To speak up at work

[spanieleyes22]

Am so fed up of goody goody people at work. Am getting very worked up about it and I know I need to chill and just let it all flow🤣back story we are having a restructure and were told in a teams chat by manager that there was now a rota for covering reception. I just hate doing it. Just because I'm really busy I have so much to do and the thing is 99.9%of the queries are nothing to do with my role and I don't know the answer. I said this to my manager and she said if you don't know the answer just stick it in the big teams chat and someone will reply. It's really inefficient. I have someone sitting in front of me or standing and they ask me a question and I say sorry I don't know hold on. Then I type the query in the chat and wait for a response which can take a few minutes. Then that person usually has to check something and I'm sat there with the person staring at me and wondering why I'm not doing anything. Other members of my team have all said privately that they don't like doing it but they won't say anything to the managers. Even today a girl on my team volunteered to cover someone and I was like Wtaf. So when an email came round just now outlining the rota for the next 6 weeks I put up a msg saying nobody had told us this was to be a oermanent arrangement and I honestly felt it wasn't the best use of my time. Nobody even gave my comment a thumbs up. They are like little sheep or mice they won't say boo to anyone. I shouldn't have said anything should I. I wish I was meek and mild and didn't care but I do care about doing a good job - and I just feel I'm worth more than a receptionist.

I'd look for a new job

Not only do you NOT want to cover Reception but covering will affect your work output and your boss is shitty about it all, when you mention it

Just do what they ask and find new employment

I think we have all had to do extra bits and pieces and I too have to do admin tasks that I never had to twenty years ago.

But essentially sitting in reception for one whole day a week and neglecting my other duties? No.

You should try to present a positive professional front but look for another job and leave.

The management are not interested in your grumbles, your colleagues are not willing to back you. People are already leaving and not being replaced- e.g. reception/the guy whose work you are covering. Your workplace is on a downward spiral.

Say nothing- keep your powder dry. Get a new job. At any exit interview or if colleagues ask say "I have loved working here but it's time for a new challenge blah blah blah".

Your grumbling is getting you nowhere. Vote with your feet.

You shouldn't have to work late. Set out the tasks that you're being asked to do, set out what you think you can realistically get done within your contracted hours and ask what they would like you to prioritise. Make it clear that you have commitments and you won't be able to do any work out of hours.

If there aren't enough hours in the day to do the tasks that have been assigned to you, your manager will need to help find a solution to that. If that involves her coming in at 8am tomorrow to do some of the work, so be it...it's a crap solution but her choice.

Is the issue that they're expecting you to get on with other tasks while you're covering reception, and you are struggling with this? If so, you need to set out the reasons why you feel the reception work isn't compatible with the other tasks, but you need to take any emotion/grumpiness about having to do the reception cover out of it. Stick to hard facts and practicalities.

Don't be obstructive and refuse to get the work done just because you don't want to work on it while you're also sitting on reception. But equally, don't cover up for the lack of capacity within the team by taking work home with you.

Well that's her problem, not yours. If they are giving you more work than you are able to do in your working hours because they are too tight to hire people, that is not your responsibility. If she volunteers to complete the work that isn't done, let her. If that happens often enough, I imagine all of a sudden they'll figure out how to get more staff and that will solve your problem. Don't feel bad about it. They don't.

But essentially sitting in reception for one whole day a week and neglecting my other duties? No.

If it was part of your job description then you'd have no choice.
If the OP doesn't like it then she needs to either speak to her manager or look for a new job. Suggesting it's beneath her or slagging off colleagues isn't the way to go about it.
However, sounds like it's par for the course in her sector given she next a previous job for similar reasons.

I think they are expecting her to cover reception and get her other duties done as well .

Its fine to raise it, just make sure you do so in a constructive way that's tied back into the company values. Eg if you're meant to be all about customer responsiveness, say that this will improve if you have trained people on reception as you're concerned about the impact on speed of response waiting for a teams message. If its all about 'empowering employees' say you're worried that lack of training is not empowering staff to be able to deal with the query. Obviously don't say that you don't like it, or that you think you're 'worth more than a receptionist'.. frame it as 'I've got a great idea to improve a problem' rather than 'that idea stinks'

Its fine to raise it, just make sure you do so in a constructive way that's tied back into the company values.

This.

People often whinge about managers/situations at work but rarely speak up. It might be apathy, fear, something else, (and will be different reasons for each person.) It's just the way some people are. Colleagues in my previous job did thank me for speaking up, and I pointed out what I reported would carry more weight if others did to. But they wouldn't. I did also tell a couple hat if thy weren't prepared to speak up on anything, I wasn't that keen on hearing them complain to me, either, because it takes all of us to make a better place.

