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?

If the new starter is asking questions that IT are best placed to answer for them and not you, why don't you suggest that the new starter writes down the query/issue they are having in a notepad. Then they read back what they have written down and ask themselves "Is this IT related or not?". If it is IT related, then they contact the company help desk number and log their query there. It'll get them used to logging queries and for them to understand what is and isn't an IT query. If it's process related or something that you can help them with, pop 30 mins in their calendar in the morning and 20 mins in the afternoon and you'll answer whatever queries they haven't logged with IT during that time. Other than that, you're busy at meetings (either in person or on line) and can't be disturbed.

Also i find turning work-related questions back on people is useful so "well, how do you think you should handle it" and let them tell me, they are either right or wrong, and you can guide them.

Management is about handling people as much as your actual work, and it is a difficult thing sometimes. Good companies have good onboarding processes. Others, not so much.

I can't remember, OP, if you said how long she's been there?

Omg had this in previous job... Staff that had worked there for years, but something would come off the fax machine and they would ask me what to do? Pick it up and read it FFS!

We had something at work where everyone had a sheet and they had to document down every disruption they got. It was quite astonishing how many disruptions people got per HOUR! I think it one hour I had 68. But just highlighted the issue.

@Brefugee difficult to buddy with working from home

Also I don't think fair for other team memebers who are not paid to train or supervise to be slowed down

difficult to buddy with working from home

nope. We all work from home mostly, and even when we don't we are spread across the country (much bigger than UK, same time zone for all offices)
We make it work because we have to. So there are teams meetings, teams channels, buddies, managers, mentors, and office management to turn to. The best of these is the buddy system - you can call them and they will tell you at some point that they really should know that by now, or point them in the direction of the person who can help.

It's really not difficult. But you have to work at it. It is vital to give new starts a fair chance. You don't sound as though you have the capacity, so you need to delegate it

I agree with pp that my impression is that you've let this slide and it's now become a bigger thing that it actually is or needs to be. Tackle it head-on by having a 15 minute meeting about how it's going?

OP, YANBU, this person wouldn't last a month at our company. Employees are expected to take initiative from the get go, even grads. All the people saying YABU must either need their hand held all day or like holding other people's hands all day.

I would frame it as you trust them to be able to find the answers to these questions with their own initiative.

Ask her to group all her questions she wasn't able to get answers for and then ask them at around 4.30pm.

I think in a management role it is expected to be able to manage these issues, it’s low-level. There are many positive strategies out there:
-delegate a time for questions, maybe two brief meetings in the day. If they go outside this suggest they create a question book or file to record non-urgent questions
-don’t ignore inappropriate ones, tackle them in a calm non-judgemental way. For example the tea question, neutrally say ‘I’m afraid I’m on a video call, I’ll respond later’ and raise a hand before carrying on. The client will presume you’ve politely informed someone who was aware you were on a call. Ignoring it will not stop it.
-use the broken record technique for IT questions, get a phrase and stick to it ‘you need to contact IT for anything systems related’. Then disengage, do not explain further or get dragged in.
-if need be get a visual ‘do not disturb’. Get a clear signal and explain it to everyone neutrally. ‘Hi, I’m aware sometimes it’s hard to see when people are on screens as you approach… here are some red post its (or whatever). Please put one on your door/ laptop when you cannot be disturbed’.

Basically, set clear boundaries, communicate expectations clearly and don’t ignore things presuming that even neuro diverse people will pick up on your feelings

They're probably nervous and talking a bit too much. It would be cruel to say something. Let it be.

@notetakerforlife

Whats all the they bollocks???

But what's necessary to them may not be to you. Its touching on thin ice if you ask me

@notetakerforlife sorry if I've missed this but you don't seem to have answered a number of posts on whether this new starter has had a proper induction?

If she hasn't then you need to accept some culpability here.

Maybe their previous manager was micromanaging them and they don't feel confident that you'll support more independence?
Just a thought...

