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Miss Everything-also-escalate

Who need enemies when you got this kind of colleague?

There are several errors in the system from another team because some values aren’t entered. So one of the colleagues from that team send a mass email to our team to request us to provide the information. That was yesterday night 7pm. When I reach office this morning, I scroll thru the list and provided her with the information for those items under my charge. The remaining portion belongs to my colleagues. So we all thought the whole thing was over since we didn’t get any email after that.

3pm, my colleague forward me an email from her escalating the issue to top management. Some of the values aren’t provided to her. So she emailed to the big boss and ask her to look into the issue as it is urgent. When I look at the outstanding issue, I discovered that the person in charge of that item is on leave. We all thought someone supplied her with the information since she didn’t come back to us again. We are wrong.

I know this thing is urgent. But before she escalates the issue, shouldn’t she check with us first? Crap. Just trigger happy and escalate it all the way to the top. For what? Small small thing also escalate. She can just come tell us that this information wasn’t provided to her and we can dig out the answer for her.

I went over to her desk, and use a hash tone to tell her that the person in-charge of that item is on leave today. She should approach us first before escalating everything to the top. It’s not as if we aren’t providing her with the data required. The person is on leave and we didn’t know that she don’t have the answer.

I hate it when people escalate small issue. Is there a need to escalate small things like this? I already tone down quite a bit. I could have use a fiercer tone and let everyone in the office know about this. Since her desk is at the middle of the office.

Scott Adams could add this character into Dilbert comic. I’m sure everyone has a everything-also-escalate colleague.

Heng my company small no such colleagues, but then got such customers...@#$%

Of course, the classic CYOB (Cover Your Own Backside) is at work here...

I suspect your "colleague" is also trying to score brownie points at the expense of others...

Sir, it is year-end already.

If you get what I mean.

xueyu: Then I think you more poor thing. Shitty customer is worst than shitty colleagues.

xtrocious: I don't know what the heck she was thinking lah.

spyer: Not really leh. But everyone clearing leave now.

Sir, attention seeking exercise is for show only. It goes all the way up to the top boss, right? Did the boss take notice? But, to the boss, who is the good guy and who is the bad guy here?

It will appear that someone is working very hard while others are slacking, even during the holiday season. Opportunity arises for the person to strike.

Points have been scored.

Welcome to the world of office politics. The world just got a little more harsher.

First, do your office has existing means for everyone to know who is on leave? If yes, then there is some turnarounds.

In this situation, you should broadcast a politically correct reply to explain the situation:

1) advise that the person with the right information is on leave

2) everybody know the person is on leave

3) according to your team's org chart (if any), the information is only handled by your team member

4) if there is a backup for the above person, state it clearly

The rest of the reply is blah, blah, blah. Remind people that information is always available if the proper channels are used and your team members are ALWAYS glad to help.

I know that it sounds so g.o.v. but your recent "harsh tone" action cannot be used against you to the other person's advantage.

I have already said too much. Just some small advice.

There used to be a trader in the bank who will escalate matters all the way from Singapore, to my regional office in Hong Kong (now in Tokyo), and then to our HQ in Frankfurt. Needless to say, after awhile we marked him and gave him the worst service available to any user in the bank. Ultimately even my top management people in the HQ just created a rule in the mailbox to move all his mails to... Deleted Items. Good thing he didn't perform well and the bank terminated him. There's some justice after all.

Spyer: Oh. I get what you mean. Thx. But well, not interested to fight this office politic war. Don't give a damn. Haha.

Xizor: karma? :D

A chance to backstab you, why not? Your department is lacking actually. You being the person who promised her the other colleague would look into it, should follow up.

she is doing the right thing because she had ask for something and it wasn't delivered. How many times do you want her to come to you?

And also blowing your temper just because of inefficiency which was reported up to management just speaks of your ability to play the game.

Before you criticise others, think whether were you an angel first.

Cheers.

Alfred: I didn't promise her anything. She send a mass mail to the team. Everyone do their part. Nobody noticed that nobody covered the person who was on leave.

Instead of checking what happen, she just simply escalate everything. Don't think that is the right thing to do.

