Oye this place is gonna give me white hair.
So some background, first baby fledgling company. Only been a freelancer once and usually had a string of large name companies in the past. So rarely ever witnessed any mass unproductive eccentricities. Yes, I've come across the one surly employee who didn't to behave but that was it. However here, lol I got 3/4 people who are acting out. The one who behaved and more importantly delivered was the new college grad! Everyone else (who had 5-18+yrs of experience on her) were
Add to this a HR person who cannot remain neutral. Very opinionated and takes sides. Yes I know... trouble.
So back to the problem at hand. My job is to make sure they do their duties and complete their project. Hence my title...I run daily 5 min roundtables where every annouces where they are etc. Because it's a public forum, naturally everyone wants to be portrayed in the best light. So they said they completed x,y and z when in secret, they haven't done jack shyt. I found this out for a one of the 3 misbehaviours. Let's call him Boy A.
Boy A actually started before me. And has an unbelievable attendance problem. He can't come to work on time (which is way past 8 am and just a bit before noon). When I first took on this role and noticed it, I naturally wanted to lay down the law. HR told me no because he was going through a rough time - facing eviction and wife was on dialysis. And his expertise is rare - it took HR a month to find him. Also turns out later, he wasn't being evicted. His placed just wasn't rent controlled and he had didn't want to pay the rent increase. Call me a cold witch but this is NOT eviction.
Boy A is also a Brit and LOVES to tell stories. I'm not sure as to his background but apparently he comes from a line of dukes, etc. But that's besides the point. I'm sure he is good at what he does but I have yet to see him produce. In fact I've caught him lost in thought staring out the window MANY times. My method of stopping this is usually IMing him and going "hey, how's the project going etc?" That usually snaps him out of it. He'll mention where he is stuck and I talk him through it and he is good til next time his concentration lapses. I cannot spend my day babysitting this fella.
Boy A is also at odds with Boy B. Boy B is a resident employee who's been there for some time. He has an ethnic background, hardworking, humble but has a bad habit of working on only projects he wants to work on. In fact he is notorious for this. I was warned of it during my interview. He and I have a healthy work relationship. Ie we act like adults. When he didnt deliver on all of his responsibilities we spoke of ways to improve for next time.
Boy B HATES boy A. Convinced Boy A talks down to him and is repulsed by Boy A's poor attendance record. He said Boy A isn't a team player and instead chooses to spread crap about him behind his back.
Back to the boys. All hell broke loose when last thurs, Boy A releases an email about his thoughts regarding the project. Boy B responds and says essentially "that's nice but we're deciding to go with this cuz of x,y, and z". Boy A is instantly livid n goes wtf and literally has a melt down. Immediately went to find my boss who is the VP of the place. At that time he was busy in another mtg and told him to wait. So instead of waiting, Boy A rings up HR who then rings up me. This all happened at lunch hour and I was just munching on some caterling leftoevers at the kitchen.
I ran back with a half eaten bowl and saw steam coming out of Boy A's ears. He could barely speak complaining that his weeks of work was for naught. (Come to find out later, he did nothing to prove a point). I told him to explain in 2 sentences what was wrong and forward me this email. He did and went to go get air as I was afraid I would see a live rendition of fight club. Now I'm not familiar with this technology but a quick learner and more importantly skilled in managing projects. I wikied every unfamiliar term on the email and briefed with Boy A after he got some air. I listened to his accusations and told him I will get to the bottom of this and please not to try and take everything so personal. I then sat with Boy B and heard his side (which was completely different). After I was done with that, I went to find my VP - but he already left for the day. He left hours ago unbeknownst to me. So I let things stand where they were and decided to address the next day. But I did email my boss an explanation of events that night before I went home. After hearing both sides, I was veering towards Boy B. HR was siding with Boy A.
Next morning, Boy B explained his side to the boss. Meanwhile, I'm having my azz served to me by HR who is yelling at me while she is WFH (actually she was having a pedicure done). She is frantic that Boy A might quit, complaining on how long it took her to find him, he can't quit, etc and I created this nightmare for her and handled it wrong. That I should have rang up my boss when I couldn't find him and say we had an emergency. Long story short - she told me that my boss will fire me because of this incident. She IMed me from a restaurant and said I have two weeks to resolve this or else. I was like wtf?
She is livid I didn't sit them both together. She didn't see what I saw - which was Boy A literally ready to bodily harm Boy B. And she chewed me out for not ringing my boss when I found out he was gone for the day. My boss is unique where he treats work and home life as division of state. Once you are here, you're here to work. But once you leave, it's all homelife. I explained this to her - adding he doesn't even want us working on weekends. She chastised me once more and asked didn't I ring work people after they left the office. I told her no. Not really - unless building was on fire (metaphor) or they happen to be working form home that day.
