How to deal with co-worker 8

[compguy22]

hello all,

I am having some serious issues with a coworker who is product leader. I do not report to this co-worker, I am just assigned to do engineering work as part of their product group.

A couple of months ago when we started to work together, I needed to revise or update some of their reports. This coworker made critics on my work approach for going too much in depth. Long story short, on many instances when I examined details of the work it was often sloppy when not seriously flawed. On a specific project we had to deal with a complicated field survey for a client. The coworker did a quick analysis but it was completely off the mark (wrong data on calibration ranges, bad selection of sensors, etc.). Despite of the results being plain wrong, results were put in a report and ready to send to the client. I was then asked to prepare a power point presentation (not to review the method and results) based on the outcome when I realized that things are inconsistent. I reported the inconsistencies, saying that I cannot prepare a presentation on this ground because things are not matching. This was recognized and I ended up reviewing the work from the start. It took me a great deal of work to put together a final report. Along the way, this coworker was not happy that I pin pointed the issues and was pressuring me to deliver the report on short notice. Honestly such pressure did not make my life more easy. But anyway, it is what it is and the end result is that we sent a proper survey to the client.

I did my utmost to never offend this coworker in pointing or bringing forwarded any issue as I genuinely wanted to nurture our collaboration, aiming at a healthy and long term work together.

Now, that we are interacting on more regular basis, this coworker is not easy to work with. Tasks are assigned without prior consultation on my workload, no background of the project is provided. At the end, I am expected to function as a 'post box' and I am getting literal orders by email to do this and that in such a one way top down approach. I find this coworker arrogant and toxic. On one instance, I even asked the coworker to share or refer me to a procedure or process map on roles and responsibilities so I can educate myself on that; what the coworker did is write a procedure on the fly and sent it to me by email saying this is the work procedure from now on. However we are an ISO certified company with a HSE/quality management system in place subjecting our procedures to document control, management approvals, etc. on how we conduct our work.

All in all, I do not want to continue collaborating with an ego-centric or toxic person. I signaled issues several times but it does not lead to any learning or adjusted attitude. My conclusion, is that this coworker did not like that I did pin point deficiencies even if this was done not to finger point but for sake of doing quality work and I am honest in saying that. So its part of unsaid things but they do not want me part of the group. Time is a precious resource that I do not want to waste entertaining this.

How do I deal with this? I did not speak to management yet and I am looking forward at the prospect of leaving this company.

Any help will be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[ThomasH]

compguy22,
I think is was wise to call the person in question and actually talk about your concerns. A dialoge is usually better that the monologe that an email usually becomes. The result will hopefully be positive.

But it does not necessarily mean that you don't write the email. Write all your concerns and frustrations, take it all out on the keyboard. Bet don't send the mail. I have heard more than once of people who write an angry mail and feel better, and they never felt a need to actually send it .

Thomas

 

[zeusfaber]

But don't send the mail

Superb advice - done it a couple of times myself, and also been the person the email was never sent about (or so I'm told). Really effective way of putting things into perspective.

A.

 

[compguy22]

That said, I believe a lot of your issues arise from misunderstanding the proverbial pecking order. When a coworker is charged to lead a project their title, pay, seniority, etc is irrelevant as is yours, for that project they are effectively your supervisor and their decisions outrank yours. Having been that non-management project lead many times I can attest that bad reports from a lead will cause team members' bad annual reviews and/or layoff for-cause. If you believe your lead is making bad decisions then you need to address each circumstance with tact. Disagree but dont argue. Quickly forget and move on from petty/small mistakes, but ensure your org-chart supervisor understands your concerns over the major ones. Ensure that your supervisor or other senior-expert is attending important meetings/reviews so they can help challenge major potential mistakes. If you're struggling to manage your time across multiple projects then do the necessary project planning so you can communicate your needs, others can communicate theirs, and timing issues are visible to everyone.

I am in line with you. But working as team lead does not give free pass to anyone to show diminished respect towards colleagues (a top down attitude is just one example). My current boss has never exercised pressure on me and is giving me leeway to manage my tasks ; actually this is clever because the end result is more productivity (and fun) at work. So, can the coworker of concern damage my annual review, very possibly and for the reasons you've well stated. Very often, hints or very subtile responses are sufficient feeds for the work interaction to self adjust; I am afraid it is not always the case, as with some other people, you can only push back harder to make yourself heard at the price of a risk that things could evolve out of control.

Edit: About annual review....just a general observation besides main topic. If I look at my personal condition, for years I have been sacrificing (literally) my personal well being for work (including for the sake of obtaining "good" annual reviews, references, etc.). Today, I simply do NOT agree to do this anymore! If the work environment is toxic or if it conveys negative stress, I will depart immediately. I also have the feeling that nowadays the paradigm is changing in that employers/managers more than ever before, are now on notice to make sure they provide perfectly healthy work environment to their employees if they do not want to face retention problems. With that come our own responsibilities of course. This is my take on it, do not know what you think?