How to deal with a horrible coworker

[Lizy]

I have a very demaning job and my boss is an excell person. He recently hired this new assistant to reduce the quantity of work that I have so this new person is reporting to me and my boss, however, she is a control freak and doesn't like the idea of reporting to me at all. Since she was hired she shows her ambitious and the idea of getting my job. I have been very pacient with her but lately she is just driving me crazy. All the time she is trying to make me look bad with my boss and want to show that she is the best.

She is smart and does her job well but she is also very opinionated, get in others people business and knows more than anybody what is going on around the office. I talked to her once and she denied her intentions.

I never had problems with anybody at work before , and I am the type that likes to get along with everybody but this time I feel like I getting to stress with this situacion.

Any suggestions???

[tlamm]

Since she was hired to help you, let your boss know that she is infact making your workday more stressfull. Ask your boss to find someone else.

[KorruptioN]

Talk to your boss. He sounds like a good guy, so take it up with him. At the very least make him aware of your side of the story before the new "assistant" does in her own personal way (trash talking you).

[Lizy]

Talk to your boss. He sounds like a good guy, so take it up with him. At the very least make him aware of your side of the story before the new "assistant" does in her own personal way (trash talking you).

Sorry guys for the grammar mistakes I typed and sent it too fast.

[heat]

Talk to your boss.
Otherwise try the "why she slap" technique:lol:

[snplow]

I guess ideally some more information would be nice:
- what is your job description?
- what is her job description? (ie: how is she supposed to help you out?)
- what would your ideal solution to this problem be?

I think its good that you have identified that:
- you normally like to get along with everyone but realize that you won't be able to with her without compromising your situation

Since you are her superior and she is your subordinate who is out of line, you will have to be extremely firm with her. Being patient only works with team players but since she is clearly wants to show you up you will have to reestablish control or else you set a precident for how other subordinates will treat you. Having been patient with her she feels that she can comfortable cross into your territory. Ways to do exert your firmness:
- when she tries to show you up in front of your boss, call her on it by calmly, professional and firmly state that her idea is bad (if it truly is) go on to state why then continue with your idea.
-> Note this requires vigilance on your part to ensure that your ideas are really good.
- when you ask for a status update and she's not giving you clear answers then tell her that her answers are not meeting your expectations. Tell her for her next status report, what you expect to hear and in how much detail. Try to be explicit so both parties will know what is needed and so she can't actively sabotage you. If you really don't trust her, have her repeat back to you what you want so that way she won't have any excuses.

Remember, the key is:
- to be professional and calm. If you get angry, not only does that not look good on you, she will use it as leverage against you in the future.
- to be FIRM with what you need. You are put in charge for a reason, because you have the know how and capability to do your job.

[help_questions]

I guess ideally some more information would be nice:
- what is your job description?
- what is her job description? (ie: how is she supposed to help you out?)
- what would your ideal solution to this problem be?

I think its good that you have identified that:
- you normally like to get along with everyone but realize that you won't be able to with her without compromising your situation

Since you are her superior and she is your subordinate who is out of line, you will have to be extremely firm with her. Being patient only works with team players but since she is clearly wants to show you up you will have to reestablish control or else you set a precident for how other subordinates will treat you. Having been patient with her she feels that she can comfortable cross into your territory. Ways to do exert your firmness:
- when she tries to show you up in front of your boss, call her on it by calmly, professional and firmly state that her idea is bad (if it truly is) go on to state why then continue with your idea.
-> Note this requires vigilance on your part to ensure that your ideas are really good.
- when you ask for a status update and she's not giving you clear answers then tell her that her answers are not meeting your expectations. Tell her for her next status report, what you expect to hear and in how much detail. Try to be explicit so both parties will know what is needed and so she can't actively sabotage you. If you really don't trust her, have her repeat back to you what you want so that way she won't have any excuses.

