Difficult woman to work with
 

Hey,

I work in an office, we are a really small team of six. I really like all of the people I work with, don't get me wrong but one of the women I work with seems to like to be intentionally difficult. One of my daily jobs is to sort out a rota for what we are all doing the following day (which is an idea that she originally wanted to implement). For the past few years it's been my responsibility to arrange and for the most part no one moans or complains. I try to make it as fair as I possibly can. We were all just having a general chit-chat earlier and one girl jokingly said that we should just scrap having a rota because some don't pay attention to it. Then this other woman just basically says that I gave her a ton of work the other day and it was too much, but pretty much everyone else said it was a manageable work load. On this particular day we had someone out of the office on a course so there was bound to be a little more work for everyone. I used to manage the rota according to what I thought people could get done based on all of our strengths and weaknesses, but my manager told me I should make it more equal which I have been trying to do. I explained to the woman that we were one person short so it was necessary for everyone to take on a slightly bigger work load than usual.

I just feel like I shouldn't have to justify myself. I really had to control my temper earlier. She works slower than majority of us and really takes her time on everything, but that isn't anyone's fault. There are times when she turns her phone off so she gets no calls whilst she's trying to get her own work done without consulting the rest of the team leaving us struggling. Earlier today she was out of the office for an appointment which was approved by the manager, fair enough. I allocated her work for the afternoon to allow some breathing space for this. She didn't turn up into the office until 1'o clock which is our lunch period, instead of coming straight in and getting on with her work she walked off and took a personal phone call delaying some of our lunch breaks and probably while in the kitchen eating her own lunch. I get the fact that she struggles more, but instead of bitching and moaning maybe she should tell management she isn't managing her work load, which to be honest is not more than anyone else is able to do, nor something I wouldn't actually allocate myself to do. I feel like I can't win.

I know if she makes another comment I am liable to really lose my temper and probably result in me getting myself in trouble.

Thanks guys.
Paige

Re: Difficult woman to work with
 

Re: Difficult woman to work with
 

Hey Holly,

I would do this but management is a little bit up in the air at the moment, our line manager is currently not managing us due to a separate incident between him and the office manager and the office manager is afraid of almost all kinds of confrontation, for some reason he is afraid of telling this woman anything, despite the fact that she has been getting away with her behaviour for so long.

So it's not really an option open to me right now.

Re: Difficult woman to work with
 

Its always hard if you have problems with someone at work. And it's really important to solve that afterall you might have to work with her for a long time.
The managment is a good idea, but you said that won't be possible at the moment.

So I know that might be a difficult thing to do, but maybe you could schedul an hour or two and talk with her. Somewhere where you won't be interrupted, but where you are still able to quickly get your manager, if it get's out of hand.

Tell her, what the problem is and make suggestions on how you can solve it together. Give her to room to explain herself and her reasons. Maybe she's struggeling with something and if you know about it, you could find a solution together.
The most important thing if you do that is to remain calm and respectful and give her enough chances to explain herself. Also don't just tell her what's not ok, but explain every single thing and how you feel about it and why and give her room to tell her opinion on the matter. Also maybe ask further, like why she thinks this or that.

Just be honest, understanding and don't critice her to directly and things should work out fine. It might even strengthen your team.

Though there is the chance, that it might go wrong, so best is to ask your manager first. The one who doesn't want conflicts. Tell him, that you want to have a talk with her to solve things. I don't see any reason why he would be against it and if you have his permission, nothing can happen to you if it goes wrong.

I hope this helps and that you can resolve this!



Sorry if I sound like a textbook, I wrote an exam in managment two weeks ago^^

If you have any questions about this you can always pm me