To throw colleague under a bus?!

[justteanbiscuits]

New colleague. Technically senior to me, and clearly trying to assert dominance in a number of ways. We have a very flat organisation generally, and outside of who you report to, there is no real seniority day to day.

Last week I made a minor error - basically, I got person x to proof read something for me, they missed a mistake and I sent it out. I corrected it and followed up as soon as it was noticed - about 15 minutes after sending.

New colleague told my boss and other members of team about this error.

The reason I didn't get new colleague to proof read is he was offline and had told me, off the record, he was finishing early to make the most of the nice weather and go for a walk at a local beauty spot.

It's been raised by my manager who "wants a chat about it". Do I smile sweetly, nod, promise to never do it again. Or do I drop new colleague in it and explain why I didn't get him to proof read?

You are being unreasonable = Just smile sweetly and shut up
You are NOT being unreasonable = Hell yeah drop him in it

Just say breezily in front of big boss to new colleague
so if you’re offline, as you were at the time this issue arose, who do I get to proof read my work?

Might be that your boss didn't like him telling all and sundry about that if it sin't the oranisational culture and is looking to see if there have been other examples of dickish behaviour rather than that they are annoyed with you over the typo. If I was your boss I'dnot be happy to find out that someone was bad mouthing others and would want to nip it in the bud before it has an impact on morale.

Drop him in it! I bet they'd do the same to
You!

I would leave it at "I would have sent it to MrMicroManager but he was offline, so I got x to proofread and unfortunately we both missed this mistake". I wouldn't give details of what new colleague said he was doing, as it would look petty. I also think it may be more that they want to talk to you about your relationship with this new colleague, more than the mistake. Without knowing what you do, or what the mistake was - any place I have worked, a genuine mistake, quickly corrected would not be commented on, let alone a meeting arranged about it! Let him look petty, don't stoop to the same level x

If the point of the chat is ‘why didn’t you run it past x’ then the answer is ‘sorry I didn’t, he was off line’

If the point of the chat is ‘be more careful’ then it’s ‘yep got it sorry won’t happen again’

Definitely say your colleague was offline. You may not have evidence to back up where he was.

‘Yes, I’m really sorry. I should have waited until X got back from his walk to Y. He normally proofreads this kind of stuff. I’ll remember next time.’

It's not throwing him under the bus.
Why didn't you ask him? This is the truth and the reason you give.

Why are you not angry with colleague x who normally spots such errors?

…as is the person who made it.

If this supposedly senior colleague wants to spend his time proof reading everything he can knock himself out and spare Colleague X a job. If the meeting is in fact about why you didn't get SC to check it, I'd point out that when you needed to send the doc at [time] SC had already clocked off for the day. You can then ask sweetly whether under those circumstances next time you should delay sending the doc until SC is in the next day and has time to read it, or whether you should get Colleague X to do it.

I can't be the only person who has colleagues with dyslexia or other issues who routinely have a colleague double check things for them before sending out? It's not the OP's fault if they have a brain that can't easily spot minor errors - no doubt she has other huge strengths that make her an asset.

Don't just say 'he was offline', as this suggests that maybe he had stepped away for a minute and you couldn't be bothered to wait.
Phrase it more that, the twat had warned you that he'd be away / unavailable all afternoon so therefore you had to...

Your new colleague has a brass neck.

He insists on proof reading everything, highlights a minor error to your boss, an error which occured when he was skiving off to enjoy the nice weather.

I would wait and see what your boss says but I wouldn't hesitate to ask who you should get to proof read for you when new colleague isn't available as he wasn't on the day in question.

How chilled out is your company really if a minor error, which was quickly corrected, results in a conversation with your boss?

I'm not sure your new colleague will last long if this is the way they behave. Your boss may well want feedback about their performance.

Agree with PP that you don't necessarily know what the 'chat' is about although it's a staple that there should be 'no surprises'.

The manager may well be picking up on early dominance demonstrations and want to reassure you about it?

I think it depends what your policy is and what the meeting your manager wants to have with you is about - basically who is at fault?

If you were SUPPOSED to get new colleague to proof read before it went out and he is now complaining that you didn't then absolutely bring it up because it's relevant - you couldn't follow the correct process because he had finished early so the fault is ultimately his.

If there is no obligation to get new colleague specifically to proof read but the policy is that SOMEONE needs to proof read it then it is other colleague who missed the error who is at fault, so bringing new colleague into it might be a bit petty, although you could use the opportunity to clarify with your manager what the new process is and why new colleague seems to think they should be reading everything if this isn't necessary.

If there is no obligation to get anyone to proof read and the ultimate responsibility is on you to issue things correctly and you just asked other colleague to help because you wanted to be sure again it would be petty to bring either other or new colleague into it - just accept that despite your best efforts it went out with an error on this occasion.

Don’t you see that you’ve completely proven his point?

Kill them with process.

If the procedure is to send stuff to this new manager and they weren’t online then bring it up. Ask your manager what you should do if they aren’t online again - ie should all email comms be delayed until that person has read the email? Then email this manager every single external comm (and resend with every new draft), give them deadlines and chase up (while copying in your manager and theirs).

You made the error, right? You proof read it and didn't spot it. You asked someone, presumably authorized and competent other wise you wouldn't have asked, to check it as per the usual system or process. That person missed the error. Your new colleague didn't proof read because he wanted to finish early - but it still wasn't his error.
If I were your manager I wouldn't be impressed with you trying to make out that your error was someone else's fault. Nor would I be happy about tale telling. Just put it down to experience.

I would tell the nasty, new colleague that you really don't like dobbing colleagues in and have never done it before, but as he has complained to the boss about you, you will have to tell the boss the truth that the nasty, new colleague was on the skive.

You can then tell the Boss the truth and your nasty, new colleague knows you are not a push over.

I'd drop it... you risk this becoming an escalation thing where everything each of you does slightly wrong is reported by the other.

Learn from it, keep your enemy close, don't mess up around d them, but take note of everything they mess up for the future.

Personally, I’d be taking great delight in giving officious new colleague literally everything I write to check all day every day until new colleague finally gets bored of it and suggests someone else proofreads your stuff.

Met with manager and it was more a "be careful but do send everything to him to proof read first even if it makes it late going out".

He has now requested an invitation to every single meeting I have booked with customers (these are not part of his role - he came to a few over past few weeks but I thought this was him getting an understanding of the business). He has also changed the order of slides on my presentation and requested (in public) that I follow this, and will interrupt me constantly. This completely ruins my flow and makes me anxious and get confused. He also has given incorrect information in the past (numerous projects, some slightly different, and uses information from other projects). We also have very different styles - I engage with people on a more human level, where as he is much more of a salesman type (these are not sales meetings. I don't do sales at all!).

Don't get me wrong, he has bought numerous positives to the team too, but I do not cope well with being micromanaged. I think I will be needing to take long, deep breaths coming up!

Breathe in through nose and out through mouth and repeat!!!

He sounds like a right self-important dick! He's trying to assert his authority over you, so that you know your place.
I'd be tempted to speak to your manager if he's undermining you etc

I would highlight them being unavailable but I would hold fire on the reason why.
It could become a very they said they said situation if you don't have proof.
If they get difficult or defensive I might drop it into conversation in a cheeky way but it certainly wouldn't be my opening gambit