Remember, the key is:
- to be professional and calm. If you get angry, not only does that not look good on you, she will use it as leverage against you in the future.
- to be FIRM with what you need. You are put in charge for a reason, because you have the know how and capability to do your job.

since you are incharge, make sure YOU take on the most important stuff.....leave her with the scraps. Don't give her the opportunity to grow above you.

also, like others say, talk to your boss.

edit: since she is an your subordinate, try to have everything run through you. treat her like a sweat shop worker. also, there is nothing to squash ambitious assistants like sending them for coffee

[65505201]

since you are incharge, make sure YOU take on the most important stuff.....leave her with the scraps. Don't give her the opportunity to grow above you.

also, like others say, talk to your boss.

edit: since she is an your subordinate, try to have everything run through you. treat her like a sweat shop worker. also, there is nothing to squash ambitious assistants like sending them for coffee

HA. That's one way to play it...but realize that if you have the goods, even a bright and ambitious subordinate can not best your efforts. Otherwise, you (and the OP) are simply suppressing someone of greater potential due to lack of skill / creativity on your part.


She is smart and does her job well but she is also very opinionated, get in others people business and knows more than anybody what is going on around the office. I talked to her once and she denied her intentions.

Opinionated: I don't see a problem with being opinionated...as long as that opinion is substantiated.
Getting in other peoples' business: In what sense? Simply wanting to know what's going on? Or sticking her hands in others' work?
Knowing more than anybody what's going on around the office: Nothing wrong with being well connected internally
Denied her intentions: Of taking your job? If you truly are better than her, you have nothing to fear. Otherwise, amp up your game.

[Logos88]

Be smooth when bringing this up to your boss. You don't want to look like you're criticizing his choice of assistant.

If you want to get rid of her, just give her menial mechanical works and only tell her things on a need-to-know basis. She will ask to be transferred to another team sooner or later.

You mentioned she "knows more than anybody what is going on around the office". Having someone like this on your side may work in your advantage. If you want to keep her around, throw her a bone of "insider information" once in a while to get her hooked.

It all depends on how you want to play it.

[king_george]

Shoot her.

[goJays]

how can she slap?!?! how can she slap?!

[Emancipated]

I hate go-getters especially the ones that are after your job. As far as sycophants, there are so many in every line of work.

[Uncle Cool]

I have a very demaning job and my boss is an excell person. He recently hired this new assistant to reduce the quantity of work that I have so this new person is reporting to me and my boss, however, she is a control freak and doesn't like the idea of reporting to me at all. Since she was hired she shows her ambitious and the idea of getting my job. I have been very pacient with her but lately she is just driving me crazy. All the time she is trying to make me look bad with my boss and want to show that she is the best.

She is smart and does her job well but she is also very opinionated, get in others people business and knows more than anybody what is going on around the office. I talked to her once and she denied her intentions.

I never had problems with anybody at work before , and I am the type that likes to get along with everybody but this time I feel like I getting to stress with this situacion.

Any suggestions???

People like that are in every office.

They're called suckups. Lighting them on fire usually ends their BS (In my opinion). :cheesygri

(Just some advice, use spellcheck at work or she will take your job)

[help_questions]

HA. That's one way to play it...but realize that if you have the goods, even a bright and ambitious subordinate can not best your efforts. Otherwise, you (and the OP) are simply suppressing someone of greater potential due to lack of skill / creativity on your part.


That's what needs to be done. The subordinate might be of greater or lesser potential, but that detail is irrelevant to me. What is relevant is that it is a competing potential, and that competing potential needs to be squashed. She hired to make your life easier, not take your job.

It may not be ethical to intentionally hold someone potential and growth down, but in the workforce, it has to happen sometime. Especially when you feel that there is a chance that you could end up loosing your job to this person and also especially if the OP feels that the assistants IS better.
If that is the case OP, feel no shame. Just squash the bug.

Also, start taking notes on punctuality and breaks.....maybe you can find a warning to give her.

