Communication with manager

[workworkisthereagain]

so I sent this message to my manager it Teams as I saw her teams was showing red which meat he was on the phone

Hey Smith (made up name], I’m running a bit late due to transport issues but should be in by 9:10 at the latest. Just wanted to give you a heads-up.

this was the manager’s reply below

Ok, if you aren't going to be somewhere were you are supposed to be or be late then please remember to phone and let me know in future, rather than sent a text message or a message through teams. If I don't answer then you can leave a voicemail message. Tuesdays and Friday's are your duty days, you are expected to be logged in and ready to work from 9am,

is this reply from her not rude? I do understand that I have to be at work at a certain time etc but then it is not as though I am late all the time in fact that was only my 2nd time of being late and I think the time came across as though I have made it a habit or am I wrong?

I wouldn't say it's rude. More reiterating expectations but annoying if you are very rarely late.

It's not at all rude.

You don't like being pulled up on it and feel it's been a bit unfair of her to have done so, but she hasn't done it rudely.

I agree it’s abrupt and unfair too if you’re not usually late.

I don't think it's rude. Maybe a bit abrupt if you've been working there for years and never usually late.

You mention that it was the second time. When was the first one?

No, not rude at all, your manager is having to remind you of the policy as you aren’t adhering to it

How long have you worked for this company?

I don’t think it’s rude, it’s just being clear about what you’re suppose to do in this situation

Places I have worked have the same rule - you phone in not message. She is telling you what the expectation is. Not rude.

You said it’s your second time being late, how long have you been there?

They were maybe more understanding the first time but they won’t want you thinking it’s ok to be late, so are just reiterating expectations.

Not rude. If you are contracted to start at 9, you should phone ahead if you’re going to be late

Working there now for 7 months and the 1st time it happened was the 31st of Dec

In that case, I think your manager's response was pretty reasonable. You haven't built up much credit yet and you've been late twice in just a few months.

Did you not know that you were supposed to call in if you were going to be late?

Notheir response is completely reasonable. You message is inappropriately casual.

Why on earth didn’t you include an apology in your message? She probably thinks you are rude and unprofessional.

her message wasn’t rude. It explained the correct procedure for making contact when you aren’t at your workplace when you’re expected to be.

I agree that the lack of an apology in the OP's message is noteworthy.

Personally, I think this probably helped to shape the manager's response. There would be no need to spell out the expectation on the OP to be ready and logged in to start by 9am if the OP had demonstrated an appropriate awareness of this in her original message. The absence of any such awareness, together with the fact that she was late for the second time in a few months, probably led the manager to believe that the expectations needed to be re-stated clearly.

You didn’t apologise so YOUR message comes across as entitled and you are being gracious letting them know when you will “arrive” rather than be at your desk

it all depends on what the culture of the team is of course but it sounds really structured

I think another issue here, OP, is that you've made an assumption about how your manager likes to be communicated with if you're going to be late. A Teams message does feel off-hand.

Thank you all for the feedback; I’ve learned a lot from it. To be honest, this is my first proper job, so it’s all quite new to me. I’ve also just realized that I didn’t include an apology in my message to her—my mistake! 🙈

At the moment, I’m job hunting. Apart from the issue mentioned, I find that she is unnecessarily hard on me. For example, during meetings, she listens to everyone else but cuts me off when I try to speak. I’m not sure why that is. Although I take my work seriously and do my best, the environment just doesn’t feel right for me.

I personally don't think it's a big deal to be 10 mins late as long as it's not frequent, and my manager is fine if I text them. Being slightly late twice in a few months is not a major thing. I think your manager was being slightly arsey, but you'll have to suck it up and be apologetic next time you speak to them.

It does depend on the job of course, in some jobs punctuality is even more vital so you need to arrive quite a while before your actual start time.

You do have to follow the policy of the employer and if it's to phone, then you'll have to phone them in future and do try not to be late again. It's inevitable sometimes, but of course the joyless cunts will come on here to tell you should be leaving 2 hours early just in case you might EVER be late due to a factor outside of your control.

It wouldn't be a big deal in my workplace either, and people can start at whatever time they like as long as they're in by 10am. But it sounds like the OP has specific duties on Tuesdays and Fridays that need to be covered from 9am. So if she is late, there is probably a specific impact from that.

Live and learn, OP! We all get it wrong sometimes.

Good luck with your job hunt!

Yes I was going to point out that you didn’t actually apologise for being late which may have prompted the rather snippy response. I would have responded something like “Thanks for the reminder, apologies for being late, my normal train which gets me in in good time was cancelled ( or whatever the reason was).”

No it’s completely fine.
If the process is that you call then you should call. Even if she was in red.

Thanks now I know to call even if it is showing red