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Struggling at work

2 replies

user779988 · 03/12/2025 20:26

I've been in my current role for 12 years and I know my job like the back of my hand but recently I feel like I am struggling.
I feel like I am pushed from pillar to post, never able to finish a job and always having to do jobs no one else knows how to do or can't be bothered to do.
A new colleague who is more senior than me started with the company about 6 months ago. I don't think she likes me because I know my job. She has gone to the manager a few times saying I don't respect her because I have tried to help her by explaining how certain procedures work. We have set rules that we must follow.
She very rarely speaks to me, which is knocking my confidence I am not a very talkative person and recently have found it difficult to chat with my other colleagues when she is around. Yesterday we were in the office on our own for over an hour and we didn't speak to each other the whole time, if that had been another colleague she would have been chatting none stop.

OP posts:
daisychain01 · 04/12/2025 04:47

I wouldn't be telling a manager how to do their job unless they specifically asked me for a demo. I'd stay in your swim-lane on that even if you were trying to be helpful, it's not your job to bail her out of following procedures.

as for doing jobs nobody else can be bothered with, why are you getting involved, sounds like the jobs aren't even value add if others aren't doing them.

Jeska7 · 04/12/2025 06:03

Wow how do you and your colleagues get any work done with all this chatting non-stop and/or distracting others with chatting non-stop? If you’re not a very talkative person, then why would you expect her to chat to you? She’s picked up that you’re not very talkative, assumes you don’t want to chat / like quiet, and therefore hasn’t chatted to you! So try not to be bothered by it.

What is in your job description? Should you be doing these jobs no one else wants? If it’s not in your job description, have a word. If it is as well as colleague’s job description options, and needs sharing out, have a word. In either case, you need to communicate!

I can see why she might have complained. It depends how you’ve put this across. “It needs to be like this” (comes across as telling her off if she considers doing this differently) or “We’ve always done this this way (insert explanation if necessary as to why - because we need to make sure rule 1 is followed), I can show you if you like, but you might have some better ideas” (more helping and offering to help but only if needed). If you’re following rules maybe you need to help her stay on track, but needs to be phrased carefully and explain the reasoning in relation to the rules.

Reading between the lines, it sounds as if you have a set way of doing things though and want them done in that exact way. Do you do the jobs that others cannot be bothered to do because they actually need doing or because you feel they need doing and no one else thinks they need doing? If things are feeling unfair, and you’re getting pushed from pillar to post, and are not having a chance to finish jobs before starting another job, you need to be saying so. Communication here is the key.

You don’t need to be friends with colleagues. It’s unlikely she doesn’t like you. You probably have different styles of working and opinions on what’s essential or not, and how things are to be done. Are you really fixed in how things need to be done when you/others don’t need to be to still get the job done to the same quality

Why don’t you sit down with them and say: “I feel I’m not getting things completed before I’m required to do something else. I feel as though the jobs nobody likes such as job A always fall to me, and I feel certain things such as job B also fall on me as other staff don’t know how to do them. It’s not right that this is happening and I’m worried than if I’m off sick or on leave, these important jobs won’t get done. Can we address some of these issues please?”

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