Working Dilemma - Should I say something to my boss ?

[rookiemater]

Ok I don't want to put in too many details in case I get identified and I'm too lazy to name change, but I hope I will be able to get some advice anyway.

Would you speak to your boss if members of your team were complaining about someone else the same level as myself who doesn't appear to be overly busy ? Up until now I'm thinking no, because its none of my business, but now it is going to impact my area and I don't want my team to feel they raise concerns and then I do nothing about them.

Yes, I would.

It's affecting your team now and it's bad for your team's morale. Exactly as you say, as a manager you cannot be seen to be someone who does not respond to issues when they are raised, or you will lose their trust.

That said, you may have to explain that there's naff all you can do yourself about someone not in your line management, but you'll have a word in the appropriate ear...

Yes, absolutely. What Ribena says.

Oh dear, not the answers I was hoping for.
So how do I position it with my boss ? I don't want to appear like I'm telling tales.

Exactly as you've said here. You say that your team, for whom you are responsible, have complained that X does not seem to have enough work to do. Although you appreciate that you are not his/her line manager and therefore it is not your area, this issue risks impacting on the morale of your team and therefore you thought it was important that the concerns were not passed on.

More often than not, other people are aware of the issue too and someone complaining is the nudge to deal with it...

Guuulp, the two of them are friends as well, but I guess it has to be done. Thanks very much for your advice,

Just be delicate. You can hide to a certain extent behind "this has been raised to me and so I feel duty bound to raise it with you.."

Good luck

Do you have regular stocktaking meetings with your boss? It may be easier to mention this in the context of a review of the week ('morale seems to be lower this week - my team feel they're overstretched and under pressure, while X seems to have some spare capacity' sort of thing) rather than having to jump right in and mention it without any preamble.

Yes you're right Madbad I am scheduled to have regular meetings, and I can hopefully slip it in as delicately as I can.

Oh lord, I am an abject failure.

I had the opportunity, but I just couldn't bring myself to say it. See the member of my team does have a reputation for being a bit of a stirrer, which to be fair they are, but they still do have I think a valid point. I feel if I bring it up it will reflect badly on them rather than on the colleague.

I mean maybe the other person is really busy and I just don't know what they are working on ( rookie searches wildly for straws)

Can you not speak to the not overly busy person about it, if you are the same level? Rather than go to the boss?

I am aware that I probably don't look overly busy to some of my team at times, but I often spend time looking up stuff on the internet or reading reports online. They probably think I am staring at a screen doing nothing, but I'm not.

Thanks Mrs S. Actually thats a really good idea, because I'm pretty sure she isn't doing that much, but even if I get enough info to supply my team then hopefully it will calm them down.