AIBU for thinking I’m causing trouble at work asking to speak to management?

[BettyBurntBuns]

We’ve had a restructure at work and everyone has been redeployed. I want the department to work well and I’ve asked for a chat with senior management which I’m now regretting.

I just wanted to address a few areas I think need work on. Ultimately I think I want management to be a bit firmer and set targets etc. I’ll be at work and people aren’t taking calls and they will chat as a team/be on their phones. Their managers are joining in with the chat or don’t address that behaviour.

There was a few other things such as a problem member of staff (on another team who has already made a series of inflammatory comments) and also the lack of training/qualifications.

I’m regretting it so much... because I sent the email Friday to arrange a chat and I've had response. Normally they are good with responding.

The company culture is somewhat open and I know there have been a lot of issues with people being sacked and the restructure was part of that etc.

AIBU for thinking I’ve done the wrong thing?

Sorry I wasn’t clear - I wasn’t going to say to managers that X is on their phone all day and The boss doesn’t do anything.

I would phrase it as “there needs to be targets and also call volume monitored as I feel this would provide motivation and also help to identify if people aren’t pulling their weight”. We will all be taking incoming calls, and although not huge numbers such as call centre level, some people do find that job a step down.

Are you a manager of the relevant team?

If not, they might not want one of their employees back seat driving their restructure. Your workshy colleagues might not thank you for tattling either.

Unless this kind of direct access to SMT is normal in your company culture then frankly I think what you've done is a little odd.

^yeah I feel bad.

What is SMT?

You've called a meeting with senior managers to tell tales on your colleagues? How is that going to end well for you?

^no it’s not to tell on colleagues. Just to give a few ideas of how I think the department can be improved.... because I’ve now worked in two teams.

and yes I regret

Crying myself to sleep now :( I’m so dumb

Its done now so I would just leave it. You meant well but it does look a bit like you are meddling a bit too much in areas above your pay grade

Call monitoring is not a good thing. It spirals into penalising those who take the time to actually deal with the enquiry/problem for not being efficient/being lazy/ineffectual when the person who is vaunted as the best at calls is the one who says any old shit just to get them to go away and 'loses' callers on hold, as they know the odds are that somebody else will sort it out during the 15 minute complaint call and they need to keep their numbers up.

But why do managers love it so much? Because the numbers can be turned into pretty charts, numbers can be used to support a claim of improvement for appraisals and numbers can be used to manage out more experienced and expensive staff who have the knowledge and skills to handle lengthy calls.

Stick to training, structures for responsibilities and opportunities for progression, not print outs of where somebody spent 7 minutes on the toilet, another picked up after 5 rings and why another takes 6 minutes per call in average due to 3 lengthy complaint or complex calls whilst somebody else is 'better' because her average is 73 seconds.

Have you actually had this chat with management, or said anything other than you want a chat?

Have you actually had this meeting already? If not, tell them you've reflected on your ideas and have changed your mind.

Don't be that person who plays right into an employer's hands, shafting your colleagues in the process.

Have you explained what you want to address in the email? If not you can choose anything to talk about and don’t need to start telling them how to run the department.
Swing it as - I have insert issue, how do you think is best to solve it?

Don’t cry!

You can turn this around, I promise.

You don’t want to go into this meeting saying that this isn’t happening and that isn’t being followed - turn it on it’s head.

You’ve identified there might be an opportunity to improve by doing . It might be more structured breaks in teams, so people have time to socialise with those on their immediate teams, it might be shorter but more frequent catch up style meetings so people can feel more connected, especially in busier times when meetings tend to fall by the wayside.

Ask them if they’d be happy for you to do a bit of investigation around these topics, maybe canvass opinion of the other TLs etc., and come back to them in a couple of weeks with a potential plan of action. Make sure you throw in some numbers and improvements you think this might reflect.

If you think you need it, say on reflection your initial email was worded badly and you’re a bit embarrassed about that, but you had a moment of inspiration you wanted to share.

Sometimes you have to be a bit political in your approach. It might be worth speaking to your immediate manager (if they weren’t part of your original email) and explaining the above - you’re a bit embarrassed but you got excited and can they help?

Wording it well could turn it into a good development opportunity for you. PM me if you want, I work in change in contact centres so I have these conversations all the time!

@NeverDropYourMoonCup it’s not that. I can be answering calls and no one else is. I was told in my second week I took X calls and nothing since then. We do other work apart from incoming calls but due to the nature of the work we do, these calls can’t be ignored - and they would call back anyway

Just cancel the meeting OP, no need to be so upset if the meeting hasn't even taken place..

@BettyBurntBuns

Crying myself to sleep now :( I’m so dumb

Oh don’t drive yourself mad! You haven’t actually said anything yet have you? You sound like you overthink things and harshly analyse everything you do.

What level are you? Whose performance/what deliverables are you responsible for?

I probably would have waited to see how the restructure went first then approached my manager with ideas.

But what's done is done. Attend the meeting when they respond and be professional and unemotional. Explain why you are there and what you hope the outcome of the meeting will be.

Don't name names, don't give specific examples that could be outing for colleagues. And remember to think about it overnight before hitting send from now on.

Keep us updated?

That's a problem you sort with your line manager, not your senior management team (i.e. SMT) unless your work has a very flat structure.

Forgot to say that I would have waited because I've been in a very similar position so have the benefit of hindsight. You will now too.

What happened @Newcastleteacake

I put forth my unsolicited thoughts whilst working in a temporary role (had been advised I was being made permanent so got a little to secure and jumped the gun on my requirements).

I wasn't made permanent.

It's difficult to know what to do in this situation. I have been working in a team where I was picking up vastly different amounts of cases to some of the others ( small team ). I raised concerns with my line manager, he responded by giving me ( flawed) stats to try to prove me wrong. I raise concerns about others giving very poor advice to clients which results in them missing out on money and he defends them and continues not to check their work and it just carries on. I have considered going to senior management but ultimately I know nothing will be done.