Is this out of order

[LadyRussell]

Colleague who is same level manager as me asked our joint boss if someone I line manage could do a task for her (small admin task not strictly in her role but it’s quite a flexible role).

Line manager (micro manages everything) agreed it and my colleague ran it past me and told me after boss had ok’d it.

Employee then emails me today cc’ing in my manager saying X has asked me to do this is this in my job role? Line managrt then enails her back CC’ing in me explaining she had already ok’d it.

AIBU to think if a manager (sane level as her own) has asked her to do a task (if she had the time if not don’t worry) she should be then checking with me and certainly not cc’ing in my line manager?

And if the task is so irrelevant why does it need doing?

LadyRussell

Your friend has gone above your head to get one of your staff to do something.

You haven't communicated this with your staff member and its her fault!

Even if she had contacted you today (and we don't know that she didn't try) you wouldn't have known because you were out of reach.

Do you not see the reason why she did what she did?

When you see her tomorrow op, lead by example and be a good manager,

Take her aside and say to her

I owe you an apology, I should have informed you this task was coming through, I got caught up with a work meeting yesterday, we would be grateful if you'd undertake it for us as a one off activity. In future if something like this comes through I'll speak to you.

No snide comments about you're the one to speak to your boss. No bitchy comments about her being allowed to only speak to you. Nothing like that. Contain yourself and apologise you couldn't be arsed informing her yourself.

Then what do you mean by "irrelevant"? Irrelevant to what? And why doesn't she understand her role? Surely that's your job?

Just pull her aside and explain what you would prefer she did - no need to be a big drama

She didn’t contact me today - she has my work and my personal number and I have made it clear she can contact me on either number which she did not. I checked my phone today but could not receive emails
for some reason.

My line manager was in the office with her all day as was my colleague so they could have just had a bloody conversation with each other.

My colleague didn’t go above my head at all.

don't think it is a big deal to be honest, prob just a newbie type thing to do. She'll soon learn the chain of command etiquette.

To be honest though I would have thought good delegation would have involved you speaking to your team member to let them know that x would be asking for their help (or if not, then x to confirm that it had been discussed with you and your line manager and both had agreed to it). It can be a bit overwhelming/confusing for newbies if people that they don't work directly for are suddenly asking for them to pick up tasks.

Are you drunk or on something op? No one is this shit a manager.

If your phone works you can speak to her, phones go both ways. And to say it was "irrelevant"is horrible, irrelevant to you but not her. And of course your friend and boss went over your head they agreed it together before they even told you.

There was nothing to address with my manager or colleague.

Why? Between them they allocated a task to a member of your team without asking you. I don't even understand why your colleague went over your head - it seems really rude not to have asked you first. It appears to have been sheer chance that your colleague even managed to get hold of you as you were going of the door to let you know. For all they knew, you had something important lined up for your team member and didn't want her distracted. I think you really do need to address that.

Where I work, if a same-level colleague wanted a member of my team to do something, they would undoubtedly ask me first. If I was OK with it, neither of us would need to go to my line manager because the assumption is that I know how to manage my team. In practice, I might well check with my team member first to see how her workload was going before saying yes. Even if I didn't, I would see it as normal politeness to let the team member know that I'd agreed to it. After all, it takes all of a minute or two to send an email.

Hopefully she won't have found a new job by Monday and will be available to empty the bin.

Bluntness

Yes I will do.

If she continues to be a cc bandit I will bring it up with her.

LadyRussell

He asked your manager before he asked you

She cc'd your manager in to an email to you. yet she is going above your head and your friend is not.

And you still don't see that you are the problem?

How does asking your line manager before asking you mean that your colleague didn't go over your head? Surely it's a classic example of exactly that.

I call reverse on this one. No one is this bad a manager,

Of course a same level manager comes to you first, they don't need to ask your manager then inform you, and of course you let your team member know something is coming through from a different manager and explain why they are being requested to do it.

It must be a reverse. Or that's one shitty office that poor woman is working in,

She was also told it wasn’t a priority and could she please do it if she had time.

Out of sheer curiosity, what would happen if she simply never did the task in question because she didn't have time? Again, it seems a strange way to allocate work.

If she continues to be a cc bandit I will bring it up with her.

I hope that she finds another job with a decent boss.

What is a cc bandit?

Are you now calling your team member names?

Bluntness100
It must be a reverse. Or that's one shitty office that poor woman is working in,

I hope so too, the lack of self awareness is astounding.

Bibesia

"not a priority" is the doublespeak of some organisations. It means we expect it to be done, but we don't expect it to take any actual time.

"not a priority" is the doublespeak of some organisations. It means we expect it to be done, but we don't expect it to take any actual time

Yup that and it's a shitty task no one wants to do..

My line manager suggested to my colleague that employee could do this task for her if colleague okayed it with me first which she did at the end of play yday as we weren’t going to see each other.

I was away all day today and tbh forgot about it as it wasn’t something she was being asked to do as a priority and third manager has asked her to do things which third manager and employee haven’t mentioned to me (and when I brought this up with line manager she said it’s fine to ask people in the team who you don’t have direct line management for to do tasks) and colleague asked employee today before she went off while I wasn’t there. I left early this morning as was working an hour away from where I normally am.

Employee was perfectly correct to cc in your line manager. From her point of view, she had had a request from someone who is not her line manager who had gone above your head and who had not told her that this had been okayed by anyone else within the organisation. She needed to check. Please don't tell her off for doing her job properly, not least because you may find yourself on the wrong end of a grievance procedure.

If she doesn’t have time to do it colleague will have to do it herself.

when I brought this up with line manager she said it’s fine to ask people in the team who you don’t have direct line management for to do tasks)

That is something that everyone at your level needs to raise with the line manager as a priority, because it's the route to chaos. If you're all asking members of other teams to do tasks, how can any of you have a reasonable handle on your respective team members' workloads, capacity, competence etc?

So this poor woman is being treated as the whole team admin assistant, and you are surprised that she is checking with someone more senior than you that this is appropriate?

Is admin in her job description, even? I would be raging if three different managers were dumping tasks on me with communication this poor, and would definitely be going above your head.