It’s incompetence all the way down
January 29, 2024 2:51 AM Subscribe
New team lead assigned to one of my projects is terrible. Junior staffer is also terrible. I’m now the fixer.
The team lead is very forgetful or clueless or SOMETHING, and will ask me the same basic question about the document format the client prefers multiple times. She does not read her emails and then will message me asking me about something I’ve provided an email update on two hours ago. This is quite annoying and disturbs my workflow multiple times a day.
The same project also has an utterly incompetent junior staff who is reluctant to put her hand up, even for things she’s outlined to do in the R&R. I have to ‘assign’ or remind her to do things, even when the tasks are completely within her scope of responsibility which she knows. So on top of my own scope of work, I have to expend mental effort to make sure she does her work on time. Because she often misses deadlines and then makes it my problem to “chip in and help”.
So, basically, I have no support from upstairs or downstairs. Incompetence all the way around. If something needs to be done, it’s on me. I feel utterly alone and stretched to my limits, because not only do I have to manage down, I also have to answer my team lead’s bullshit inane questions 4x a day because she does not know how to read emails.
To add salt to the wound, the new team lead is terrible at managing down, which places me in an awkward spot as I’m not in a managerial position and don’t really have any authority over the junior person who is not doing her tasks properly and then dumping it on me.
Management is aware and is checking in on me regularly, but something needs to change. What are some things I can do - small day-to-day stuff - to combat these annoyances? Like, if the team leads asks me another stupid question, how can I respond? Can I tell the junior staffer to get her shit together, even if I’m not her manager? How can I handle the entire thing professionally and without killing my career?
I generally like my job - it’s quite fulfilling and my other projects are in good shape. This one is just a PITA and making me stay up at 4am anxious about the workday that’s just about to start. I fear I might be losing it or on the brink of burnout yet again. Help, please.
The team lead is very forgetful or clueless or SOMETHING, and will ask me the same basic question about the document format the client prefers multiple times. She does not read her emails and then will message me asking me about something I’ve provided an email update on two hours ago. This is quite annoying and disturbs my workflow multiple times a day.
The same project also has an utterly incompetent junior staff who is reluctant to put her hand up, even for things she’s outlined to do in the R&R. I have to ‘assign’ or remind her to do things, even when the tasks are completely within her scope of responsibility which she knows. So on top of my own scope of work, I have to expend mental effort to make sure she does her work on time. Because she often misses deadlines and then makes it my problem to “chip in and help”.
So, basically, I have no support from upstairs or downstairs. Incompetence all the way around. If something needs to be done, it’s on me. I feel utterly alone and stretched to my limits, because not only do I have to manage down, I also have to answer my team lead’s bullshit inane questions 4x a day because she does not know how to read emails.
To add salt to the wound, the new team lead is terrible at managing down, which places me in an awkward spot as I’m not in a managerial position and don’t really have any authority over the junior person who is not doing her tasks properly and then dumping it on me.
Management is aware and is checking in on me regularly, but something needs to change. What are some things I can do - small day-to-day stuff - to combat these annoyances? Like, if the team leads asks me another stupid question, how can I respond? Can I tell the junior staffer to get her shit together, even if I’m not her manager? How can I handle the entire thing professionally and without killing my career?
I generally like my job - it’s quite fulfilling and my other projects are in good shape. This one is just a PITA and making me stay up at 4am anxious about the workday that’s just about to start. I fear I might be losing it or on the brink of burnout yet again. Help, please.
One thing I've had success with with repeated question-askers is to not re-answer questions, but instead to re-forward the previous answer and even just to redirect them to the previous answer.
So, if your manager asks you for a status update when you've sent an email, don't answer the question in chat, send them the email again and say 'I sent you an email about this this morning, I'll flip it to you again.' After a couple of times of doing that, instead say 'Oh, I sent you an email about that at around 9:08 this morning'. Be specific and accurate on the time so it is easy for them to find but also so they know you know exactly what you sent and when.
It's (slightly) less disruptive to your workflow and may, long term, retrain them on their own workflow.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:42 AM on January 29 [5 favorites]
So, if your manager asks you for a status update when you've sent an email, don't answer the question in chat, send them the email again and say 'I sent you an email about this this morning, I'll flip it to you again.' After a couple of times of doing that, instead say 'Oh, I sent you an email about that at around 9:08 this morning'. Be specific and accurate on the time so it is easy for them to find but also so they know you know exactly what you sent and when.
