ajcjobs > BlogBreak > Archives > 2006 > December > 11 > Entry
Suffering at the hands of your co-worker?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If you have ever worked as a part of a team or in any other type of position where you rely on other people to get your work done, you know how easily your world can come crashing down when someone isn’t pulling their weight.
Some of you have encountered the co-worker who is habitually “sick” when an important project is due, leaving it up to the rest of the team to work late to meet a deadline.
Others are burdened by extra work because a co-worker has to leave the office at least once a week to deal with a child care issue. Or perhaps some of you are the ones who are always stuck inside the office answering the phone while a coworker relaxes in the sunshine, taking twenty minute smoke breaks several times a day.
Being the reasonable person that you are, you understand that sometimes you have to “take one for the team,” as they say. When a co-worker is absent because of a legitimate illness or serious family crisis, that’s one thing. But there are those times, when you can’t help but resent the fact that you’re the one who’s suffering when your co-worker has an issue.
The tough thing about these kinds of situations is that it’s hard to bring it up to your supervisor without sounding petty. Yet, each time it occurs, you find it harder not to grow more and more resentful.
Do you have a colleague that takes advantage of your generosity and team spirit? How do you cope or deal with the person?
Comments
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By Charles
December 11, 2006 12:21 PM | Link to this
I am a Christian and I often ask God in prayer, why do people refuse to tell the truth. When workers have coworkers who habitually takes advantage of another worker, the best way to solve the problem is to start looking for another job. The supervisor usually knows what is occurring. If supervisors don’t know, when informed, they will take the side of the slackers. “Birds of a feather will flock together.” The lies and manufactured evidence will soon be directed at the honest, hard working, dependable worker. What a mess!
Presently, there is no way to justly solve this kind of problem. We need strong, dominant people with character in supervisory positions. Unfortunately, we have just the opposite.
By jill
December 11, 2006 1:47 PM | Link to this
i have a co-worker who does not pull his weight. the co-worker skips meetings, calls out sick, and takes 2 hour lunches (which are followed by 1 hour afternoon breaks). He rarely completes his part of a team assignment. When he does complete his portion, I must “re-work it ” so that it is acceptable or assist him in completing his portion. I have brought this to the attention of management. However, the situation continues and so does my job search.
By Lillie D
December 11, 2006 2:22 PM | Link to this
I agree with Charles. This is definitely an issue with plenty of liars in the work place. I am having that same problem on the job now. Management staff ly about what they have as assignments for workers just to make it look like we are busy. My moral has been shot because of the people that are taken advantage of. I really wish it could not be this way. But, I think as the younger generation takes over, it will change.
By WTH?
December 13, 2006 11:08 AM | Link to this
I want to get a job with the company Jill works for. Her co-worker that takes 2-hour lunches and then a 1 hr break, sounds like my dream job. You would never get away with that here. It’s funny, because if you’re 5 mins late getting back from your hour lunch break, you get “the look”. First, the supv looks up at the clock and then at you. But, no one ever says anything when he’s gone from 1030am to 1 pm and comes back with a fresh haircut! He takes the company nextel with him, so he’s on company business. Company biz my azz!
By Programmer
December 13, 2006 12:41 PM | Link to this
My co-worker and I are both software developers so we need to be experts at solving logical problems. He is always coming to me asking me how to do something, or even worse, why his software code isn’t doing what it is supposed to.
Instead of doing the tedious work of digging into the problem, he really wants me to stop what I’m doing and do it…I refuse, but offer suggestions as to how he might research his problem…he says he doesn’t think that will help..I tell him not to ask for my advice if he isn’t going to use it…he says he’ll try my advice…he does and he eventually solves his problem.
This routine happens dozens of times each week.
He had to figure out how to make two pieces of software work together. I was out of the office for ten days and when I came back, my co-worker still had not solved the problem, which was holding up a deadline.
My boss asked me to look into it, I searched the internet for fifteen minutes and within an hour I had solved the problem. Am I that great? No!…he’s just that lame.
Unfortunately for him, his lack of problem solving ability has been noticed by the head of the department so I may have a new co-worker soon.