Irritating work colleague

sussexchick

OK - so we all may have had the misfortune of coming into contact with a work colleague who drives us to the point of well ... madness ?

Looking for a bit of advice on how to handle the woman who works in the same team as myself.

Started to work for the company approx 4 months ago, at first she was very nice, helped train me on various systems, I could ask her anything and she'd always be willing to help. For whatever reason approx 2 months ago, things changed between us and she has 'been on my case' ever since. I was given one of her contracts, (all team members had to change contracts) and she's become a nightmare. She is so incredibly patronising to customers, speaks loudly on the phone, stands at her desk with hands on hips, treats me like the office junior !, embarrasses other work colleagues if something is incorrectly input, (she makes some serious errors herself), listens in on ALL office conversations, speaks to customers who she has no dealings with and then keeps that information to herself, to name just a few pain in the butts which has driven me to the point of wanting to jack my job in.

Have attempted to speak to Manager about her behaviour but she would rather bury her head in the sand and says 'oh she's not that bad' ! Oh really ??? !!! So I'm left with raising her behaviour with senior management or getting out the company - great choice !


Any advice greatly appreciated, but must be legal and of the non violent nature.

Many thanks

DUTR

Sadly as you are the new kid on the block, the others have tolerated or appear to have, so you will be the one that may look bad in the long run.

the_pink_panther_2

Annoying as heck, but I'm betting a high proportion of people reading this thread are reminded of someone they work with who fits a similar description:/

sussexchick

DUTR wrote: »

Sadly as you are the new kid on the block, the others have tolerated or appear to have, so you will be the one that may look bad in the long run.

I think you are absolutely spot on. There are various floor managers who also think she's irritating, but since they don't have to work with her, they too keep schtum. How annoying !

paulineb_2

Some people in the workplace are pains in the backside to varying degrees, Id only do something about it if it turned into outright bullying, certainly wouldnt consider leaving over someone who is just a PITA.

sussexchick

the_pink_panther wrote: »

Annoying as heck, but I'm betting a high proportion of people reading this thread are reminded of someone they work with who fits a similar description:/

I think every organisation has one ! - I am the LEAST confrontational person ever, she is the MOST confrontational person ever ! - I really enjoy my job, great organisation to work for, so don't want to leave. I've thought about asking for a transfer to another department, good or bad move ?

the_pink_panther_2

Blimey she must be quite something!!! Difficult to say for sure if good move or not, but could be risky as you're still new and probably people are still making their minds up about you still, don't know how it would look.

Funky_Bold_Ribena

You ALL need to deal with this as a team; if the manager won't sort it.

She is so incredibly patronising to customers - there is nothing you can do except hope that the customer puts a complaint in. If a customer mentions it, tell them the complaints procedure and your manager's manager's details for them to complain to.
speaks loudly on the phone - you can't do anything about this - apart from save some clippets of info for if you need them one day.
stands at her desk with hands on hips - that's not illegal.
treats me like the office junior - how so? If she tells you to do something then you have to go to your manager and say 'Maureen has asked me to do this, which task to I need to drop down the list in order to get it done. Is it priority?
embarrasses other work colleagues if something is incorrectly input, (she makes some serious errors herself) - if she says 'Annie put in x wrong' just point out that we've all done it in the past, no need to get personal. Nobody is perfect.
listens in on ALL office conversations - stop the conversation/put your hand over the mouthpiece/mute the call and ask 'Can I help you Maureen?'
speaks to customers who she has no dealings with and then keeps that information to herself - how do you know this? If she is actually putting the organisation into a position where they could be seen as idiots, then you need to raise an issue with 'how do we record conversations and pass on information as we are beginning to look like idiots?'

Errata

Sounds like she's an equal opportunities worker, don't take it personally.

marisco_2

sussexchick wrote: »

I think every organisation has one ! - I am the LEAST confrontational person ever, she is the MOST confrontational person ever ! - I really enjoy my job, great organisation to work for, so don't want to leave. I've thought about asking for a transfer to another department, good or bad move ?

Could be a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire. In some companies there are people like her in more than one department. As you are relatively new to the company I would just keep your head down and do your job to the best of your ability. Her conduct sounds very unprofessional and in the end she will mess up and be held to account.

sussexchick

Funky_Bold_Ribena wrote: »

You ALL need to deal with this as a team; if the manager won't sort it.

She is so incredibly patronising to customers - there is nothing you can do except hope that the customer puts a complaint in. If a customer mentions it, tell them the complaints procedure and your manager's manager's details for them to complain to.
speaks loudly on the phone - you can't do anything about this - apart from save some clippets of info for if you need them one day.
stands at her desk with hands on hips - that's not illegal.
treats me like the office junior - how so? If she tells you to do something then you have to go to your manager and say 'Maureen has asked me to do this, which task to I need to drop down the list in order to get it done. Is it priority?
embarrasses other work colleagues if something is incorrectly input, (she makes some serious errors herself) - if she says 'Annie put in x wrong' just point out that we've all done it in the past, no need to get personal. Nobody is perfect.
listens in on ALL office conversations - stop the conversation/put your hand over the mouthpiece/mute the call and ask 'Can I help you Maureen?'
speaks to customers who she has no dealings with and then keeps that information to herself - how do you know this? If she is actually putting the organisation into a position where they could be seen as idiots, then you need to raise an issue with 'how do we record conversations and pass on information as we are beginning to look like idiots?'

Some really good pointers and advice there - thank you. Big worry is that other colleagues are apprentices and not permanent post holders. I've already asked if they were prepared to support my claims and unfortunately, they won't due to needing a permanent job at the end of 12 months.

As for speaking to customers that don't concern her, my colleague overheard the conversation, but won't say anything to her as she needs to be offered a permanent post.

And I can't believe I'm even saying this but, I have contemplated sabotage !!!! although I know I couldn't go through with it, it makes me feel quite smug !