How to deal with colleague?

[granddesigns1]

Posting for traffic :)

I started a job in the banking industry last month. I am 21 and this is my first proper job - I am not used to the cutthroat culture.

One colleague doesn’t like me. We got on when we first met, then it transpired that she is dating someone at work and he kept talking to me. She confronted me and asked what was going on between him and I! I was oblivious to the drama as I didn’t know they were together and we were just talking about work, nothing inappropriate.

Since then:

• she gives me dirty looks whenever she sees me and otherwise ignores me, making it difficult to work with her
• she randomly passed me on lots of her caseload and it is all a mess, nothing has been done properly and will take me hours to rectify. Very complex
• when I asked her for help about this (ie to clarify her notes) she refused and said “it’s a you problem.” I’m still training and don’t have all the knowledge to deal with this alone

But at the same time, she’s very popular at work so I don’t think a complaint would go far. What should I do?

You go in at your normal time unless you are told a different time by your management team
Ask to speak to your manager and explain that you're struggling to keep up because you've been asked to do extra work by your colleague.
Management needs to clarify.
The rest of it, as pps have said, is playground at the local comp.

@CrazyNeighbour

Overtime, even to fix other people’s shit when you are 21 and starting out is a good thing.

This is a good learning experience for you, and it will stand you in good stead.

If its approved.

I would not be impressed if one of my team was working extra hours expecting overtime pay, or unpaid doing someone else's work without discussion.

Do you have 121s with your manager? Are they approachable?
Are you able to do a list of your current tasks and send to your manager and ask for priority as you don't think you can complete all in time. Be clear where the work has come from ie

This is my workload
X
X
X

Y - passed over from colleague
Y - passed over from colleague

Etc

And include,
Not sure exactly what needs to be done on Y as handover wasn't clear

You've had good advice upthread but one thing wrt to dealing with her just be entirely professional and breezy. Don't simp and apologise to her or say something like "I had no idea you two were together, nothing is going on between us" etc etc.. Don't be drawn into anyone's psychodrama.

Also throw in a few digs vis a vis the work she's passed down to you when you e-mail your manager i.e. "I've noticed that there are quite a few errors regarding spreadsheet X, it doesn't align with the figures documented in spreadsheet Y." Or whatever is relevant to the errors.

Don't let this ruffle your feathers, you're 21 and there's a lot of this to come in your particular sector. Best to grow your thick skin now!

@something2say

My best tip for workplace politics? WORK. Head down, focussed work. The dramas will just pass you by this way. When things are sticky and awkward, get on with your work and stay out of it. I have used this successfully for years.

This is true. Ask for somebody who will train you up so that you can do the job. Don't tell your manager why you believe she's being a bitch to you.

She is being a bitch to you but I've found that the astute people will see what's going on and then equally some people will be so deliberately willfully blind because that's what suits them.

So just ask for somebody ELSE to train you because you want to get through this pile of work ASAP.

Thanks for all the great advice!

I’m not going to come in early then. Will just shelf it until I can speak to my manager.

You said you work in banking? Do you work for a bank? One of the big ones? I do and they are really really big on ‘values and behaviours’. I’ve known people on a disciplinary for being less obstructive than your colleague.

I wouldn’t be doing overtime especially when you’ve just started as it will become expected. If she is dumping things on, it sounds like you are trying to get the stuff done (which is great) but if you need guidance she (obviously) should be providing this. I’m not sure if you’re asking her face to face for help but I’d start putting things in writing, dropping her an email to ask for help. That way if she’s obstructive you’ve got it in email and some back up. I’d also start gently highlighting this sort of behaviour to your LM.

Why on earth are you doing her work?

I would speak with your line manager but avoid using phrases like "I'm struggling". Advise your LM that X has passed over some of her caseload to you but, as it will need a lot of your attention to iron out some issues, you'd like the LM's input on what to prioritise, ie X's caseload or your own. Seek approval to do some overtime to complete the extra workload.

Good luck OP and welcome to the world of office politics!

don't just go in, ask to speak to your line manager and start going on about her. For a start, he will likely be busy and won't like the interruption, so won't be receiving anything yo usay well.

Instead, email her to say that you've taken things as far as could but you now have you own workload and so wonder if she'd be able to pick these up again.

Then email your manager and ask about having regular one to one as it would help you to get feedback about your progress and ensure you are doing what is expected of you. When you do, leave him to lead the questions, and only when he asks about working relationships and workload can you innocently raise the issues. Test how he responds. If he sounds uninterested and dismissed what you say, you might have to accept that she will never do no wrong an decide how to go from there. If he shows much interest and wants to know more, you can feel safer to open up a bit more. Don't rush anything, you have time to expose her poor behaviour. In the meantime, try to avoid talking to the guy but for the inavoidable work conversations.

Glad to hear you won’t be going in early. Presuming you’re paid for overtime it really won’t look good when the report comes through and you’ve clocked all these extra hours. Not only will you be costing the company money, but if management don’t know you’re doing all this extra stuff then the assumption will be that you’re struggling to complete your own work in the standard work day. Based on the banks I’ve worked for, I would think there’d be an expectation that you solve your own problems to a point and I don’t know that this necessarily warrants an urgent conversation with your manager. Why are you just taking on this person’s work in the first place? I would push back, say you are busy with your own caseload right now and have to prioritise that. If she has too much work and can’t cope then she needs to go back and discuss that with management. It’s not your place to do her job for her unless you’ve explicitly been asked to pitch in.

