To be annoyed at colleague for doing too much work?

[User364837]

Trying to work out if this is a me problem or ainbu for feeling annoyed with colleague and might say something to her.

We’re on a training programme. Im older and have a bit more experience than her. She is incredibly bright, incredibly productive and incredibly intense.

we’re working together on something with a more senior colleague from the team I am going to go to when we finish our training, she’s going elsewhere.

she is just so damn quick. We got some more information in and the senior colleague has set up a meeting to discuss how we’re going to proceed.

but she’s already looked at all the stuff and is asking me what I thought (I haven’t looked yet, busy with other stuff!) she’s prepared a lengthy summary document on her findings to share at the meeting.

AND she did all this last week when she was on leave.

it really annoys me and I can’t figure out if it’s just that my nose is out of joint?

but I think it is also that it makes me look rubbish and also it’s like someone giving you the answer to a maths problem before you’ve done the working out. By racing ahead it means I don’t kind of do the process myself which I need to do.

aibu to tell her to back off and slow down? (Politely) or am I just bitter she’s better and quicker than me?

YABU. My ADHD brain means I work incredibly fast and efficiently. I work in a role that means I can be really flexible with my work, but I wouldn't be able to slow myself down to make other people feel better. I value my team-mates' other, different skills and we work very effectively together, even though we all work at different speeds.

YANBU. I work with someone like this who is logged on 24/7 and annual leave. I can’t keep up. Work is her life and she has no other commitments. I solo parent in the week so it frustrates me no end when a piece of work comes in and because she’s logged on all the time she’s done it before I’ve had a look in. I totally get it.

I think I'd take this as a learning and next time say to her 'please could you all review and come ready to share your findings at the meeting on x date. Please don't share your findings before this date as I'd prefer everyone's initial views to not be influenced by anyone else's viewpoints. Thanks'

Working on her annual leave on something that's not urgent doesn't 'make you look bad', it doesn't reflect on you at all (unless she could argue that you told her it was mega urgent snd she should drop everything). It just looks like she is mad keen or has no work life balance

DH and his colleague got into a 'working race' when they were very young. They were working until 2.00 a.m. Eventually their boss told them 'If you can't get your jobs done in 40 hours a week you either can't manage your time properly or you can't do the job'. That knocked that on the head. That is something a manager needs to say though, not a colleague.

Or she could be like a colleague I have who works on leave because she can’t keep up in normal time.

I am like your colleague, once I get my teeth into something I can't put it down. I relish the challenge and will work out of hours or on leave to get on top of it so it is clear in my mind. I learned to do this because if I don't I could easily get left behind, I have a learning disability, once I know it, I know it well.

I never ever do it to compete with, annoy, or show off to other colleagues and management, it's just who I am. And yes I have had colleagues have a go at me for it, some have been downright hurtful and hateful to the point where I left jobs I was really good at.

I now don't work much on contracts (I'm self employed becase frankly working with people who hate me for being good at my job is sodding unbearable) If I do work on contract I am often seconded to other teams or asked to write reports to keep me occupied. It still gets up people's noses so I've grown up enough to make relationships first with colleagues and don't discuss what I'm working on at all unless I absolutely have to.

You will have skills your colleague does not have, simple as, she is good at somethings, you will be way better at other things. If I have any advice to offer t is to try and build a relationship with her, she could be lacking that skill, something I find really hard to do but know it's value, and you may find her less of a challenge.

You simply have different working styles and there isn't anything wrong with yours or hers.

I'd worry about the working on leave though. Are you in the US ? If I worked on leave in the UK my line manager would be having a word with me.

Now that I am older and more established I am less motivated to do extra, and am happy to let younger colleagues shine, in time they too will sow down imo.

She's probably just young and keen, and her work is not a reflection on you. You can only control your own behaviour, work, outputs. If she wants to work on leave, that is up to her unless it is against company policy. And, if work is her life and she does more, you probably have to do less, so you probably will benefit. While she is working, you are having her holiday, right?

The truth is you are old enough to know that working out of hours is rarely worth it but she's not - she's young and keen. She doesn't have other responsibilities. Her life is all about work.
Don't try to keep up with her, but do scrutinise her work for errors. You can probably teach her a lot and she sounds enthusiastic and that she will want to learn from you.

You can give her feedback on too much detail - that's constructive. She's still feeling her way.

Hmm I dunno. I have been both parties at one stage or another; and having been very very driven when young, I was a really shit manager when dealing with young people who weren't constantly working after hours, as I had done.

The reality is that that level of focus/drive is not sustainable over time and if it becomes the baseline, others will feel obliged to work regularly out of hours and the workplace becomes exploitative.

