Work dilemma with new colleague, what would you do?

[Evain22]

Have a new colleague at work, has worked here around 6 months. We don’t job share but instead we both cover the one department.
I have been advised my the wider team that she hasn’t been attending meetings that she is meant to be chairing, work is not being recorded correctly and there’s just a general feel that they are out of their depth.
I have picked up on this myself too.
i don’t want to seem like I’m telling tales on someone but it’s impacting on the service we are providing to our client group and I worry about that. I have encouraged those who have came to me about it to go to management too but they have said they don’t feel comfortable doing so.
what would you do in this instance?

Tbh, I’d have a quiet chat with her myself first and foremost to see if she is drowning and if you could help her in any way.

Will it be awkward to start that conversation? Sure, but it’s surely less awkward than going to management when you might be able to help her meet her obligations and responsibilities and ultimately deliver the service to your clients more effectively

you don’t want to think that your clients are going to be let down by your department

I’d mention it to my manager in a neutral way in terms of the impact on me and my workload. I wouldn’t become the mouthpiece for the whole team; that looks like gossip.

Assuming you aren’t her manager. Doesn’t sound like it from your post. If you are, then yes you speak to her direct - but you’d have noticed her performance by now, I would think.

You say you've been advised by others that she isn't doing this stuff, but you've not seen it firsthand have you? I don't see how you could have a quiet word when you're not witness to it. Why don't others want to go to her line manager? That seems nuts to me, if she's out of her depth she needs support, why don't they want to help her? Why hasn't her manager noticed themselves? I line manage and have a good grip on what people in my team are/are not doing.

I would mention it to her about missing meetings and incorrect recording, see what she says. Then, if things didnt change i would speak with management.

Sounds like the job may be a little complex so give her time to get her head around it. I certainly wouldn't go to management straight away.

Dont speak to her directly to see if you can help or if shes drowning unless youre her manager, you could be undermining any process in progress to dismiss her if she isnt up to scratch and she may end up leaning on you too much.

You need to raise this with the dept manager in a factual and constructive way. Share the feedback youve been given and let them deal with it.

It sounds like you’re dealing with a classic tension: you can see a service‑impacting problem, others have noticed it too, but no one wants to be the person who “reports” it. That leaves you holding the ethical responsibility while also trying not to look like you’re targeting a colleague. It’s a difficult position, and your instinct to protect the client group is the right one. You also need to protect yourself.

Why not you raise it with management — but you frame it as a service‑risk issue, not a personal complaint.

The issue isn’t “your colleague is doing things wrong”. The issue is the department’s outputs are being compromised, and the risk is structural, not interpersonal.
If you anchor everything to that, it stops being “telling tales” and becomes “flagging a service concern”.

You can highlight that she appears to be struggling without looking like you are interfering.

It sounds like it’s affecting your role so you can’t not raise it.

Never go to someone else's line manager, or raise serious issues directly with them. All you should do is go to your own line manager (who may also be hers).

As @Friendlygingercat says, you frame it as being about the work and your workload, not about her.

Is this chat gpt?

Are you her manager or supervisor?

Yes, I was wondering this as you refer to her a colleague.

This. Report to your own line manager.

Eh? How is that relevant? It’s decent advice.

Presumably you have one to ones with your line manager? Raise there that you’re concerned about poorer service levels being delivered to your client group, that you are trying to address the issue by doing x, y, z (if you are). But this is leading to your own workload becoming a strain to deliver effectively.

Even if it is, it’s good advice and PP asked it the perfect question.

I would do what the first poster suggested, and speak to your colleague directly. Plan in advance what you need/want to say, so you don't get flustered at the time. I'd want to know if she was aware of all her responsibilities (i.e. why does she keep missing meetings, especially is she's supposed to be the chair), whether she had trouble prioritising, whether she just needed a bit of help to get back on track. I think it's a bit shit to go to management without raising it or trying to resolve it with your colleague first. (I don't think much of your colleagues either - happy to pass the buck by complaining to you, but not bothered enough to stick their head above the parapet and go to management).

Absofuckinglutely not do this. Unless you are her manager or supervisor.

Do not speak to the colleague directly. It could go very wrong and you could end up having to explain your actions.

If others come to you, listen and advise them to speak to their own line manager.

At most, discuss with your own line manager any workload conditions that are relevant.

People will often look for some chump to hold the gun while they load the bullets. Then wait for said chump to fire the gun. While they walk away. Don’t be the chump.

What a dick response to that particular post

Looks like a perfectly fine question to me. Op asked wwyd, so probably wanted real life opinions, not "please can you ask ChatGPT for me and post it as if you'd written it"

Is no-one in the meetings she is missing messaging her to see where she is? Basic safeguarding. If any colleague is late to a meeting I would be messaging them on Teams saying 'are you coming???' and if they don't reply calling them dyer to check they're ok. Ditto for work not getting done. Why is no-one saying 'have you get X done/ just chasing y/ Can you give me a timeframe etc'...

It’s not a dick response, when I first read it I thought it was good advice but then I thought it sounded very AI. I am genuinely surprised that people would take a question from mumsnet and go to chat gpt for an answer. That seems baffling to me. I don’t like chat gpt or I would have used it myself . I thought the whole point of mumsnet was to get real people’s thoughts/advice/opinion

It looks like AI to me.