I empathise with the OP. I have two new starters and I literally will have just told them something then they ask that very question eg if you want photocopying done, send it to Reprographics. Here's the correct email. 'Where do I get photocopying done?' Don't do this task. I was asked three times 'Should I do this task?' It is very wearing. Maybe it's the fault of the company for not offering enough training/support?

We work fully remotely. I have also been managing people from 16yo apprentices to people in senior roles, for about 8 years now both remotely and in the office.

IMO you do sound like a crap manager with very little patience. Sometimes you get people who are insecure and ask lots of questions. You deal with it - in a friendly way.

You absolutely CAN set up a buddy system when working from home. What systems do you use to communicate? Do you have slack or anything like that at all?

We had someone like this in an old job of mine. She was new but picked things up very quickly. She would still double check absolutely everything, even though she knew the answer, and it took up so much time! It went a bit like this:
"I'm just doing X, do I do it like this?"
"Yes, that's right"
"I thought so, just checking"
And repeat, for Every. Little. Thing. So draining when you just want to scream WHY ARE YOU ASKING ME THIS?!?!?!

I think all you can do is keep reiterating to ask IT, look it up, check with such a person etc. so that the onus isn't always on you.

I am having a similar situation at work with someone I manage. It’s a much greyer area than people realise and I do have sympathy OP.

In my case the person is good but extremely needy and needs constant validation from senior staff. I am mostly remote and she messages me on Teams dozens of times a day to ask trivial questions to which she knows the answer but doesn’t trust her instincts.

It is difficult for her and as a relatively new team member she feels exposed a lot of the time acting without management support. But with the best will in the world I simply can’t do my job with this level of interruption.

I have dealt with it by scheduling twice weekly Teams catch-ups and asking her to group all questions (unless extremely important) in a twice daily email.

This seems to have helped as it’s empowered her to do things without checking all the time and also has forced her to focus her mind on what’s really important.

The best suggestion so far is for you to gain better management skills.

people don't need to 'keep them (suggestions) coming'

stop complaining about her and do your job.

LOL! Well that's you told anyway 😆😆😆

Someone asked about induction, I haven't done a proper one so I have to accept some responsibility - I'm not saying I'm perfect here at all but I do see the adhd of this person is going to become an issue

I was told not to ask questions in a job once. It ended up in such anxiety because I was terrified of getting it wrong. The irony was that when I (inevitably) got it wrong they said ‘why didn’t you just ask?’. I was crying every night at home and not sleeping because I was so worried about work and left after 6 months where two months I was off sick. Let her ask questions.

Ah this is the worst kind of issue to deal with as a Manager.

You can do the 'we want you to use your initiative' to deal with the work quesitons, but you're down to actual 'personality' which is much more difficult. You can't actively Manage someone's personality.

No but maybe you are not cut out for management.

If you haven't done a proper induction then you don't really have a leg to stand on @notetakerforlife

Think back to when you were more junior, and put yourself in her shoes. No wonder she's asking a lot of questions.

Depending on your team structure either you need to dedicate some time to give her a proper introduction (role and responsibilities, key tasks, meetings and stakeholders, along with the basics such as how to report a broken laptop) or you delegate this to someone capable in your team.

I do see the adhd of this person is going to become an issue.

You need to speak to your HR team about how to manage this (mainly because I don't think you've done a good job so far, sorry).

Someone asked about induction, I haven't done a proper one so I have to accept some responsibility

FFS OP, you have all the responsiblity here. It is INFURATING.
I started in an (already hybrid) team during one of the real lockdown-lockdowns. I didn'T see anyone face to face for 6 weeks,and that was only to pick up tech.
In the first year i was in the office a total of 6 days, and one workshop.

My company had to work EXTRA hard, our managers, our buddies, the whole team, to get 3 of us onboarded and working as a part of the team. At one point when i asked a question about a project i'd never heard of and been plonked in - my trainer said "well you're a grown up, work it out".
I went straight to our team boss and told them it wasn't acceptable at all.

So, after a few people raised a few issues about onboarding, we have completely overhauled our onboarding process. New starters after me have all come back after a few weeks and said how good it is. And i've never met any of them personally. It works. But you have to invest time and effort in it