I think that it would be reasonable to say 'no, haven't had a chance to look at it yet. I do try to work within contracted hours - I've seen too many people work at top speed and ultimately crash and burn, as it's just not sustainable. '

(this is not to say that there aren't a shitload of infuriating coasters in this world who are even more annoying...)_

She sounds very much like me. I don't aim to speed-work but I do have efficient processes, and I am very detail-oriented (which is only a positive imo). I quietly think my colleagues are not detail-oriented enough and that's why sloppy errors occur in the "less important" areas of our work that "no one will notice" - inevitably I clean them up but can't actually bring this up because they'll get in a huff about being corrected.

I also work when on leave sometimes. Partly this is because I work best when I'm in a groove, partly because with the more creative elements of my job inspiration strikes when it strikes and not in any set hours, partly because my job involves reacting to events that can happen at any time, and partly because I like to get ahead of myself so I don't feel snowed under on my actual working days. I used to be self-employed so I'm very used to this way of working and don't appreciate people telling me I should work a different way. In return - and I have explicitly cleared this with my company - they don't expect me to be tied to my desk all day when I'm not on leave. I'm free to manage my own time and I prefer, for example, to log on and do a quick 20-minute task if I have spare time on a Sunday if that means I can go out for a run at my leisure on Monday.

I like this response, there is a clear boundary set without sounding like bitter.

I have a slower older mgr who is marking time till they can cash out. That is fine, we collaborate in stuff but I also sit back and let them lead, it makes us look stupid if I chirp in and try an take over, like she can't manage and I am sharp elbowed.

I would say a bit of both.

It would fuck me off, but younger me was quicker and faster, and I wouldn't have dumbed that down for anyone.

But, and it's a big but, depending on what you do, her speed may not equal quality.

She may well spend a week reviewing stuff missing valuable points that your experience gives you. Without understanding what you're doing more its difficult to be sure. But I would focus on using that to your strength where possible.

Not read any of the replies but the original post, but you are being bitter. No matter what you do, where you go, where you work, how long you’ve been in the role, there will always be people who come in and are just more on the ball than you. More intelligent, more proactive, more productive, pick things up far quicker. Utilise them rather than be envious of them as you’ll learn a lot from them. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, and some people are just bloody strong. Respect them.

DS's friends in IBD are expected to work during AL days.

Ok obviously this is a very different industry.

DS works a regular "9-5" job but occasionally works over the weekend to cut down on tasks for Monday. Sometimes he works a bit here and there on AL doing a few small tasks. Step up OP.

You need to work out what the required 'decent' level of job performance is. If your work is fine and in good time and hers is just quicker/better then don't worry, just keep going as you are. However if her work is the required speed/standard you might be in the wrong role if you need a lot more thinking time.

I'm quick-thinking and efficient, I can't help it I'm like that in my every day life too. I don't work on leave or long hours, I just get through a shed load at work and as a result I've been promoted a lot quicker than others.

I manage a team of bright motivated people. And I constantly battle to get them to take their leave, not work silly hours etc. even when it’s not busy. It’s not a healthy culture. But that has to come from her manager or mentor, not straight from someone at the same level.

Working fast and working efficiently are different things. If she’s flooding you with information and isn’t filtering it strategy - then that’s not helpful and you need to feed that back.

You’d obviously be unreasonable to say anything to her. But in my experience and sector, being a productive employee is down to much more than speed and volume of output. What’s the actual quality of her work?

If she’s churning out reams of things as quickly as possible there’s likely no thought gone into sifting out the important points.
As a manager I’d notice this pretty quickly if she wasn’t taking time to let things sink in and take a considered approach. I don’t want to go through a 3 page briefing looking for the key info when talking through a slide for 10 mins will do just as well.

I’d also think working on her leave doesn’t show great time-management skills and risks burnout. And if you’re supposed to be working on this as a group and she’s preempting the next-steps conversation she’s not showing herself as a good team player either.

So it depends on your job role. If this is unusual for the industry you’re in she might find the pace doesn’t suit her and move elsewhere anyway.

Are you a civil servant OP?!

YABU. I’m also a quick and efficient worker.

No, you can’t ask someone to be more rubbish at their job.

It's an opportunity to coach her

Rather than be bitter or annoyed

She might work fast, but it's unhelpful and sounds really stressful

Use her strengths. She can deliver on detail just great, acknowledge her input and enthusiasm. You're going to respond from a place of context when you've read through (I'd imagine). You're working together, so trying to match each others timescales is important. A bit of compromise helps