Some users with an attitude problem always think IT owes them something. They will get what they deserved. What goes around comes around.

The end result is ALWAYS this: they will just get service as stipulated by the SLA. i.e. their request will languish in the queue until we decide it's the best time to get it resolved - within the timespan set by the SLA - while the others gets it resolved as soon as we are able to attend to it.

Xizor: The problem is... that Miss Everything-also-escalate is from IT dept too. And my same project. Just that she different team. *sigh*

Ahh.. that sucks. I get that earlier this year. For us, we believe that 'brothers should fight behind close doors'. If matters are not first attempted to be solved among ourselves, then the person who escalated it gets wacked with other means possible...

But there is such a thing call teamwork. In this case, you can fend yourself in anyway you want but your department is found to be wanting in one thing or another.

Simply, the task that was require to perform was not smoothly done. You can argue about the imperfection in her, the impatience in her, the needless to go to upper management, but the fact remains, something that was requested but was not done in your department.

Your department was found to be wanting, thats the point.

Do you have a manager? Supervisor? IC? You should have one. Put yourself in her position. When you mass email out something to a department, and something wasn't done, but no one in that department did not follow up or come bcak to you with anything that may not be done because of someone din turn up or whatever. Well to me, it is responsbility of the department or whoever that appoints to oversee the entire department.

If i were her, i would do the same thing, you know why? Because i am not paid to do more work due to inefficiencies of somebody or some department. If i sense a problem somewhere, is it my job to correct the problem? No. IT is the management's responsbility. My job is to do my job, so i will feedback to the upper management and let them decide what they want to do with it. In the mean time, my work is not completed while i had asked for it, this is an issue. I need to send the right signal across. So that, next time you know what you will get if you decides to get sluggish again.

Thats just corporate politics. If you do not want to be backstab, you work has to be near perfect. As long there are imperfection, the knifes would all come.

Hope you are enlightened.

Xizor: I also believe that we should help each other. But seems like that team don't believe in that. I'm quite fine actually. They better pray they don't mess up anything. I won't be giving them any chance.

Alfred: I get what you mean.

Anyway, what is done is done. No point arguing. And fyi, our director didn't blame anyone for this since the person in charge is on leave. Such miscommunication do happen. All you need is an email to clear things up. No need to escalate.

If people treat me well, I'll treat them well in return. As for that team, I'll show no mercy if they ever messed up in the future.

Your director may not need to show displeasure but on your department's record, there is a mark already.

So next time, another thing similar or exactly the same happened, then this mark in the record would back it up and anyone can use this mark to say look, it happened in the past, so now this has happened again, THEY HAVE PROBLEM.

This is politics for you. You have a lot more to learn buddy.

We are all there to work, you dont have to treat them well and they do not need to treat you well, but as far work as concern, lets get it done and if you are a hinder to me trying to get something done, i will use the top on you.

That happens everywhere, you will learn to be smarter as you gain more experience.

Alfred: I don't agree with your saying. I guess we just have to agree to disagree. :D

Your mentality is that of a worker, thats why.

When you are in management one day, you would be in a position to have a bird's eye view of all the political warfare then you would understand how things work.

Anyway why are you so pissed if you think the backstabbing has no consequence? Obviously it has hurt you in a way that was valid though cunning and thats the result of your anger.

You've a lot more to learn mate! In management, it is no longer anout work only, it is how you handle and read these games!

In actual fact, your boss do not know what you are doing. Imagine, a director, he has 50 staff below him. Do you honestly believe he knows everything you're doing? He knows what everyone is doing?

He knows roughly what everyone is covering but he do not know how hard working are you, how smart are you or how efficient are you.

It is based upon such informations feedbacked to the top that will determine his perception of you.

So you still believe this knife thrown into your back are nothing more than a facade? Think again.

Even you manage to take the knife out, even the wound manage to heal, there is the scar.

You dont have to agree with me, but i am just sharing with you my experience and knowledge.

She is covering her own ass by doing that ;)

By being angry, you fell for her trap already.

Alfred: I don think this got anything to do with mentality of employee or employer. This is 2 different issue.

