To tell new starter to be quiet?

[notetakerforlife]

Managing a team and have a new starter that keeps asking questions - and chiming in to other people's conversations thinking she's been helpful but it's just annoying.

They've not been here very long so I don't want to say the wrong thing and then they feel they can't ask questions and get something wrong but the things they ask are always just not that important - like finicky stuff that really isn't going to mean the world ends.

Would it be bad to say not to ask questions unless necessary? I really don't know how to approach it as they're new.

Or do I just Suck it up?

@Calphurnia88

I’m gobsmacked. No induction, slagging her off on here for not knowing what she’s doing due to no formal induction, making massively sweeping generalisations and assumptions about ADHD and guessing she has ADHD because she’s “annoying”, being rude to people giving advice, …. I mean 🤷‍♀️ That’s before we get into the fact that despite multiple people saying she’s not coming across as a good manager she’s insisting she’s a good manager… so she’s just of culpable of not listening as her “annoying” employee…. 🤷‍♀️ I’m just glad she’s not my manager! I’d be on long term sick too!

I encourage my trainees to ask loads of questions and ask them repeatedly if necessary...better safe than sorry and we don't all get everything first time.

ADHD? where on earth has that come from?

Just a thought - bit sounds to me like this person could be autistic/ADHD possibly? I am like that in work I'm very lucky my manager and I get on great and he just tells me when I'm being annoying but I don't get it I struggle sometimes to read a situation and I ask dumb questions I sometimes even answer my own question straight after asking it which to a neuotypical person frustrates them but it's the way I am I sometimes can't help it. She/he may be undiagnosed and not realising they're doing it?

If it's as frequently as you suggest then you need to act. Hope one of the suggestions works.

I work with a lady like this. I’m not her manager, we’re a team of 4. 3 of us started around the same time just under 5 months ago. The constant questions (to anyone), repeating the same question (on consecutive days), the inability to read the room and the constant interruptions are incredibly draining. I feel your pain OP and having to work alongside someone like this makes me glad I’m not management material. I pointed out this week that she asked a question in the meeting last Monday, then again this a Monday and then again directly to me on Tuesday. She thought it was hilarious. I wanted to throw something.

@Pleasebeafleabite

then you need to see someone to help you with your irrational feelings.

How about, telling them to email you any questions. Saying you will get back to them when you aren't busy. That way, you could forward IT, related emails to IT. That way they still get to ask questions, but not talking to you. If there is someone else who could help, you answer them, then you can give there email address too.

Well you are a lovely manager (not)!

Its not they're fault your busy, I'm so glad my manager is nothing like you. Your everything I dreaded about starting a new job. Your the manager and yes it is your responsibility to set a good example. Put your work to one side and give them more guidance. The more you act prickly the worse they will get. Think of it like a dog or a child, the more you act or speak with a tone of voice that's impatient the skittier they get as all they want to do is please and impress. Slow down, chill out, sit back and do the right thing.

I'd hate for you to be my manager! I have two new starters that I manage, and I have been really clear that they should ask ALL the questions, no matter how silly they may feel they are! Some of them do feel like silly questions tbh, but I smile and answer them anyway. They won't be new forever and you will have forged a better relationship, and trained a better team member, if you can be a bit more patient and tolerant now while they are getting to grips with it all.

Wow! I don't think you're cut out for managing people tbh! I get really nervous in new work situations so ask a lot of questions as I don't want to get things wrong, I'm glad I've never come across anyone Iike you!

Your response to every question should be ‘tell me what you think’ do you are effectively teaching them, in the longer term, to answer their own questions.

…said as a Manager who has been there and feels your pain!

I was told by my supervisor when I was very new not to ask questions just to find out for myself. I was then terrified of asking anything at all. I was soon in trouble for taking too long to do things because finding information was virtually impossible. I got really close to leaving because it was so stressful. I’d think carefully about saying anything. It’s possible things might settle down.

This is one of those threads where I genuinely think a lot of posters are in it to troll. I just don’t get most of these responses at all, it’s like they’re confusing managing a working environment with being a mum to a 4 year old or something. People should be able to self manage to an extent, and should be self aware enough after a week in the office to know that you shouldn’t be relentlessly bothering a busy manager with things you can find out yourself.

I worked with someone like this once. She would ring me from another site asking me to hold her hand through things she had done a billion times over. I suspect some people don't come to work to actually work, if they are attention seekers they come to work to feed their need for attention. I'm not sure what you do about it, though. I was endlessly patient with her but she took the piss.

I am in the similar position and I understand the frustration.

We had a new employee start on our team in October. We needed someone who could be trained on our systems and get up to speed quickly, so we specifically hired someone with loads of experience.

She asks questions all day, every day. I don’t think anyone minds questions regarding our systems or our procedures, but she asks questions on general knowledge that is standard across our industry and she should already know the answers. She was hired (and is being paid) in large part based on the experience she brought from her previous roles. Other staff (including myself) were brought on in the same manner and were working almost entirely independently within 90 days.

It is frustrating to be constantly bombarded with questions, not only when you’re trying to get your own work done, but also when the person asking shouldn’t have these questions. The other frustration is that she never takes notes, so I will often be asked a question that she asked me three weeks ago but doesn’t remember the answer. We have started telling her to write down the answer so that she can refer back to her notes in the future, and will wait for her to pull out her notebook.

now you know why her previous employer gave her such a glowing reference !

i sympathise. i don't think some posters can imagine what you are experiencing.
it is not really work related.
it's not because she lacks knowledge of how you all work there, or procedures.
it's more a personality issue.
she sounds like a chatterbox. the kind that constantly disrupts a class or lecture; not from malice but stupidity, lack of self control, self awareness.

She’s crap at her job that’s what I think. And maybe a bit thick and a bit self centred. Take her to one side and ask why she doesn’t know the answers and if perhaps she should have the wherewithal to find out for herself. I couldn’t stand it either OP, whoever hired her needs informing too.

I haven’t read much of this because I recognise a pile on when I see it. It’s so boring.

You’re all really really mature…🙄

That should work well - I've operated a similar system with new starters before which works well both sides.

I agree. Additionally the person may suffer from anxiety or be neuro-diverse. Such it up and check yourself. Managers should not be managing if they can't be patient with other people.

I hear you. New people can be annoying . Especially if they're too chatty and over familiar

I wish people would try and work stuff out first. Trial and error!

If you're the manager, do you have regular reviews/ 121s? You can set it as a goal for them to problem solve more under their own steam.

OP I feel your pain. It's one thing with someone being new and learning the job. It's another where you are being asked random stuff all day.

E.g is there paper in the printer? Where is x colleague (when they have just seen me walk in the door?

@notetakerforlife
Ask her what she thinks she should do? Every time, unless it's a major question. She'll learn to think things through by herself. She's maybe been undermined in the previous post and is nervous of making an error.