But you do need to try and show the impact on the business - e.g. it gives a poor impression to customers to have people on reception who can't answer questions quickly. You can show people are trying to improve this by building a FAQ, but also show you don't have the right knowledge to answer customer's questions quickly enough. (Also I'm in a technical role and i've had colleagues over the years who are very good at what they do, but you wouldn't want to let them meet actual customers on a regular basis...)

Show how your own deliverables are impacted (Which presumably also has an impact on the business.) I'd be tempted to let some deadlines miss rather than staying late, to prove a point, but that's more challenging if your colleague won't do the same.

But ultimately, you need to update your CV and look for a new job.

When they said that you all need to take your turn at the reception, did they have a one to one discussion with each of what work you need to drop to make time for this new priority?

Some pp have assumed that you have to sit at reception. Is that the case or is it just your turn to go over if a customer comes in, answer the main telephone number if someone calls? I know you said you can't do your other work but unless you have a constant queue, surely you can do it albeit with interruptions?

Yes it's in a different part of the building. I bring my laptop and charger with me. At my desk I usually have 3 screens for doing my own work. I try to send an email or something but there is no breaks it's constant . Usually someone waiting while you're dealing with someone. I gave up trying to do anything. You might get a lull but I found I was stopping and starting so much I could easily make a mistake

Are you kidding me. Literally it was a message in a teams chat. Please check the rota for when you're on reception. That rota was for 2 weeks. Then yesterday another rota was circulated up to Christmas and I queried it. We haven't been told anything so I said I had presumed it was a temporary arrangement for a couple of weeks and could managers confirm if it was to be more permanent- obvs it is if rota goes up to Xmas. I said it didn't seem the best use of our teams time. Manager said she didn't know (??!) and would find out and come
Back to me. Have heard nothing from managers since then though.

I can completely understand your frustration. It seems ridiculous to have staff who are trained in particular specialisms to be taken away from their time- pressured work to do an entry level role.

You do need to be careful how you phrase things though.

Unless your contract specifies that you are expected to do unpaid work outside of your specified hours, you shouldn’t be doing it. If your manager schedules you on reception and also expects other projects to be completed then that is unreasonable. I would be emailing to say that you are scheduled on reception so cannot complete X by 5 pm, but you will complete it the following day when you are working in your own role.

I’d also start making direct phone calls to managers of the relevant teams when queries arise at reception- be polite and cheerful about it though.

YANBU, I'd be looking for a new job.

All this talk of 'mucking in' is beside the point - the OP has had 20% of her time taken away from her that she used to have for her actual job. It also seems to be permanent, not a one-off litter picking or admin task.

Worth more than a receptionist yet need training to do the job because you don’t know enough about the business to help direct people at reception. In a sector you’ve worked in for years 🙄
I’ve always believed you need to make yourself invaluable at work and the only way to do that is be a team player. You don’t sound like the sort of person I’d want on my team.

And you sound like a cheapskate who doesn't want to pay for a receptionist. I wouldn't want to work for you.

They are all so 'goody goody'?
'I feel i am worth more than a receptionist'
To the first quote from your post: How old are you and where do you work? Use your voice. Speak up. Does not matter what other people do or do not do
To the second quote: what a rude and limiting attitude. No one is 'only' an anything, no matter what their job. From ceo to porter, everyone fills a role. You may think you are 'over-qualified' for the role, but how arrogant to not want to lower yourself to do it.
You need to explore jobs that do not involve working with goody-goodies or where your skills (interpersonal or otherwise) are appreciated

For the extra task you now need to do with your colleague, I would say to your manager that for you to complete it you need someone to cover your reception shift for x hours so you can get this done or ask to swap the day on reception with someone one. Explain there are too many interruptions on reception and the workstation there is not set up for you to do your full time job. Alternatively, someone else could do this task.

If you're losing a day a week from your actual job, don't work extra hours to try to get it done unless you're being paid for them.

I'm afraid any sympathy I had for you (which was some) evaporated at the final sentence of your OP. I expect that attitude (alongside your lack of strategic thinking about how to address this in a way that gets you what you want without destroying relationships) comes out in your work.

This. The OP is not being unreasonable. This wasn’t the job she applied for so why should she be happy about it.

Absolute rubbish

Only briefly scanned the thread OP but the easy solution is just to say something like this when someone asks you a question

"I'm so sorry, I don't know the answer to that one. I'll just ask someone (if on the phone offer to place them on a brief hold). Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Instead of sitting there looking at them blankly

She doesn't have to be happy about it, but the job that she applied for no longer exists because the company has restructured, so she will either have to accept the new role that is on offer or look for something else.

But she still has every right to complain about it.