Shah: You got a point.

Mahattan: You got a point too. :D

You have the mentality of an employee thats why you could not comprehend the failure of anyone on the team is the equivalent of failure of a department. You only look after your part and as long your part is done, you couldn't care less.

While if one day you elevate to the position of a supervisor or a manager, director or ceo or whatever, you would have to look at the whole picture and not just one part, one missing part or one wrong part could affect the whole department and thats exactly what happened to it in your case.

If your department had an IC or supervisor, do you think he would argue his way through using your point and your attitude? I don't think so if he wants to show he is a responsible leader.

At times, leadership role or position would not be given to you just because of your ability to work. It is the added responsibility of an employee to show his willingness to take up more duties and responsibility that would earn the promotion. Or they call it the loyalty - willing to do more just to ensure the smooth running. That is terribly found wanting in your department. And all of it because of the mentality of all the people in your department. Make no mistake.

The difference between a staff and someone on the management is the mentality.

When something goes wrong, do you get pissed just because someone stabbed you at the back? Or will you try to improve on the situation? I think anyone who wants a promotion would try to improve on it and ensure it would not happen the next time. I mean how difficult it is to check someone is not in for the day?

There is such a thing called communication in your team. If your communication breaks down, is it the responsibility of another department to remind you?

I'm sorry, even as a reader of your blog, i cannot accept your attitude on the matter. And i'm not even working with you, not even managing you.

You ought to reflect on yourself and think about were there anything else you guys could had done to prevent it from happening in the future? If the answer is yes, then your commitment has found to be wanting this time.

There is nothing wrong in making a mistake, but the way you handled it is not really something any superior would give you points for. You better pray there is no one from your work place reading your blog. I mean making a mistake is bad enough, but blaming others for it? and going to that person with a fierce tone? and then go home and blog about it? This is just a small issue escalated to something big because your mentality trap it and refuse to see the lack bit on your part.

I'm quite surprise you haven't been warned of your behaviour towards your colleague, it can be seen as intimidating.

DK, I normally don't give a damn about unsolicited advice. Talks cheap. Even cheaper from an unknown.

And to add on.. if alfred has a wealth of experience to share on how to be a good motivated employee, probably we can all arrange to meet up somewhere and have this talked over face to face in real life.

It doesnt matter whether is unsolicited or solicted, but advice is based upon reasoning.

Sure, i will meet you face to face, leave down your phone number.

I don't leave phone numbers on the Internet.

Try showing up at some of ping.sg meets in the future.

This has nothing to do with ping.sg

You requested a face to face meet up and i would grant you request if you so require one.

Otherwise reason the issue. Failure to reason it and call it unsolicited advise just speaks of your level of intellect.

You mean all the other advise on this thread are solicited? Just because you do not like to hear something means it is unsolicited and should be ignored? People like you are lousy friends you know why? Because a good friend will tell you what you should hear and not what you want to hear.

If you don't dare to leave your phone number on internet then dont expect me to meet you. I only give a dickhead something if he gives me back.

I do not want a flame war with anyone on DK's blog so this will be my final comment.

1) I have never said anything about this being a ping.sg event. It was simply that there was a higher chance that DK and I will be at one place at the same time in one of those meets. Further to that, I am not comfortable leaving my number with a dickhead like you from the way you have behaved so far.

2) I looked at the other unsolicited advice on this thread by spyder and the marked difference here is that spyder just offered his advice and then move on, leaving the person to either accept and act on it. spyder didn't even make any assumption in his comments, unlike you who shoots off right away accusing DK of having promised something without any shred of evidence.

So, just look at yourself alfred. No one here owes you a living nor is any one here is being managed by you. So take your management crap and shove it up the other end of your alimentary canal, you vociferous fxxker.

Now you can continue to write whatever you want and howl to the four winds. I ain't gonna give a rat's ass what you are gonna say after I delete tracking on this blog post from cocomment.

Xizor: No point arguing lah. Chill.

Alfred: I don't agree with several points that you raised. But I don't see the point of rebutting every point that you made.

And end of the day, I think we just have to agree to disagree. Don't you think so?

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