Office Vent
 

I like people. I smile a lot. Work should be fun and fast-paced. I am terrible at administrative stuff. I drop those balls all the time, but I'm good with the meaty things. I love a catastrophe. The more unsolvable the better. I am particularly good at interpersonal stuff.

There is a guy working in my office now who is experienced and reasonably accomplished. He is very detail-oriented. Doesn't miss a thing. The kind that smugly points out that you must have skipped Section 303-A in Chapter 104 of Volume 16. Nobody really likes to work with him. He has attitude issues.

For the past year I have been working HARD to bring him "on board" with an up-beat, loyal, validating team atmosphere. Reaching out to him in a very personal sense. That's what we've got here. But the other day, about three weeks ago, a straw finally broke the camel's back. I know.......and I have known.....that this guy will stab anybody in the back. He still has not tried that with me but it's just a matter of time. You never know what attitude you're going to get from this guy. And again, he is basically....rather than a team player......a traitor inside the team that uplifts himself by bringing down others.

I'll tolerate almost anything, but I cannot abide this. I HATE traitors on my team. There is nothing I hate more than that.

Sorry for the rant. Just had to get it off my chest. I am sad. I tried really hard to 'bring this guy in.' And now, I know there is nothing I can do. Nothing anybody can do. He's going to make everyone walk on eggshells until he finds an opportunity to knife somebody at a meeting with the client.

Our boss is very much like me. Very positive. Very proud of his team and its players and performance. And INTENSELY loyal. To a fault. If I were him, I'd let this guy go. That's an unusual statement for me, but did I happen to mention that I cannot abide a traitor inside my team?

sounds to me like you need to voice these feelings to the boss. Go in with a concerned attitude, not a vindictive attitude. (sounds like concerned would be your norm anyway in this situation) It sounds like your boss would listen to something like this, I would. If your boss is the type that you say he is, then he should know.

Is his name Dwight Shrute by any chance?

Talk to your boss. Then arrange for your office staff to sneak into his room at night, and take turns beating him with socks full of spare change. That should get him on board.:D

I think you mean, "Is his name Jim by any chance."

It wasn't me, I swear, and you can't prove it anyway.

So far I like this suggestion best.

I don't think the boss is unaware. The boss has had to clean up after this guy many times. He knows our relative strengths and weaknesses. It's just that......we're people whose principles are not flexed. My boss places a MASSIVE emphasis, at least in his decisions, on loyalty. He has known this guy a long time. And that is why he is still here.

Heck, it's even worse than that. In addition to having had to clean up after this guy many times, the reason he is in this office right now is because he abandoned his last post. He was the Project Manager at one of our projects. He called our boss one day and said he is leaving. He wouldn't say why. He said he is leaving in two weeks and if there is another job for him in Seattle, great. Otherwise, he quits. Our boss fought hard to get him a seat here. Quite frankly, if I know I can't trust you, and have to clean up your messes frequently, and they you abandon a peach job I gave you......then you're on your own. Not our boss, though. Yeah, it seems pathological, but that's our boss. I would take a bullet for that guy.

Well, you don't go into business with the people you want, you go with the people you have...

Maybe the boss likes the guy for being a "straight shooter" and he may dig up some dirt for the boss that he would otherwise not hear about. There is no other reason why he'd keep him around.

G

And then you transfer one or two to your Detroit office.

Like I say, I'm just ranting. As frightening as it sounds, I think of you guys as my friends.

Here's my office vent...

http://hotels.about.com/library/graphics/ac_vent.jpg

MAybe he just thinks you are a liberal dickhead that doesn't pull their share of the load and looks like crap in a dress Supe. Your politics and derss would not go over well where I work either...regardless of how much you smiled.

Uncalled for....

Agree with Harddrive: Uncalled for!

Tom

I agree with the suggestion of speaking with your boss. When issues arise within my organization, I expect people to talk about them rather than putting on a brave face or- even worse- updating their resumes due to circumstances that can be resolved within reason.

I dunno. Supe is very opinionated on these boards, and that probably flows over into the workplace. It's not surprising to me that there would be issues.

Wow. Jachobleep You and Fint can't seem to keep your politics from becoming personal attacks. There are a lot of people that are on this forum that would love to see you dial it back a bit. Its Wayne's board, so if its ok with him to have people take it to this level fine. I think I am going to have to check out of here for a while.

Supe,

Sounds like this guy (and maybe I didn't understand all of your post) is an extremely intelligent person with the social skills of an asp.

By 'stab someone in the back', do you mean he will expose the flaws in their work or just be underhanded in his dealings with them?
If it is the former, send him to charm school and take advantage of his good points. If the latter, get him out of there.

Good luck.
Les

Maybe if you pay him more his attitude will improve? :D

You've seen Supe in a dress?!