Turns out the reason why my boss left early was to celebrate his wife's bday. So they were doing something special and that's when I realized I didn't have his number. He gave it to me and said feel free to reach him anytime if I need him.
I actually sat with my boss right after he debriefed with Boy B. And after going through how the project went etc, we spoke of the quarrel btwn the two men. He said that Boy A hasn't delivered on anything and that his attendance was appaling. That if this continues, he will be escorted out. I told him what HR said - that I basically got yelled at cuz he is so hard to fine. And he corrected her by saying his opinion trumps hers. Just to manage him and he will warn him himself.
I suggested a seat change to help forge some sort of working relationship between Boy A and Boy B. Instead of being in opposite ends of the room, they will now be facing one another. My boss also assigned them to work on a project together. Boy B will be out of the office for the next few days on holiday so Boy A will be temporarily paired with my boss.
I also reseated another employee - lets call him Boy C. He has been at odds with HR because he reminds her of her ex. And he is a bit of an ... initially but I get along with him however that's just me. It's my job to get along with everyone or else I will have zero cooperation running these projects. I also gave him a piece of hardware that was housed in HR's room that he has been trying to get at for weeks as a consolidation prize for moving to less attractive seat. This was sort of my boss's idea. He advised me that in order for anything to work - you need to provide a win for everyone. He got this idea from raising his 4 and 2 yr old.
The other advantage here is that Boy A will now be seated near HR. So she can see how he works all day and see what the rest of us have been seeing - which is coming in ridiculously late and staring out the window.
I honestly don't know what else to do. HR basically ruined my weekend by threatening to fire me once more. She IMed me from the nail salon and told me I had 2 weeks to fix this or else. I was like wth? She didn't reply for a few min and said she'll talk to me about this mon.
I spoke with my boss that day and we just spoke of how we need to watch Boy A's output. Im plum out of ideas and now instead of kicking back on Easter, I'll be working on this. I already woke up and mapped out how to manage the remaining team members going forward. Bascially micromanage til they start proving themselves again. And I've researched dynamics of such a small environment and other project tips.
Does anyone have any other suggestions? Argh.
So some background, first baby fledgling company. Only been a freelancer once and usually had a string of large name companies in the past. So rarely ever witnessed any mass unproductive eccentricities. Yes, I've come across the one surly employee who didn't to behave but that was it. However here, lol I got 3/4 people who are acting out. The one who behaved and more importantly delivered was the new college grad! Everyone else (who had 5-18+yrs of experience on her) were
Add to this a HR person who cannot remain neutral. Very opinionated and takes sides. Yes I know... trouble.
So back to the problem at hand. My job is to make sure they do their duties and complete their project. Hence my title...I run daily 5 min roundtables where every annouces where they are etc. Because it's a public forum, naturally everyone wants to be portrayed in the best light. So they said they completed x,y and z when in secret, they haven't done jack shyt. I found this out for a one of the 3 misbehaviours. Let's call him Boy A.
Boy A actually started before me. And has an unbelievable attendance problem. He can't come to work on time (which is way past 8 am and just a bit before noon). When I first took on this role and noticed it, I naturally wanted to lay down the law. HR told me no because he was going through a rough time - facing eviction and wife was on dialysis. And his expertise is rare - it took HR a month to find him. Also turns out later, he wasn't being evicted. His placed just wasn't rent controlled and he had didn't want to pay the rent increase. Call me a cold witch but this is NOT eviction.
Boy A is also a Brit and LOVES to tell stories. I'm not sure as to his background but apparently he comes from a line of dukes, etc. But that's besides the point. I'm sure he is good at what he does but I have yet to see him produce. In fact I've caught him lost in thought staring out the window MANY times. My method of stopping this is usually IMing him and going "hey, how's the project going etc?" That usually snaps him out of it. He'll mention where he is stuck and I talk him through it and he is good til next time his concentration lapses. I cannot spend my day babysitting this fella.
Boy A is also at odds with Boy B. Boy B is a resident employee who's been there for some time. He has an ethnic background, hardworking, humble but has a bad habit of working on only projects he wants to work on. In fact he is notorious for this. I was warned of it during my interview. He and I have a healthy work relationship. Ie we act like adults. When he didnt deliver on all of his responsibilities we spoke of ways to improve for next time.
Boy B HATES boy A. Convinced Boy A talks down to him and is repulsed by Boy A's poor attendance record. He said Boy A isn't a team player and instead chooses to spread crap about him behind his back.
