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 BLUF: Essentially should the donor or receiver line manager raise this for the first time?

I've been asked to tell a member of our company that they work for me now. I know the guy and he has carried out limited project work for me before and I think the initial contact should come from their current line manager. He may have a whole ream of questions that he wants to ask and I think he could be very uncomfortable. 

Am am I being overly sensitive or do you agree?

mattpalmer's picture

The news that reporting structures have changed should (ahem) definitely come from their existing manager.  That's the person they've already got the best relationship with (in theory, at least) and, as you say, the questions that the direct will presumably have will be best answered by that person (again, in theory).

On the other hand, if you've been directed to do something, I would err on the side of JFDI (Just F... Do It), because pushing back on something that is relatively minor like this probably isn't worth the hassle.  It's not trivial to frame it in a way that doesn't throw the direct's current (previous?) manager under the bus ("Hey, I'm sure Fred's mentioned this, but as of Monday you're reporting to me, doing X") but do your best, be humane about it, and it'll all be a funny story in a month's time.

(By the way, unless you're in the very unexpected position of managing lumps of coal, the correct term is "person" not "resource" -- pet peeve of mine)