Don't just start doing extra overtime, paid or unpaid, to cover for her. This will be noticed and it will be seen as you either not handling your own workload if management aren't aware of what's happening, or not managing the situation with your colleague. Yes it is a positive if you're willing to pitch in and be flexible to meet an urgent deadline or similar, but not if you're just staying late all the time for no reason that you've raised.

Great that you're speaking to your boss, just lay out everything that has happened in terms of extra work handed over without support and ask for his advice on how you manage this.

I would think there’d be an expectation that you solve your own problems to a point and I don’t know that this necessarily warrants an urgent conversation with your manager

Agreed in the normal run of things (although I don't work in banking). However, I expect that given the OP is such a recent recruit and new to the workforce, plus has tried to seek advice and been pushed away, it would be seen as an appropriate time to escalate now rather than let this get out of hand.

Do not, really do not, start sorting out someone else's work on their say so unless you are SURE that they are entitled to tell you to do so. Play the honest but confused newbie and talk to your line manager before you do any more work that has not been allocated to you by someone who is supposed to allocate your work. No its not life or death urgent and you will present better as a professional if you don't behave as though it is....but it does need sorting quickly.....BTW a good future answer is to say to bitch woman (or anyone else) I am not sure that I should be doing this as well as my allocated work....I need to check with my manager first and get back to you....said with a smile.

@Withgasoliiiiine

I would think there’d be an expectation that you solve your own problems to a point and I don’t know that this necessarily warrants an urgent conversation with your manager

Agreed in the normal run of things (although I don't work in banking). However, I expect that given the OP is such a recent recruit and new to the workforce, plus has tried to seek advice and been pushed away, it would be seen as an appropriate time to escalate now rather than let this get out of hand.

I work In banking (one of the big 5) and I’m a line manager, whilst of course there is an expectation to think and try and problem solve, there definitely isn’t a culture where asking for help is frowned upon, actually it’s the opposite. It’s more counter productive to flounder alone for days than to ask for help

She sounds horrid

Still don’t understand why she is passing her work to you and why you are taking it?

@sst1234

Still don’t understand why she is passing her work to you and why you are taking it?

This. Surely the cases themselves are still assigned to her. Does she hav the authority to assign this work to you in the first place?

Keeping a paper trail (as advised by other posters) is the key in covering your ass in any awkward workplace situation. I had a similar scenario in a different type of workplace in a different era. Management turned a blind eye. Difficult issues kicked into the long grass. It cost them ££££ when I left.

@Carandi

I would speak with your line manager but avoid using phrases like "I'm struggling". Advise your LM that X has passed over some of her caseload to you but, as it will need a lot of your attention to iron out some issues, you'd like the LM's input on what to prioritise, ie X's caseload or your own. Seek approval to do some overtime to complete the extra workload.

Good luck OP and welcome to the world of office politics!

Actually I would think that 'struggling with the workload, and how to' is very clear and tells the manager OP needs some help with it.

Its nothing to be ashamed of

I agree with PP

Dont rise to anything or get drawn into any arguments. I'd try and distance myself from the bf so you don't get drawn into any gossip.

Document everything in writing. Every conversation. Even with what's already happened I'd email her 'on x date you passed me y files. Please could you clarify why / who authorised this, as I want to check my manager is aware of the additional case load. As discussed on y date there are there errors, please could you reconsider assisting me by doing x as requested'. If you dont feel comfortable then document everything in writing to yourself. Keep it completely factual (eg ignore the dirty looks). I wouldnt put it past some people to try and blame others for their fuck ups (eg tell your boss they gave it to you and offered to help and the errors are all yours) so if its electronic make sure you have all the document tracking and version control on so that you can prove when it came to you that there were errors. I'd personally play dumb though and just email her restating what happened and politely ask for help as it is much harder for her to dispute

Hang on, are you paid for overtime? Most junior lawyers aren’t and are expected to do considerable overtime!! The important thing is your manager knows why you’re doing it. So you say I’m happy to help if this is something I can contribute on, I’ll have to work a few evenings to get it done once you’ve given me some guidance on it though.

But exactly what immunetypegoblin and also @Withgasoliiiiine says. Every single time she gives you something, email reply hi bitch, I’ve had a look at the Barton files you asked me to work on, can you give me any other context on them? Are they behind, is there a reason for that, who else is working on them, just so I have the context?
Sweet efficient but oh so bitchy questions which are perfectly valid and no one can ever call you on. Don’t get mad, get professional.

And, remember bitchy or bullying colleagues are not about you, they are about them. Realistically the very few times it’s about you at all in these circs, it’s because you’re doing well or are popular etc. don’t absorb this as a reflection on you, bounce into the office each morning like she is a gnat.

I would bring this up with line manager and ask for help prioritising.

“I am ok with my own workload and have now problems there, but with the additional work that X delegates I am not sure how you would like me to prioritise. I have to double check and correct her work sometimes (show examples) so obviously this takes me longer than just completing my own tasks. How would like me to proceed?”