Constant Teams interruptions

[WhichIsItWendy]

I line manage a young colleague (early 20s) who is great at her job and a lovely colleague. But she's really pee-ing me off with her Teams etiquette.

We both work remotely most of the time so lots of Teams chats between us. 121s, check ins, general updates. All about work with a bit of friendly chit chat thrown in.

She's doing my nut in! Most calls she interrupts conversations to let me know her dog has jumped up, or is licking her hand, or moving the mouse. Or she puts me on hold as her mum calls up to her (and has a full conversation with her while I wait), or she stops me mid-instruction (me to her) to answer her boyfriend who I can hear mumbling at her in the background.

I've only line managed her for two months so I've been giving her the benefit of doubt but I'm going to have to say something... Or should I just let it slide? I mean, we still continue our talks so it's not a huge deal, I just find it rude! Would you find it rude?

I'm going to have to say something... Or should I just let it slide

This is the tough part of managing a team, working out what to say and when.

I would tend to consider it a question of mistaken priority...

I would find that really rude. As her line manager you need to have a conversation with her about prioritising work during her working hours and keeping personal conversations with members of her household to a minimum.

This!

That would do my nut in too so yes I would have to say something.

If she’s a recent graduate, she’s maybe not familiar with office etiquette so you can make it part of her training. Tell her that although you’re all wfh, the expectation is that she must prioritise work. If she was office based would she take a call from her mum or bf in a conference room? No so Teams calls should be the same. Maybe having a clear agenda for each call would help.

The trick is to find the right balance. It’s ok to have friendly informal conversation but at the end of the day you need to make sure these calls are productive. Sometimes at work we have Teams “coffee chats” where we can have the silly banter we’d have by the coffee machine. It’s not always popular but it means that work meetings are just about work.

I'm a line manager and we mostly work remotely- the calls from her mum - unless it's an emergency then she needs to stop that for a start- same with the boyfriend - total of a piss take.
I think you need to have a proper chat and tell her when she is logged on then it's not acceptable for her to take a personal call - unless it's an emergency. She needs to tell her boyfriend to butt out and not speak to her while has her headset on. If she doesn't have a headset for calls she needs one.
I couldn't get worked up about the dog stuff.
She needs reminding on how to be professional- do you have an office you could work from? Does her contract say hybrid or WFH only?
If it's hybrid I'd tell her you are concerned about the distractions she has at home and you want her back in the office. Not full time necessarily but a couple of regular days a week to try and focus her.

I have zero concerns about her productivity in terms of work completion. She's doing a great job.

But her professionalism is lacking which I think is likely just an age/experience thing. As she's a new reportee, I don't want to dash her confidence and role satisfaction; we all benefit from the flexibility of WFH. But yes, I need to address this..The boyfriend annoys me the most, it's just so obviously rude, and then she smiles like I should find it cute.

I'll have a chat with her at her next 121. It'll serve her well in the future.

Rude and unprofessional! Tell her

I think with WFH and lack of experience in an office setting, things that were once a given in terms of behaviour and expectations in the workplace are now increasingly lacking. I would certainly have a conversation with her about this balanced with positives about other aspects of her work.

If she works from home then she needs a space where she can work without interruption. If she hasn't got that you need to get her into the office.

If thats what she's doing on calls with you, imagine what goes on unseen.

You absolutely have to speak to her

Presuming you're happy with her work and it's more to do with getting her professionalism up to scratch, I might say "while we are catching up, I'd like to tell you how pleased I was with x piece of work/your work output generally, but would you be open to some broader feedback about wfh effectively?"

You could go on to tell her that you've noticed she's beset by distractions during the working day, and that as her manager some responsibility sits with you in helping her reduce / remove these distractions. Working in another room, wearing a headset, coming into the office, whatever is appropriate in the circumstances. She should be invited to take the initiative in solving these problems.

Set an expectation that future teams calls with you aren't interrupted and point it out when they are. From that point on you can be more blunt about "we discussed this" but hopefully you won't need to be.

@WhichIsItWendy and this is exactly the reason that wfm does not work!!! too many distractions at home for the employees!

I would tell her that working at home is a privilege and it should be treated the same as work in the office - ie no interruptions.

I think you ought to have the chat with her. As her manager, you'd be doing her a disservice to not, as she's clearly not experienced in WFH etiquette and it could land her in hot water later. Good luck!

I've worked from home for about 5 years now. I think there is always a bit of give and take in recognising that an employee is working in their own home, and so there might be unavoidable interruptions. But the onus should be on the employee to minimise these. It's not on to be interrupted when on calls, or video meetings. She might not yet have the understanding that this is unprofessional, but you would be doing her (and her future colleagues) a huge favour in the long term by setting her straight here.

I think she is not recognising the difference between your chit chat and that with her family / bf.

Stop that and explain why, hopefully she'll get the message.

Yes it is rude.

I think she is not recognising the difference between your chit chat and that with her family / bf.

Doesn't matter if op's call is chitchat or work related. If you're on a call with anyone, for any reason, it's rude to leave them hanging on while you go off and talk to someone else.

This young woman needs to tell her family not to interrupt while she's on a call. If the interruption is for something urgent, she needs to say to op 'please excuse me, I need to deal with this, can I call you back?' and end the call, not just leave her hanging.