because it's easier for other staff to understand / know who to approach?

If you can have a justification that makes it easier to ask rather than 'I do more than my co worker and want it acknowledged' (which is a fair point but think you'll get further if there's a business reason).

Point 2 I think it's worth mentioning too especially if this other department is linked to your other work - you can just say you're waiting to hear from them but let your manager know if she doesn't already.

Good luck!

Oddly enough I don't necessarily think I do more or less than her (it's just different) but I'm pretty sure she thinks she does more than me (which is where some of her comments come from).

Yes, point 2 is linked to my other stream of work. So I'd have to formalise it and I assume the line managers would have to talk between them .