Submitted by zurs3c on
in
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Have a meeting coming up that was scheduled by a peer. We both report to the same boss.
I just received the materials for the meeting, not only has he volunteered individuals on my team for a project without checking with me, but also asked my team to mail a whole distribution list to volunteer for more work.
He did not pre-wire any of this with me and I have several issues including:
- My staff is fully loaded and I'd like them working on the things I think are important
- His assignments, and the one individual who jumped up to volunteer for more work, do not match in terms of skill sets are will be setup for failure
- I disagree with the whole project approach
I'd welcome the opportunity to talk to this individual, but he says he is busy until the meeting and will not have time to discuss prior.
So, do I call him out at the meeting, in front of our manager, several of our peers, and several members of both of our teams? Not sure I want to wait until after the meeting in case our manager buys in.
Thanks.
NO!
NO!!!!! Handle this privately. I would first discuss this with your boss to make sure you haven't been left out of the loop on key details. Frame the conversation as you updating your boss and letting him or her know what you plan to do about it. Not as a "what should I do?" Or complaining that the peer didn't consult you. This is your chance to demonstrate to your boss that you can handle peer conflict as a professional.
Next solicit his or her advice. Assuming your boss has your back, communicate your intention to disapprove your peer's action to him by personal visit, phone, or email.
He failed to pre-wire you. Do not commit the same sin.
Is he busy to reply to an
Is he busy to reply to an email? He doesn't have 5 minutes to clarify how this was initiated? Something isn't right.
Well, it sounds like an ambush, which is odd, but let's assume the best and that there was some sort of communication break down (it does happen). As Glenn suggested, maybe something occurred behind the scenes that you aren't privy to. Now, if you can't get any info from anyone, you could bring it up at the meeting, just be professional about it, don't take it personal. When it's presented, offer options, and make your suggestions in terms of focusing on the success of the project, for example, "I think if we did it this way, we'd have more success", and define success to whatever is important to you guys (saving money, fast turn around, etc.). If you turn it into a discussion, then it's more comfortable. When that's all done and you are in private, give hime feedback in a friendly way about you not being in the loop. I'd do it by asking questions: "hey, John. Did I miss an email or voicemail about the XYZ project you presented? I wasn't sure what was going on when I saw your email"... and take it from there.
Please do report back what occurs.
Talk to him! Whatever you
Talk to him! Whatever you do, don't wait until the boss meeting. Offer to buy him lunch, to get over the time commitment. Join him as he walks to his next meeting. Or send an email as Nevermind suggests. Let him know that you really need to talk to him and that is a very serious issue.
Needless to say, the words you use are really important here. You need to approach this gently. Totally agree with Nevermind on how to frame it, in terms of "I must have missed something, please fill me in."