I don’t know how your email notification system works, but I would find myself really on edge if I had to check my email every 20 minutes or got notifications every 20-30 minutes that there were more emails. It would break any effort I had at concentration. I adjunct, and generally only check my accounts around 3 times a day. I’m just trying to get a view of this from the other girl’s perspective and give her the benefit of the doubt here. </p>
<p>Maybe a combination of “communication types” would be reasonable. One or two main emails with the important updates, and a call or text message when there is something that can’t wait a few hours?</p>
<p>sylvan, a person being annoyed by frequent emails is perfectly reasonable, BUT a decent person would go to the coworker and pleasantly say, “I know I told you to email me, but I have this thing where I can’t concentrate if I’m having to check email frequently. Could you just combine them and send them two or three times a day instead? Unless it is urgent, of course. Thanks!”</p>
<p>Sending a complaint to the bosses is backstabbing *****ery, plain and simple.</p>
<p>Rockville - I’m sorry you have to deal with this in a brand new job. Here you are all eager and bright eyed and bushy tailed getting crap from some grump.</p>
<p>I hate tattletales at work. So and so didn’t ask me if I wanted to order lunch yesterday…(I actually got that complaint once)</p>
<p>We email a lot at my office. I work a lot from home and if there are quick questions to shoot back and forth we just send emails. I’ll on occasion send out to a group asking opinions. One person never ever opens her emails and she’s on the phone all day so it’s like she’s an island, which she isn’t and it’s something we just had a meeting about yesterday. If we can’t interrupt your calls and you won’t look at your email - how do you suggest we communicate with you when we have a quick question? Not everything needs a formal board room meeting. </p>
<p>I think the tactic of asking her for help could work - Sally, I’m a little confused and I’m hoping you can help me out here since I’m new. I thought I was supposed to contact you by email, but clearly that’s causing issues. How would you like for me to communicate so you don’t have to keep going to the boss? I’m sure that’s annoying to her and I want to make sure we can communicate in a way that works for both of us.</p>
<p>I get few hundred emails a day. I use filter to put them into different folders. If people are so bothered by email notification, they can certainly turn it off. Most people are expected to check and reply to their emails fairly frequently nowadays. I think co-worker’s complaint is baseless.</p>
<p>At most of the offices I’ve worked in, this type of co-worker would have been booted out. </p>
<p>To most of my supervisors, someone who behaves in this manner is failing to be a “team player”, immature, and possibly someone with work-shirking tendencies. They’d want someone like that gone ASAP if he/she behaved in that manner. Especially considering email even 10+ years ago was the primary communication medium for dealing with colleagues, managers, and clients. </p>
<p>I can just imagine this colleague’s reaction to working with one former supervisor who expected us not only to check our emails periodically, but also answer any IMs from him or anyone else on the team within 10 minutes unless there was something causing us to be away from our desk…in which case we’re expected to say we’re away. However, it wasn’t considered a good idea to use the away notification too often or for more than 10-20 minutes at a stretch without good reason as that’d also be considered a sign the employee was possibly goofing off.</p>
<p>Do I understand correctly that this person is your “equal”, and not your subordinate or superior?</p>
<p>She is insecure and for whatever reason feels threatened. Maybe it’s you, your work, or some other factor you don’t know about. The only copying of the bosses I would do if I were you is one final email, telling her you’re sorry the email arrangement isn’t working out, and that you’ll send her a meeting request for a time the two of you can sit down and determine what method of communication would work best. That sends a signal to the bosses that no, their intervention is not required for two adults to get work done, and you are taking responsibility for the resolution. Assuming she is your equal (and acknowledging she was “there first”), it seems to me there needs to be some compromise and cooperation with YOUR preferred method of communication as well.</p>
<p>I used to have an assistant who really meant well, but she was in my office doorway about every two minutes. I couldn’t get anything done, and she would frankly just ask instead of taking a few minutes to figure out something for herself. We made an agreement that we would sit down twice each day, once mid-morning, once mid-afternoon, to review her tasks and questions. It typically took only about 15 minutes. If something was urgent, of course come get me right away. She ultimately learned that she was capable of a lot more than she realized, if she just gave it a moment’s thought. Maybe brief meetings on a regular schedule is a solution in this case. That way you both know whether the level of urgency can wait for the next sit-down, or if it needs attention sooner.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the great sugestions. I am going to try the draft email idea and just keep adding to it and revising it as the day goes on and send to her in the afternoon. It probably is a better method.</p>