Back to the boys. All hell broke loose when last thurs, Boy A releases an email about his thoughts regarding the project. Boy B responds and says essentially "that's nice but we're deciding to go with this cuz of x,y, and z". Boy A is instantly livid n goes wtf and literally has a melt down. Immediately went to find my boss who is the VP of the place. At that time he was busy in another mtg and told him to wait. So instead of waiting, Boy A rings up HR who then rings up me. This all happened at lunch hour and I was just munching on some caterling leftoevers at the kitchen.
I ran back with a half eaten bowl and saw steam coming out of Boy A's ears. He could barely speak complaining that his weeks of work was for naught. (Come to find out later, he did nothing to prove a point). I told him to explain in 2 sentences what was wrong and forward me this email. He did and went to go get air as I was afraid I would see a live rendition of fight club. Now I'm not familiar with this technology but a quick learner and more importantly skilled in managing projects. I wikied every unfamiliar term on the email and briefed with Boy A after he got some air. I listened to his accusations and told him I will get to the bottom of this and please not to try and take everything so personal. I then sat with Boy B and heard his side (which was completely different). After I was done with that, I went to find my VP - but he already left for the day. He left hours ago unbeknownst to me. So I let things stand where they were and decided to address the next day. But I did email my boss an explanation of events that night before I went home. After hearing both sides, I was veering towards Boy B. HR was siding with Boy A.
Next morning, Boy B explained his side to the boss. Meanwhile, I'm having my azz served to me by HR who is yelling at me while she is WFH (actually she was having a pedicure done). She is frantic that Boy A might quit, complaining on how long it took her to find him, he can't quit, etc and I created this nightmare for her and handled it wrong. That I should have rang up my boss when I couldn't find him and say we had an emergency. Long story short - she told me that my boss will fire me because of this incident. She IMed me from a restaurant and said I have two weeks to resolve this or else. I was like wtf?
She is livid I didn't sit them both together. She didn't see what I saw - which was Boy A literally ready to bodily harm Boy B. And she chewed me out for not ringing my boss when I found out he was gone for the day. My boss is unique where he treats work and home life as division of state. Once you are here, you're here to work. But once you leave, it's all homelife. I explained this to her - adding he doesn't even want us working on weekends. She chastised me once more and asked didn't I ring work people after they left the office. I told her no. Not really - unless building was on fire (metaphor) or they happen to be working form home that day.
Turns out the reason why my boss left early was to celebrate his wife's bday. So they were doing something special and that's when I realized I didn't have his number. He gave it to me and said feel free to reach him anytime if I need him.
I actually sat with my boss right after he debriefed with Boy B. And after going through how the project went etc, we spoke of the quarrel btwn the two men. He said that Boy A hasn't delivered on anything and that his attendance was appaling. That if this continues, he will be escorted out. I told him what HR said - that I basically got yelled at cuz he is so hard to fine. And he corrected her by saying his opinion trumps hers. Just to manage him and he will warn him himself.
I suggested a seat change to help forge some sort of working relationship between Boy A and Boy B. Instead of being in opposite ends of the room, they will now be facing one another. My boss also assigned them to work on a project together. Boy B will be out of the office for the next few days on holiday so Boy A will be temporarily paired with my boss.
I also reseated another employee - lets call him Boy C. He has been at odds with HR because he reminds her of her ex. And he is a bit of an ... initially but I get along with him however that's just me. It's my job to get along with everyone or else I will have zero cooperation running these projects. I also gave him a piece of hardware that was housed in HR's room that he has been trying to get at for weeks as a consolidation prize for moving to less attractive seat. This was sort of my boss's idea. He advised me that in order for anything to work - you need to provide a win for everyone. He got this idea from raising his 4 and 2 yr old.
The other advantage here is that Boy A will now be seated near HR. So she can see how he works all day and see what the rest of us have been seeing - which is coming in ridiculously late and staring out the window.
I honestly don't know what else to do. HR basically ruined my weekend by threatening to fire me once more. She IMed me from the nail salon and told me I had 2 weeks to fix this or else. I was like wth? She didn't reply for a few min and said she'll talk to me about this mon.
I spoke with my boss that day and we just spoke of how we need to watch Boy A's output. Im plum out of ideas and now instead of kicking back on Easter, I'll be working on this. I already woke up and mapped out how to manage the remaining team members going forward. Bascially micromanage til they start proving themselves again. And I've researched dynamics of such a small environment and other project tips.
Does anyone have any other suggestions? Argh.
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That would not bode well and make me look completely inadequate - yelling fire and come back to the office asap.