Be smooth when bringing this up to your boss. You don't want to look like you're criticizing his choice of assistant.

If you want to get rid of her, just give her menial mechanical works and only tell her things on a need-to-know basis. She will ask to be transferred to another team sooner or later.


Yes! do this OP. when you talk to your boss, be careful with you words. but don't be afraid. at the end, you want your boss to understand and appreciate your concerns, and side with YOU.

as for giving her the mechanical works and keeping her on a need to know basis.....that is good too. Remember.....she is an assistant....a subordinate.....treat her her like such. for example, any task that requires correspondence with executives.....never let her touch.....and start working faster, so you move through the important stuff faster, keeping control of what she does. and have her report to YOU for everything. YOU pass it on to the higher-up.

Maybe even sell your boss on your reasoning for the structure before implementing....you want everything to go through you to keep control and oversight of things that have been handed off.

If you have her doing un-important tasks, plus put yourself as a buffer between her and everyone higher, then your concerns should be fixed.

When I ran a team, EVERYTHING was passed on to me, and I passed on accordingly. I ran a tight ship. But on this ship, there was no room for growth or advancement.....It was a team where everyone had a role, and did their job. I INDEPENDENTLY implemented rules and procedures to put myself and the main point of contact with ANYTHING/EVERYTHING.

its kinda funny, the assistant brought in to make your job easier is doing the opposite.....

[jp06]

give her a b!tchslap

[originalnutta]

I would go over your head too, if i knew of your grammar skills.

[Eyies]

I have a very demaning job and my boss is an excell person. He recently hired this new assistant to reduce the quantity of work that I have so this new person is reporting to me and my boss, however, she is a control freak and doesn't like the idea of reporting to me at all. Since she was hired she shows her ambitious and the idea of getting my job. I have been very pacient with her but lately she is just driving me crazy. All the time she is trying to make me look bad with my boss and want to show that she is the best.
She is smart and does her job well but she is also very opinionated, get in others people business and knows more than anybody what is going on around the office. I talked to her once and she denied her intentions.

I never had problems with anybody at work before , and I am the type that likes to get along with everybody but this time I feel like I getting to stress with this situacion.

Any suggestions???

Sure just sounds like you feel threatened. She does her job, and does it well. Maybe it's time you wake up to the real world - competition is normal.

She's doing what she's supposed to and maybe you should step it up too. If you try to bring it to your boss, you'll most likely be laughed at unless she's doing something wrong. No boss would see a problem with someone trying hard to impress, and doing their work - it shows they take the job seriously.

Of course the exception is if you guys have some heavy conflict to the point where it affects your ability to be productive. But if that's the case you better have some pretty good reasons, be concrete, and be prepared to defend your value to the company.

[champlinD]

I have a very demaning job and my boss is an excell person. He recently hired this new assistant to reduce the quantity of work that I have so this new person is reporting to me and my boss, however, she is a control freak and doesn't like the idea of reporting to me at all. Since she was hired she shows her ambitious and the idea of getting my job. I have been very patient with her but lately she is just driving me crazy. All the time she is trying to make me look bad with my boss and want to show that she is the best.
...
...


Oh Man you are screwed.
One you are stressed out and now she has joined you are insecure. May be your Boss want to replace you. May be she was hired, informed that she will replace you in future.
No wonder she is acting that way. Face the reality, be patient, don't work your ass off, don't take things to your head. You lose your cool you are toast. Make sure your boss is nice doesn't mean he supports you. You don't know what he thinks. You know his side what he shows you.

Worst case scenario this is all in your head and you lose it and lose the job.

[CeoOfKFC]

Sleeping with her may help your situation :)

[champlinD]

Sleeping with her may help your situation :)

+1

But she may not want to sleep with OP. Or is she is already with Boss.:lol:

[65505201]

That's what needs to be done. The subordinate might be of greater or lesser potential, but that detail is irrelevant to me. What is relevant is that it is a competing potential, and that competing potential needs to be squashed. She hired to make your life easier, not take your job.