<p>We work in the financial services industry and are sitting at desks in front of computers all day long - so checking email is continuous. In fact, we all have two monitors on our desks, most people keep email up at all times on the right and use the left for Internet, document review, etc. I certainly don’t expect her to stop what she is doing whenever I email her. But checking and responding to email is a significant part of my daily list.</p>
<p>I am sort of an added layer between her and my boss. The position had been vacant. My boss wants to focus his time and energy on new business, leaving me to manage existing clients and transactions. My boss is not at all unhappy with me and confesses that before my arrival - he had the same issues with her! So, at least I know it’s not me. Don’t understand why no one seems willing to address her behavior with her, but whatever.</p>
<p>My plan is to be friendly/cordial towards her, limit the emails and see how it goes. My feeling is that she perceives me as trying to “supervise” her and is really pushing back. I think it’s a shame - she is very competent and I have no need or desire to micromanage her.</p>
<p>Originally Posted by rockvillemom
"We’re talking about 6-7 in the span of a few hours, primarily because I was limiting each email topic to one client, rather than consolidating several clients topics into one email, and that’s an easy fix. "</p>
<p>6-7 emails from the same person in the span of a few hours could be considered a lot - it may be many more than she’s used to getting. If she’s never gotten that much before, she may be misinterpreting it and reacting poorly. It sounds like that’s what’s happening to me.</p>
<p>So I’d give her the benefit of the doubt. Just someone who has some people skills issues and needs clarification and alignment. It could all wind up being a non-issue if handled properly.</p>
<p>I agree. But this was one particular day - not an every day occurrence and she interpreted it as my pushing her to work faster, work on this file, do this, do that, and that was simply not my intent. I generally interact with the clients - she is more behind the scene. So, my emails were generally giving her info and/or documents from the various clients along with an updated status as far as what was happening next. I think she is waayy overreacting, but it was the copying of the bosses that really left me flabbergasted. I mean, who does that? So childish. But I can modify my approach. It’s a new job - I’m trying to demonstrate my competence and energy - but I can chill a bit if that would smooth the waters. And after seeing her copy my emails in her complaint email, at least I am forewarned that she plays dirty and to be extremely careful of my email content and tone.</p>
<p>This is a YMMV depending on environment. However, as someone who worked in firms involved in financial services, receiving 6-7 emails in a span of a few hours on client/company matters is a bit on the low side from what I and most colleagues had to contend with. </p>
<p>Sometimes, I got 3-4 times that within a couple of hours from supervisor, team members, along with folks from marketing and legal. Fortunately, I was given good mentoring by my supervisor/colleagues so I got a good feel for which emails had greatest priority and which could wait a bit or were general FYI/heads-up type emails.</p>
<p>I would limit any interaction with her to the in-person kind, with another colleague as a witness, if possible. I think mom2collegekids is correct that she feels ashamed of being less productive than the OP. </p>
<p>If you must email her, send only one per day at the most, with bullet points for each client or task. You’re a threat to her for some reason, so try to imagine how you’d want a threat to you to interact with you and proceed from there.</p>
<p>You’re welcome. Drives me crazy when work emails don’t signal what’s inside and what action I need to take. (File, read, respond to immediately, respond by a certain time)</p>
<p>Yea, good tip! Didn’t think of that one. If I send an email that requires action, though, I do say ACTION REQUIRED in the subject line. I get about 100 emails a day. (Not an exaggeration).</p>
<p>Aha. She views your arrival as a demotion for her. Before you, she had direct access to your boss; now, she has to go through you. She doesn’t like this. Also, before, I doubt her boss sent her so many emails – I’m sure he was busy with new business. Now that you’re there, you’re focused on existing clients so you’re asking her or informing her of things related to them. Co-worked perceives this a micromanaging, since no one (that is, the boss) did this before.</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone has mentioned this, but I find it curious that she requested emails as the line of communication she receive from you, and then proceeds to not only complain about them, but to copy your boss. Did she request emails because she planned on “tattling” right from the start? Maybe I’ve just associated with too many passive aggressive people and I’m jumping to conclusions, but I have to wonder if this was her plan all along.</p>