Would I be unreasonable to ask that all changes to ways of working are communicated via email/in writing and not Teams/phone calls?

[I8toys]

Been in current position for years. New person comes in same sort of position as me but with a different title. I don't work for this person.

Requests on how to do things for my line manager have come in over Teams from this new person. These have not been discussed with me and the new person tells me my LM has agreed such and such. I have mentioned to LM and HR are looking at job descriptions.

I think there will be more to come in the future. AIBU to ask that anything changing with my role be communicated in writing - email or letter and not via Teams/phone calls?

It doesn’t matter what you see them as

they're written communication

you're clearly just bitter about this new person starting and taking on some work you consider ‘yours’

The sooner you realise this is the root problem here the better

So the issue is that nothing is in writing? Its not very clear what you mean. I think posters are assuming you mean typed teams messages but now it sounds like you mean calls only

Your union will have a helpline. They will provide advice, support, advocacy and representation - as well as any legal advice including looking at and advising on contracts etc should your situation require it.

www.tuc.org.uk/join-a-union

It is in writing

The OP just doesn’t think a teams message counts as in writing

I can see why they might be keen to phase them out tbh

Ok I see we cross posted that does clarify things, with your last post.

Assuming this person is still fairly new and it sounds like this may be a newly created role, there will likely be some overlap for a bit as they get up to speed. It’s very likely that your manager is still sorting out where the roles will be separated. It’s also totally normal for new person and your manager to be spending more time together as they get new person up to speed and that’s where the ‘direction’ is coming from.

‘Example:
‘Boss: So that’s how we create the TPS report, I’d like you to get with l8toys and gather all the data.
later that day…
‘New Person: Hey, l8toys Boss said you need to pull together the the data so that I can create the TPS report

First and foremost, fight the urge to get defensive. After you’ve got those feelings in check, then have a conversation with your manager about their vision for the roles and how they think it will look after things settle down. They likely have a plan that isn’t obvious at the moment but should at least be able to tell you what they are thinking.

I'd speak to LM and say that any changes need to come from them, not some jumped up new person.

So putting aside the Teams/email thing, do you feel it’s the case that you are being managed out and your line manager isn’t even polite enough to communicate this to you directly?

Obviously if the situation was that you had been overrun with work and someone had been brought in partly to take over some of your workload that’s one thing, although it would be polite of the line manager to communicate this directly. Otherwise what would be the reason for taking away some of your work?

The Teams/email thing is just a red herring in this case.

Ouch Peachy Pears! Truth hurts!

This new person also doesn't work for my LM. They have their own LM.

I do need to look at my reaction to it. I've never had this situation at work before as my previous LM was very clear with boundaries and what was required.

Oh, and you need to accept that Teams is just as much a written form of communication as an email. That is your hang up and I’d advise to get over that one as soon as possible.

There are things you can do with chat such as bookmarking or saving a particular chat, but that depends on how your admins have set up the system. Also depends on what your data retention policies are. My company deletes chat after 3 months and email after 1 year, so really email isn’t really a lasting form of communication anymore.

If you're bothered about losing the instruction/message within a long Teams thread, you can create an app to copy particular Teams messages to an email, or into your OneNote. Check out the templates in PowerApps.

You're right I need to embrace Teams as a legitimate form of communication and it is my hang up.

you're clearly just bitter about this new person starting and taking on some work you consider ‘yours’

The sooner you realise this is the root problem here the better

@PeachyPears
So if your job role encompasses certain tasks and someone else comes in and takes over those tasks with no explanation from your manager you would be perfectly fine with that? I think not.

Yanbu. It needs to be emailed.
Teams is a messy faff and not suitable for formal notices.

But she has talked her her manager who has confirmed up new person’s requests.

Of course not

but i wouldn’t sit and pretend it was how that message was being put across that was the issue in play

Thanks Peachy you're right. Its the whole way its being handled and managed and not Teams that's the issue.

Thanks everyone - good to get out of my head and get other perspectives. I tend to dwell on things and blow things out of proportion if left to stew.

Good luck OP

you have a genuine reason to be pissed off here, don’t let the teams/calls issue cloud your judgement or theirs. Stick with the facts, your role is being changed, workload redistributed and no direct line of communication from your LM

its not ok for them to do that, your LM is at full fault here imo

How much do you trust your line manager?
If some of your role is moving to this other person who doesn’t report to them, then your LM is also losing responsibilities.

I wouldn’t be worrying about the method of communication but the long term plan.

Is there a way in which you want to expand your role but haven’t had the time - and now you can? You may be able to gain advantage from this.

But I think you need to speak to your line manager about the bigger picture for your team, not be seen to be griping about minor things.

Why is this ridiculous? My Head of Department absolutely cannot remember what she has said on a day to day basis, let alone anything else, and she changes her mind about things at least four times before she settles on a final decision. She will swear blind it’s going to rain for the next 10 days, when all forecasts are showing it to be hot and dry. She’ll then say she never said it was going to rain. For this reason, we send exactly this kind of confirmation email to her after every meeting, because yes, we have to cover our arses constantly.

Tell me you didn’t bother to read the comment I was replying to, without telling me you didn’t bother reading the comment I was replying to…

This, but far more diplomatically phrased. 😆

you have a genuine reason to be pissed off here, don’t let the teams/calls issue cloud your judgement or theirs.

Well that’s certainly a nicer way of putting it than “you’re clearly just bitter about this new person starting and taking on some work you consider ‘yours’ “

Well both are true

she is bitter, and it’s clouding her judgement

going in complaining about the method of communication is a sure fire way to not get a genuine issue listened to

goodness me

Ask for a meeting with your line manager to clarify roles and responsibilities going forward.

Either bring your existing objectives, or if you don't have some, write down everything that you think that you are responsible for.

Then go through these and establish what new person is doing now. And whether you are getting new work to offset.

Actually you are correct to be careful about Teams, and indeed should request everything by email if you need a record of this information.
People here seem to forget that most messaging systems have settings that differs for each company. My company changed the settings a few months ago and all Teams conversation are now automatically deleted after 3 months. One of my friends' company delete all messages every day at midnight.
Of course the same type of rules could be applied to emails too but it's much less likely.