It may not be ethical to intentionally hold someone potential and growth down, but in the workforce, it has to happen sometime. Especially when you feel that there is a chance that you could end up loosing your job to this person and also especially if the OP feels that the assistants IS better.
If that is the case OP, feel no shame. Just squash the bug.

Also, start taking notes on punctuality and breaks.....maybe you can find a warning to give her.



Yes! do this OP. when you talk to your boss, be careful with you words. but don't be afraid. at the end, you want your boss to understand and appreciate your concerns, and side with YOU.

as for giving her the mechanical works and keeping her on a need to know basis.....that is good too. Remember.....she is an assistant....a subordinate.....treat her her like such. for example, any task that requires correspondence with executives.....never let her touch.....and start working faster, so you move through the important stuff faster, keeping control of what she does. and have her report to YOU for everything. YOU pass it on to the higher-up.

Maybe even sell your boss on your reasoning for the structure before implementing....you want everything to go through you to keep control and oversight of things that have been handed off.

If you have her doing un-important tasks, plus put yourself as a buffer between her and everyone higher, then your concerns should be fixed.

When I ran a team, EVERYTHING was passed on to me, and I passed on accordingly. I ran a tight ship. But on this ship, there was no room for growth or advancement.....It was a team where everyone had a role, and did their job. I INDEPENDENTLY implemented rules and procedures to put myself and the main point of contact with ANYTHING/EVERYTHING.

its kinda funny, the assistant brought in to make your job easier is doing the opposite.....

LOL. Your strategy bears all the hallmarks of a terrible project leader. Again, if you are competent, you have nothing to worry about. If I was your boss, I certainly wouldn't want a project leader suppressing an aspiring subordinate instead of raising his/her own game.

EDIT: I should add that you sound like someone in a union, where seniority matters more than competence.

[help_questions]

LOL. Your strategy bears all the hallmarks of a terrible project leader. Again, if you are competent, you have nothing to worry about. If I was your boss, I certainly wouldn't want a project leader suppressing an aspiring subordinate instead of raising his/her own game.

EDIT: I should add that you sound like someone in a union, where seniority matters more than competence.

I am not a union guy, and rarely supports unions. I am probably more like the assistant, who is looking to steal a job. But that is why I think my posts can help.

But in reality, I actually had a member of my team who was brought on to be my replacement. Because it was a smaller company, I caught wind of this very early, and was able to destroy the plans very effectively.

I am very competent, but this guy they brought in was far more educated in the field that we worked in. I did an great job day in and day out, but his education and certifications were more than necessary for the job (and more than mine), so it was clear that he would be good too. In any case, I caught wind of the "plot" and took care of it.

So in conclusion, my suggestions those of a competent person, but also of one who had dealt with a position of uncertain job security and won the battle.

I agree that my boss would have wanted a project leader suppressing aspiring subordinate, and that is why you cannot be obvious in doing it. Keeping them on a need to know basis is good, because it keeps them out of the loop, and lets you control what they do. really, if one has an assistant, they shouldn't relinquish any control of their job function.

Also, a cannot re-iterate how noting someone's file for being late/absent blemishes their image with the higher ups. If she gets lippy with you, maybe a write-up for insubordination. OP show no mercy !

[Lizy]

I would go over your head too, if i knew of your grammar skills.

ja ja ja ja
I apologized for not running the spelling check before sent it out.

[65505201]

I am very competent, but this guy they brought in was far more educated in the field that we worked in. I did an great job day in and day out, but his education and certifications were more than necessary for the job (and more than mine), so it was clear that he would be good too. In any case, I caught wind of the "plot" and took care of it.

So in conclusion, my suggestions those of a competent person, but also of one who had dealt with a position of uncertain job security and won the battle.


