Problem at work, need some quick advice....

Strider590

Long story short, i've moved temporarily to a different dept, one "supervised" by someone who really shouldn't even be in the dept. He has no official authority, he's just the oldest, he's only there because they needed an extra pair of hands to do the simple work, he's not the sharpest tool in the box and he's lacking any technical knowledge.
I'm in there to provide technical guidance in setting up some new equipment.

This person has started playing at the dominant body language stuff (really badly and obviously), things like rearranging my workspace every evening, patting me on the back like a dog, etc etc etc.

Every time he does this, it's a concious effort not to break his wrist and bring him to his knees (martial arts training).

I'm not going to let him keep doing this, i'm not a dog, i'm far more experienced than him and i've held positions of authority in previous jobs. Coming from another dept i'm also better paid (and by not a small amount).

He's knows what he's doing, it's like he's read this stuff from somewhere, but he's not quite clever enough to be subtle about it.

I don't want to cause trouble, but this has to stop.
Speak to him? speak to his manager? speak to a much higher up manager? go straight to the MD? (we've worked together on projects)

The business is growing and i'm gradually being given more and more responsible jobs to do, project management etc..... So this issue has to be dealt with sensitively.

ILW

Are you sure the problem is with him?

Valli

Play him at his own game. Get your back patting (etc) in first.

thistledome

Next time he tries to do something dominant, whip around really quick and start humping him.

I learnt this from my spaniel.

Southend1

Don't go over his head that will make things worse. The first thing to do is to start being assertive when he behaves in unacceptable ways. For example, "I'm really pleased you are happy with my work but please don't pat me on the back in future."

Strider590

ILW wrote: »

Are you sure the problem is with him?

Yeah, defo..... It's started in the last week or so, before this he was being very cautious around me, I think he thought I was being drafted in to take over or to spy for the MD.

Yorkie1

I would challenge him as suggested by another poster. It's very passive aggressive to move things round on someone's desk. Why's he doing that? Is there anything on there which might go missing?

elsien

I'd be cracking jokes with the rest of the team about the office poltergeist, so if he carries on moving stuff around it makes him look a bigger prat than he does now.

cte1111

I would politely ask him not to move your desk around. Maybe the patting could be dealt with by a joke, e.g. I'm not a dog you know Bob.

It does sound a bit like you're making a mountain out of a molehill. You're not going to be in that department forever, so maybe best just to rise above it and be glad when you move onto your next task.

I find the "Every time he does this, it's a concious effort not to break his wrist and bring him to his knees" more of a concern TBH. It does seem rather an extreme statement.

Southend1

Thing is, if OP tries to deal with this as a joke then the supervisor won't take him seriously. Assertive, adult feedback is what is required. I.e. "Bob, when you move things around on my desk it makes me feel uncomfortable. Please don't do it again". Clearly behaving aggressively towards the guy is unacceptable, no matter how inappropriate his behaviour. OP mentions he has had management roles in the past so he should have the experience to deal with this in the most appropriate way.

Strider590

Southend1 wrote: »

Thing is, if OP tries to deal with this as a joke then the supervisor won't take him seriously. .

He's not a supervisor, he's senior only really by age and by basically running about trying to control the unimportant stuff......

I feel he's trying to assert himself as the boss of the room, but he's secretly insecure because he knows he doesn't have the knowledge, experience, intelligence or qualifications. So he's turning to basic passive aggressive body language to assert himself as the alpha male.
Like I say, this is clearly staged behaviour, you can see he's planning this stuff every time he does it.......