How to deal with "laid back" manager and co-worker?
January 30, 2012 10:40 PM Subscribe
How do I get a project to work on at my new job, when my manager and senior co-worker seem to be at odds?
I've been at this job (engineering) for a few months, and just finished up one small project. My manager has been making suggestions for other things I can work on that will get me more involved with the day-to-day work of the team, but almost all of them end with "Talk to Mike, he owns that project and can help you get started." Mike is a senior co-worker and is a really smart guy, everyone seems to love him as an individual contributor and a problem-solver. I found him to be really welcoming and a good resource in my first few weeks. But when I go to him now to talk about taking on a piece of a project, one of two things happens:
- He doesn't respond to my emails, puts off talking to me, and answers in-person questions with meandering, unhelpful responses ("eh, i don't know if that is really important...")
OR
- He doesn't know what my manager is talking about, there's nothing left to do on that project.
For that latter example, I managed to drag out of him the exact details of the project status, who was responsible for the final report, and where could I find a write-up of what had been done so far. But it was like pulling teeth to get that information. A lot of that seems to be just his personality - he can answer technical questions with a specific answer but outside of his comfort zone he's hard to pin down. But I don't really know how best to deal with that.
When I asked my manager about this project - it's one of my main objectives and apparently nothing I can do on it - he said "oh, yeah, that's fine, just want to make sure you're in the loop". So I'm wondering if I really misunderstood his intent... he said a few times when I was interviewing that he likes the people who work for him to be independent, and I thought that sounded great - but I'm having trouble sorting out what will get a "why aren't you working on X?" response and what won't.
Oh, and the third thing Mike said, which came up the other day:
- He already suggested the project that he thinks is most important for me to work on, and my manager shouldn't send me to him to get projects if he's just going to shoot them all down.
I don't have a problem with working on this other project. But right now, I'm in a new job and my manager's the guy who sets my priorities. I think? Or maybe I'm supposed to set my own priorities...
So I'm trying to figure out how to deal with:
1. my manager, who gives me unclear objectives and then hand-waves them - I'm concerned here that I'm expecting too much hand-holding.
2. Mike, who doesn't answer questions or even respond to my emails, but who used to be really helpful - I'm concerned that I've been coming to him with all the wrong questions, due to not understanding my objectives.
3. Finding something good and valuable to work on in spite of 1) and 2).
I've been at this job (engineering) for a few months, and just finished up one small project. My manager has been making suggestions for other things I can work on that will get me more involved with the day-to-day work of the team, but almost all of them end with "Talk to Mike, he owns that project and can help you get started." Mike is a senior co-worker and is a really smart guy, everyone seems to love him as an individual contributor and a problem-solver. I found him to be really welcoming and a good resource in my first few weeks. But when I go to him now to talk about taking on a piece of a project, one of two things happens:
- He doesn't respond to my emails, puts off talking to me, and answers in-person questions with meandering, unhelpful responses ("eh, i don't know if that is really important...")
OR
- He doesn't know what my manager is talking about, there's nothing left to do on that project.
For that latter example, I managed to drag out of him the exact details of the project status, who was responsible for the final report, and where could I find a write-up of what had been done so far. But it was like pulling teeth to get that information. A lot of that seems to be just his personality - he can answer technical questions with a specific answer but outside of his comfort zone he's hard to pin down. But I don't really know how best to deal with that.
When I asked my manager about this project - it's one of my main objectives and apparently nothing I can do on it - he said "oh, yeah, that's fine, just want to make sure you're in the loop". So I'm wondering if I really misunderstood his intent... he said a few times when I was interviewing that he likes the people who work for him to be independent, and I thought that sounded great - but I'm having trouble sorting out what will get a "why aren't you working on X?" response and what won't.
Oh, and the third thing Mike said, which came up the other day:
- He already suggested the project that he thinks is most important for me to work on, and my manager shouldn't send me to him to get projects if he's just going to shoot them all down.
I don't have a problem with working on this other project. But right now, I'm in a new job and my manager's the guy who sets my priorities. I think? Or maybe I'm supposed to set my own priorities...
So I'm trying to figure out how to deal with:
1. my manager, who gives me unclear objectives and then hand-waves them - I'm concerned here that I'm expecting too much hand-holding.
2. Mike, who doesn't answer questions or even respond to my emails, but who used to be really helpful - I'm concerned that I've been coming to him with all the wrong questions, due to not understanding my objectives.
3. Finding something good and valuable to work on in spite of 1) and 2).
This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's request -- taz
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Pants! at 11:04 PM on January 30, 2012