Dear colleague,
I must admit we’ve hit a few bumps in recent months. I, too, want us to work better together. You have no idea how badly I want our at-work relationship to improve. The problem is, though, that you assume far more of a “working” relationship than I do. Bottom line, I work with you, at the same company. And I will respect you, and as appropriate, work with you to get our goals accomplished. But it’s wrong to assume that because we work together, that somehow means I work for you. So here are a few things you need to know:
• If I didn’t invite you to the meeting, then you shouldn’t be there.
• If you weren’t originally on my message, and received it via forward from someone else, don’t call and direct me to add you to the “to” line in the future. If I didn’t put you on the “to” line, then you probably didn’t need to see it.
• If I didn’t seek your approval for something before it was finalized, then I probably didn’t need it.
• If you assumed I could read your mind, you’re wrong—I can’t. So tell me what you’re actually want when you ask me for something.
• If you didn’t bother to check your facts, and your story is based on bad facts and numbers from a bad source, that’s not my fault. So don’t tell me or my team that we aren’t doing our jobs.
• If you hit “reply all” to every single message, I’m just going to start deleting them.
• If you schedule a meeting when my schedule reads purple—which means out of the office—then I won’t be there. And if that means you need to reschedule around me, too bad.
• If you say no, while my boss said yes, who do you think I will take seriously?
We’re all struggling right now with understanding new boundaries, new responsibilities, and new challenges. Please, let’s work better together, so this relationship becomes something meaningful, sustainable, and profitable. Please. For God’s sake.
It is amazing how much you can accomplish when it doesn’t matter who gets the credit. —Unknown
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