:rolleyes:

Sounds like you're more concerned a new guy would be promoted over you ,based on your own admission, due to better qualifications and most likely performance. Doesn't sound like the words of someone that's "very competent."

[help_questions]

:rolleyes:

Sounds like you're more concerned a new guy would be promoted over you ,based on your own admission, due to better qualifications and most likely performance. Doesn't sound like the words of someone that's "very competent."

Its more like a manager had an agenda to bring in a friend to make a run at my job. That doesn't make me more competent. As far as the other guy was concerned, he seemed like a nice guy, and had more certifications than I did. I think he would have been good, but not better than me.

My issue wasn't with the fact he was ambitious. I actually liked that he was, because others on the team were not ambitious. My issue was with the fact that a manager had a "plan" to position his friend nicely with my job. It wasn't his call or department, but he did have some pull. The manager was higher than me, but I reported over him, to an executive. I felt that the fact the intent was there would work against me over the long term. So I took care of it.

[Skully]

I'd b3nd her over My desk and have some cowboy luvv, done that along time ago although it wuzz good, wasnt a great career move....oh yah...she wuz also engaged to a gorilla who stalked Me till I got fired.....lol......:cheesygri :cheesygri

[65505201]

Its more like a manager had an agenda to bring in a friend to make a run at my job. That doesn't make me more competent. As far as the other guy was concerned, he seemed like a nice guy, and had more certifications than I did. I think he would have been good, but not better than me.

My issue wasn't with the fact he was ambitious. I actually liked that he was, because others on the team were not ambitious. My issue was with the fact that a manager had a "plan" to position his friend nicely with my job. It wasn't his call or department, but he did have some pull. The manager was higher than me, but I reported over him, to an executive. I felt that the fact the intent was there would work against me over the long term. So I took care of it.

Ok...a manager putting in a friend does change the situation somewhat. Still, if you believe that he would've been good, but not better than you, it seems unethical/unnecessary to go out of your way to sink the guy's work.

[help_questions]

Ok...a manager putting in a friend does change the situation somewhat. Still, if you believe that he would've been good, but not better than you, it seems unethical/unnecessary to go out of your way to sink the guy's work.

Yes and no. the yes is obvious, but as for the no, his job does not entail knowing how I do my job, so making a point to keep him away from my duties and methodology doesn't kill his growth potential WITHIN his position.

[mgronqui]

Keep a log of key events in a notepad so you have written proof. Also keep email trails and bait her so you can get her. Good luck and I hope I never have to deal with a situation like that again.

[nahim.a.a]

This is not a joke:

I'm an office politics strategist and if you're looking for real advice pm me.

I charge after my advice has been determined to be successful by you.


Thank you, and this message will auto-delete itself in 5 hours.

[KorruptioN]

This is not a joke:

I'm an office politics strategist and if you're looking for real advice pm me.

I charge after my advice has been determined to be successful by you.


Thank you, and this message will auto-delete itself in 5 hours.

You just wish your thread (http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=593885) on returning used deodorant auto-deleted itself, don't you?

You are no office politics strategist with your track record around here.

[nahim.a.a]

You just wish your thread (http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=593885) on returning used deodorant auto-deleted itself, don't you?

You are no office politics strategist with your track record around here.

I don't hate Chinese people. So, you guys need to stop attacking me with.

[prvt10]

Do the job better than her. If you can't compete, too frigging bad. She would deserve to be promoted above you.

[help_questions]

Do the job better than her. If you can't compete, too frigging bad. She would deserve to be promoted above you.

Maybe so, but remember that she is not the OP's equal, she is his subordinate. Therefore, OP should use their authority and position to protect his self interests. The fact that she would deserve to be promoted over OP is irrelevant.....OP should take measures to ensure it never gets to that.

[kleptodathief]

online RFD cat fight FTW!! tell ur coworker to post here!

[syqsdg]

online RFD cat fight FTW!! tell ur coworker to post here!

+1 :D