I am really grumpy at the moment and don’t want to write an email that burns any bridges. Would be so grateful if anyone could have a go at this with me.
I work for organisation A. We have a partnership with organisation B, in which we are the junior partner. Part of my job is to manage the relationship with organisation B.
Clara, who is junior to me (but not my direct report) needs to have meetings sometimes with quite a senior person, Dave, in organisation B.
After her most recent meeting with Dave, she sent me an email saying she and Dave had been discussing various things about the relationship between the two organisations and that she had brought some ideas about this to our CEO (my boss, in organisation A).
As well feeling as though she’s as overstepping a bit, she’s unaware of some wider political difficulties in organisation B, and Dave may have been making some suggestions in order to cause difficulties in his organisation (it’s honestly too long and boring to go into these political issues but it’s very much a thing).
Clara is extremely bright, keen and committed so I don’t want to slap her down. I usually think she’s great. But she’s overstepped here and doesn’t get the context.
I’d like her meetings with Dave to focus on the stuff they need to talk about and for the relationship stuff to be referred to me, and my counterpart in organisation B, who deal with this together.
But I’m grumpy and worried it’ll come across badly.
any thoughts??