How to handle team leader in new job?

Almb1505

So I’ve been in my new job nearly two months now, everything is going good, I’ve been top of the league in team league tables and generally doing quite well. Every couple of weeks me and the new starters sit down with the one of the team leaders to discuss work and get an overview of work. Both times with the same team leader she has brought up she’s concerned with my work.

The first time I was told she was concerned by the amount of work I was doing for a new starter and that it raised alarms about my quality (baring in mind I’ve done this job before on a smaller scale I picked it up quite quickly). I spoke to another team leader about this as I was now unsure how much should I actually be doing & she informed me that what I was doing is fine but beings new starter I shouldn’t feel like I need to keep up with other team leaders and can take my time if I need to.

I recently had another meeting with the same team leader who brought up again how she was concerned about my work, this time about an email address, I was told to contact said client via email they provided by a colleague, the email address matched the company so I sent. Apparently I should have confirmed the email before sending as we didn’t have the email on file and the first part of the email didn’t match the contacts name.

I’m just wondering am I getting worked up about this for no reason? My personal team leader and other team leaders have no issues with my work except this one and every time i come out of a meeting with her it makes me doubt my work and confuses me more. How can I go about dealing with this problem?

Is it worth me sitting down with my personal team leader and asking her if she has any concerns with my work and if she could further clarify if I should be verifying every new email address I get regardless if the company name is in it? (I deal with thousands of client accounts, so doing that would be very time consuming)? What does everyone think?

TELLIT01

The team leader is correct that you should have confirmed the e-mail address, but equally it could be argued that you assumed that the person who passed it to you had confirmed it as correct (Making assumptions like that is always dangerous!).
I think it's actually good that a team leader is expressing concern if somebody is producing a lot more than other people with similar experience. I've seen far to many instances where quantity has been held up as the most important factor.
Yes, sit down with your own team leader to see if they have any concerns about the quality of the work you are producing, and the approved process for using new e-mail addresses. Then you will have a basis to respond if other team leaders raise concerns.
On the general point of e-mail addresses, I would say that if a new address is notified in writing it would be accepted. If just by word of mouth it would be advisable to confirm. Your team leader will be able to give the official position.

stuartJo1989

I think it's actually good that a team leader is expressing concern if somebody is producing a lot more than other people with similar experience. I've seen far to many instances where quantity has been held up as the most important factor.

Yea, me too. I worked in a call center in a supervisory role, looking into quality and the likes.

Agents had all sorts of scams going on, which they thought we knew nothing about. Double clicking cases to increase productivity, scouring the inbox for spam emails, not helping customers (getting them off calls quickly) which drove repeat calls, transferring back to the IVR. They were very creative They LOOKED good, on paper (that paper went straight to the big bosses who thought it was a good performance) , but they weren't.

THAT BEING SAID, some agents were just wickedly efficient. The sort of people you wish everyone was like. They were few and far between, especially in minimum wage jobs like that.

OP, sounds like just a rouge Team Leader to be fair... You only have to worry about the nosey gits (like ex me) who WILL dig around, but they are not in every job like this. This Team Leader just sounds like they are wary of you, can't prove ought, but have decided to be picky to save face. Its just a game to be fair, as long as your immediate boss is happy then I wouldn't worry unduly (maybe speak to them if you are worried). Oh and just play the game.... An occasional, "oh sorry, I didn't realise that was needed but thanks for letting me know and I'll focus on that going forward" is the ultimate defense to someone who is riding you a bit ). Oh and, unless you are on commission, chill out a bit! You are getting paid no more than the other people who you are exceeding.

CIS

stuartJo1989 wrote: »

Agents had all sorts of scams going on, which they thought we knew nothing about. Double clicking cases to increase productivity, scouring the inbox for spam emails, not helping customers (getting them off calls quickly) which drove repeat calls, transferring back to the IVR. They were very creative They LOOKED good, on paper (that paper went straight to the big bosses who thought it was a good performance) , but they weren't.

I've seen similar but in that case it was fairly obvious what they were doing but management weren't bothered as it was being done by the chosen few, who have their heads lodged in so far it's touch and go as to whether they can ever be separated. They were also the bosses drinking buddies.

stuartJo1989

CIS wrote: »

I've seen similar but in that case it was fairly obvious what they were doing but management weren't bothered as it was being done by the chosen few, who have their heads lodged in so far it's touch and go as to whether they can ever be separated. They were also the bosses drinking buddies.

Yep! I've had to deal with that sort of behaviour in the past. Luckily, the higher up bosses backed me and so a few Team Leaders and their "chosen" agents got disciplined. They soon learnt how to do their job properly Well, except for one duo who I swear were sleeping together or something. I called the agent "the swan", because he liked to swan around whenever he pleased A real expert in dodging calls. I blocked a promotion for him onto our team, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did well for himself in the end.

Sadly, having someone as bothered about fairness as me/our team is not a given in all places like that.