Dear Roze:

My co-workers and I are very familiar with the saying “There’s no “I” in TEAM,” but our boss, the captain of our team so to speak, sure doesn’t. Our department does advertising for our company and we were recently rewarded for our creativity. The four of us were so psyched to receive this recognition from this outside and very reputable association that compares us to our competitors, but our morale took a big dive when our boss announced our reward to the rest of the company. When he sent out an email to everyone in the company, he basically took all the credit. He didn’t mention any of us by name or even as a group. Although it didn’t surprise us in the least, it still hurt. Shoot, after a lot of this kind of behavior, it’s hard to stay motivated. Even though we really don’t think he cares, we’re thinking of giving him a piece of our mind. What do you think about that?

-Boss gives no credit

Dear Boss gives no credit:

It is a real shame that your boss did not acknowledge that this reward was due to all of your efforts, and that he does not seem to care about or understand the importance of giving credit where credit is due. You and all of your colleagues discussing the matter with him could be effective, but the delivery is key. Before expressing your disappointment with his actions, recognize something positive about working for him. Given his apparent indifference towards all of you, you may or may not get the reaction you are looking for.

Best of luck!

Dear Roze:

I work for a very small company. We have a part-time administrative person whose #1 responsibility is to type up the minutes from our monthly project meetings. When she first started working for us, she was instructed to email us a draft of these minutes and the agendas for future meetings two weeks before the next meeting, so we have sufficient time to give her our edits. In a year’s time, she has met the two-week deadline maybe twice, but it appears that I’m the only one bothered by this. It’s apparent that I’m the only one who really takes the time to carefully review the minutes and agendas she types up for us, but a couple of the other managers have told me that even though they’re not as detailed as me, they don’t like that we’re not getting what we’re paying her for. It really bothers me that she is now submitting the documents less than a week before our meetings. So far, I’ve had the time to submit my edits, but it often requires that I put other important matters on the back burner so that my edits make the “final” version. Recently, I requested that she make what I considered a critical change to the agenda. She advised me that she had already made all the copies of the agenda for the meeting, and suggested that I call the chairman and ask him to announce at the beginning of our meeting the change I want. I was ticked because I gave her my input within hours of her sending out the agenda. Had she sent out the document in the time frame she was supposed to, this would not even be an issue. Even still, the point of sending out drafts is to get feedback from all of us managers who participate in the project meetings. I bit my tongue on this, but something needs to be done. This is not the first time something like this has happened. What would you suggest?

-Major problem with the delivery

Dear Major problem with the delivery:

The administrative person needs to be reminded in person and in writing by the appropriate person(s) within your organization when the drafts of the meeting minutes and agendas are due. It should also be clearly articulated that she will be terminated if she does not meet her deadlines after this formal notification. If she does not step up to the plate, it should not be difficult to find someone who can meet the time requirements of this part-time work.

Dear Roze:

When I was attending a meeting outside my office, I realized that it was going to run late, so I called my assistant and told her that I would not be returning to the office, but would see her the next morning. That next day, my assistant didn’t show up for work until close to noon. She didn’t call me or leave me a voice mail, nor did she send me an email indicating that she wouldn’t be coming in or that she was going to be late. Instead, she notified another admin person who has no authority over her that she was going to be late because of car trouble. The admin person didn’t mention it to me because she assumed that I knew because I’m her boss. The general manager, who is my immediate supervisor, has always made it clear that everyone is to keep everyone in their chain of command informed of their whereabouts. Interestingly, the general manager was out of town during this incident. It seems like my assistant tends to pull this kind of mess when she’s not around. So, before she finally got into the office, I sent her an email about this and about a budget matter she was supposed to do for me.

With regard to the tardy incident, I told her to notify me directly when she knows she’s going to be late, and even if she thinks I’m not going to be in the office when something like this happens to her, to still leave me a voice mail. She didn’t respond at all. She didn’t email me back or pop her head into my office and acknowledge it. I really think she owes me an apology or just some kind of response.

Yes, I don’t have what I would call a decent relationship with my assistant. This is not the first time she has undermined my authority. There’s definitely a personality clash between us, but that’s no excuse for her being irresponsible and disrespectful. I feel like I need to talk to the general manager about this, because it just so happens that this assistant also works for the general manager. And of course, the general manager has no problems with her. In the past the general manager has told me that I need to be more confident with my position, but she has also told me that I can be very intense. What do you think about me talking to my boss about this? Do you agree? If not, what do you think I should do?

-Tired of assistant’s undermining

Dear Tired of assistant’s undermining:

I suggest that you not go to the general manager, at least not initially. Have a one-on-one with your assistant. It is critical that you approach her without being confrontational. Calmly ask her if she received your email and what you can do to improve the working relationship between the two of you. Hopefully, she will take advantage of this opportunity and respectfully respond with an explanation for her behavior and/or an apology. And hopefully, she will appreciate your sincere interest and effort in improving your relationship; so much so, you will begin to see an improvement in her attitude and behavior thereafter. If not, have a discussion with the general manager, and be sure she knows of your efforts to remedy the problem on your own.