It's (slightly) less disruptive to your workflow and may, long term, retrain them on their own workflow.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:42 AM on January 29 [5 favorites]
I’ve been in this situation too many times. Theres no good way about it as others have stated. No one will care a lot of times unless the client is important (bringing other you work you don’t know about, friends with an executive, etc). You need to do several things that won’t help anyone, but you have to play the game and take cues from upper management. Are they not caring and ignoring it? You should do the same. Pull the “I am not resourced/billable” card to the incompetent manager or simply ignore them after you’ve done the bare minimum that’s reasonably expected of you. Make sure you let them know you’re available, but ignore requests to do their job for them.
I have a so-so track record on this so take it for what’s it is worth. I approach these now as not my problem and looking at it very coldly like a jury on a murder trial. What exactly are the facts? There’s a good scene in Devil’s Advocate where Keanu Reeves says my job is to make you hate this man because if I do he won’t be at the murder scene he’ll be cheating on his wife and that’s not what this trial is about.
So is her bugging you or missing deadlines impacting the client relationship? Can you show that objectively? The team is not yours are they objectively doing anything wrong? Has the client contacted you about anything or is incompetency the only thing that’s wrong? Sadly I’ve been in contracts where the client was like yeah we didn’t pick you because you were the best but you were in our budget.
Look back on my previous questions. I hate having especially junior staff treated to a dumpster fire but they’re basically disposable a lot of times and you’re not in a position to do anything about it. Sometimes a leader emerges from this mess. Often you learn what kind of organization you’re a part of.
Constantly complaining to upper management will not help. You need to go to them with clear objective measurements. Keep it to 2-3 sentences. I hate doing that and don’t do that anywhere but work but that’s what they’re going to read.
Good luck sometimes doing the least amount possible is the best you can do. I have seen executives grow from the rank and file and I’d like to think oh wow I’d love it if they were on this project and see how they’d solve it. Then I realized they were charismatic and positioned themselves in front of the right people and right projects. They didn’t get bogged down in this and neither should you.
posted by geoff. at 8:16 AM on January 29 [1 favorite]
I have a so-so track record on this so take it for what’s it is worth. I approach these now as not my problem and looking at it very coldly like a jury on a murder trial. What exactly are the facts? There’s a good scene in Devil’s Advocate where Keanu Reeves says my job is to make you hate this man because if I do he won’t be at the murder scene he’ll be cheating on his wife and that’s not what this trial is about.
So is her bugging you or missing deadlines impacting the client relationship? Can you show that objectively? The team is not yours are they objectively doing anything wrong? Has the client contacted you about anything or is incompetency the only thing that’s wrong? Sadly I’ve been in contracts where the client was like yeah we didn’t pick you because you were the best but you were in our budget.
Look back on my previous questions. I hate having especially junior staff treated to a dumpster fire but they’re basically disposable a lot of times and you’re not in a position to do anything about it. Sometimes a leader emerges from this mess. Often you learn what kind of organization you’re a part of.
Constantly complaining to upper management will not help. You need to go to them with clear objective measurements. Keep it to 2-3 sentences. I hate doing that and don’t do that anywhere but work but that’s what they’re going to read.
Good luck sometimes doing the least amount possible is the best you can do. I have seen executives grow from the rank and file and I’d like to think oh wow I’d love it if they were on this project and see how they’d solve it. Then I realized they were charismatic and positioned themselves in front of the right people and right projects. They didn’t get bogged down in this and neither should you.
posted by geoff. at 8:16 AM on January 29 [1 favorite]
I was hired to be a fixer and ended up staying on for years. You can resolve this issue, I'm sure of it.
The very first thing I would do is get everyone (and I mean everyone) on the team to use some kind of project management software. You will almost certainly have to give a basic training on this, but it's going to save your life. (And I want to note that Shepherd mentioned something about a spreadsheet or Trello above. This is a good answer. Your workplace might be using Microsoft Teams, if so, this video shows an easy, very visually appealing way to create teams and workflows within Teams.)
Once people are familiar with the site, you'll need to let them know that work, updates, notes, meeting minutes, documents, reporting, evaluation, etc. are all going to happen from the project management site.
They won't need to email you to ask questions, because all the information that you have will be there for them to share. I'd set clear expectations here too around adding new material, information, etc. to the site when it comes to any team member.
You'll need to hold project update meetings with the software open (or on a shared screen), so people can see you using it and begin to recognize best practices, etc. But this shouldn't take long, especially because...
Your team will know that the project and everyone's progress is visible to you, as well as to any other stakeholders you choose to give access to it.
(This can include your own boss, or any other senior staff, or sometimes even clients, if that's something your workplace wants.)
It is very hard to hide when your work and your progress are in the open. People who aren't pulling their weight will become obvious quickly--some will grumble about updating the site, some will mark incomplete tasks as completed, some won't touch the site--and therein lies your opportunity to offer some guidance and redirect behavior. Also to be firm that this is what you expect from them. (Seriously, this sounds like not a big deal, but having concrete, externally visible examples of where work is not being completed professionally is going to make managing so much easier. If it comes to it, it'll also make counseling someone out of the position easier.)
posted by yellowcandy at 8:23 AM on January 29 [4 favorites]
The very first thing I would do is get everyone (and I mean everyone) on the team to use some kind of project management software. You will almost certainly have to give a basic training on this, but it's going to save your life. (And I want to note that Shepherd mentioned something about a spreadsheet or Trello above. This is a good answer. Your workplace might be using Microsoft Teams, if so, this video shows an easy, very visually appealing way to create teams and workflows within Teams.)
Once people are familiar with the site, you'll need to let them know that work, updates, notes, meeting minutes, documents, reporting, evaluation, etc. are all going to happen from the project management site.
They won't need to email you to ask questions, because all the information that you have will be there for them to share. I'd set clear expectations here too around adding new material, information, etc. to the site when it comes to any team member.
You'll need to hold project update meetings with the software open (or on a shared screen), so people can see you using it and begin to recognize best practices, etc. But this shouldn't take long, especially because...
Your team will know that the project and everyone's progress is visible to you, as well as to any other stakeholders you choose to give access to it.
(This can include your own boss, or any other senior staff, or sometimes even clients, if that's something your workplace wants.)
It is very hard to hide when your work and your progress are in the open. People who aren't pulling their weight will become obvious quickly--some will grumble about updating the site, some will mark incomplete tasks as completed, some won't touch the site--and therein lies your opportunity to offer some guidance and redirect behavior. Also to be firm that this is what you expect from them. (Seriously, this sounds like not a big deal, but having concrete, externally visible examples of where work is not being completed professionally is going to make managing so much easier. If it comes to it, it'll also make counseling someone out of the position easier.)
posted by yellowcandy at 8:23 AM on January 29 [4 favorites]
If your team lead reads messages, send messages instead of (or in addition to) email. Use a public channel where everyone can see the communication.
Another tactic is asking the team lead what sort of communication will work. Be honest - the questions are distracting, you’d like to minimize them, how can you collaborate on that?
Similarly with the junior staffer, hold a direct conversation. You can give feedback as a peer. Be clear that the current state of affairs is not working for you, and state the things you want to stop doing. Does the staffer have an opinion on why you are doing those tasks? What obstacles are in the way for the staffer completing it themselves? Really listen. There might be something going on. Collaborate on solutions if you can.
posted by shock muppet at 9:32 AM on January 29 [5 favorites]
Another tactic is asking the team lead what sort of communication will work. Be honest - the questions are distracting, you’d like to minimize them, how can you collaborate on that?
Similarly with the junior staffer, hold a direct conversation. You can give feedback as a peer. Be clear that the current state of affairs is not working for you, and state the things you want to stop doing. Does the staffer have an opinion on why you are doing those tasks? What obstacles are in the way for the staffer completing it themselves? Really listen. There might be something going on. Collaborate on solutions if you can.
posted by shock muppet at 9:32 AM on January 29 [5 favorites]
One of the best things I did for my mental health at work was to make sure to not answer emails right away, and to start pretending that I didn't know the answer to everything.
By not answering an email right away, the sender will often start to dig and find the answer themself.
I would often reply to a simple question with 'I don't know; check with so-and-so' (their boss, who should have already given them the answer).
Once people realized that I was not the easiest answer to every question, they magically started being their own resource.
posted by hydra77 at 9:40 AM on January 29 [12 favorites]
By not answering an email right away, the sender will often start to dig and find the answer themself.
I would often reply to a simple question with 'I don't know; check with so-and-so' (their boss, who should have already given them the answer).
Once people realized that I was not the easiest answer to every question, they magically started being their own resource.
posted by hydra77 at 9:40 AM on January 29 [12 favorites]
By not answering an email right away, the sender will often start to dig and find the answer themself.
I would often reply to a simple question with 'I don't know; check with so-and-so' (their boss, who should have already given them the answer).
Once people realized that I was not the easiest answer to every question, they magically started being their own resource.
Sadly, sometimes the only way to help someone else gain competence is for you to be either less available or less competent, usually both. It sucks and goes against everything I try to be, but it does work, eventually.
posted by ApathyGirl at 12:06 PM on January 29 [8 favorites]
I would often reply to a simple question with 'I don't know; check with so-and-so' (their boss, who should have already given them the answer).
Once people realized that I was not the easiest answer to every question, they magically started being their own resource.
Sadly, sometimes the only way to help someone else gain competence is for you to be either less available or less competent, usually both. It sucks and goes against everything I try to be, but it does work, eventually.
posted by ApathyGirl at 12:06 PM on January 29 [8 favorites]
This sounds like a lousy situation. And gently, it sounds like you keep repeating the same behaviors but expecting a different result.
Your team lead doesn't read emails. So don't send her emails. Work with her to identify a different mode of communication that works better for her. Consider letting her know that you would like to silence your notifications so you don't get distracted, and check if there are certain hours where that works better for her than others.
The junior person doesn't need to meet deadlines because you always help them at the last minute. Let them know that you won't be available for this work going forward. Stick to it. Either they improve or they fail. Do not take responsibility either way.
Good luck!
posted by equipoise at 8:53 PM on January 30 [1 favorite]
Your team lead doesn't read emails. So don't send her emails. Work with her to identify a different mode of communication that works better for her. Consider letting her know that you would like to silence your notifications so you don't get distracted, and check if there are certain hours where that works better for her than others.
The junior person doesn't need to meet deadlines because you always help them at the last minute. Let them know that you won't be available for this work going forward. Stick to it. Either they improve or they fail. Do not take responsibility either way.
Good luck!
posted by equipoise at 8:53 PM on January 30 [1 favorite]
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To my external eyes, both of these behaviours are borne from anxiety. Your team lead feels overburdened or stressed by external factors and can't keep things straight. Your junior feels like she might screw up and is afraid to commit to work because "owning" it means potentially being blamed for it.
This is what I'd do, and in the past what I've done. YMMV.
Managing up:
Create a simple spreadsheet, or Trello (or MS Planner, if you're in a Microsoft ecosystem) with item, person responsible, stage, status and expected deliverable date. Create a shortlink to it, if you can. Share that with the team lead.
Position it as helpful; "we've got a lot going on, so I wanted to make it easier for you to see the status of X." Then update it at start of business, just before lunch, and just before EOD. Now your job is to train that person to remember and look at the link.
The tricky bit is to really listen to what they're asking and make sure you're answering what they're asking about, not what you think they should know. I've had managers that hyperfocus on things I consider ancillary or deeply irrelevant, but at the end of the day... they're the managers, and if they want updates on Mildly Pointless Thing... your job, sucks as it may, is to deliver those updates. So if you need to keep a rolling list of documents in the status tracker with a special "format" column, so be it.
Managing down:
Once you have that established, start including this staffer on the project in the spreadsheet as well; integrate an "est. hours to complete" column with your best-guess-plus-20% of the time it should take them to accomplish tasks.
This is positioned as empowerment: you've got this, I trust you, let's align our work so I know when your deliverables will be coming, because you're vital to the project and I need to know when your stuff is getting done so I can time my stuff appropriately. Set time aside to review the lists and anticipated time-to-completion. Give her agency to adjust timing or discuss why things should take X and identify gaps in knowledge or training.
Be clear that this is something you've prepared for both of you but also your team lead, so this staffer knows that the team lead is aware. When they do something good, praise them publicly. "Hey Team Lead, I just wanted to point out that Y has done some really good work on Z -- I want to make sure she gets the credit."
It's essentially about organizing work to empower in two directions: up, they feel they can check on things as desired; down, they feel like they have some control over pace of work and deliverables, but are also held to account with the lead (and praised for good work in front of the lead).
Good luck -- what's worked for me may not for you, but it's a system that I've come to after a number of false starts , and I hope it helps in your case. FWIW I feel your pain.
posted by Shepherd at 3:12 AM on January 29 [23 favorites]