Not sure if this is on topic, but I could use a little advice here.

I'm new in a medium-sized company. Typical office politics, and of course there's this one person I always seem to butt heads with. I was hired as a report writer / developer / dba - type position in an accounting group. For the most part, I love my job. But this one person, supposedly a Business Analyst, is really getting to me.

Now I'm not sure (at least in this company) what a BA is supposed to do all day, but this one seems to like to go out of her way to step on people. I guess she gets paid to try to make people look bad. Consistently she comes my way and asks me to change certain reports agains my Project Manager's orders. I fell for it once. Naturally in a meeting when it was brought up I explained that she had asked me to do it, and as you may guess she flat-out lied and said of course not. As a further drawback she'd made the request verbally, so I had no e-mail or written request to back my position. Never again. For a couple of weeks, she left me alone.

Now, it's back to the same old antics. Recently she's asked me for a similar request, and now she's pissed because I'm checking with my project manager before making her desired changes. I fear that covering my *ss may escalate the situation. Granted, I do not like this person (I've never had an affinity for liars & cheats), but I do want my workplace to run as smooth as possible.

To top it off, other co-workers who have been here longer have explained that she'd "step on anyone's face to get ahead". Great, it seems as though I'm pegged for a staircase.

Can anyone give me a little advice on how to handle this situation? I'm not a big fan of confrontation, and I really don't want to stoop down to her level, but at the same time I'd like to just do my job and (of course) look good for the work I do.

Thanks,
Jason

Tell here that you'd be glad to make the changes as soon as you get a written request, dated and signed, outlining the requirements.  Then say, "I'll get my PM to initial off the work, and I'll get right on it".

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Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

In my previous post I worked with both BAs and Project Managers. In that environment the PMs oversaw changes based on specifications provided and documented by the BAs. Is that not how things work at your employers?

In all the companies I've worked at any change requests had to be documented for future reference so that records of the current functionality were maintained. If your reporting line is not clear, then I would clarify it with your project manager and then request that in future all change requests were sent to you by email ("for clarity") and CC'd to your PM.

HTH  

TazUk

Blue-screening PCs since 1998

If you have a coworker that will in a meeting tell bald-faced lies to cover his/her own butt, you no longer have the luxury of being stricly non-confrontational.  Your coworker is obviously viciously self-centered and thus willing to stick a knife in your back to further his/her own career.

Applying CajunCenturion's advice is the only way you're going to survive this person.  Don't think of this as confrontation -- think of it as simply documenting your workflow.

Want the best answers? Ask the best questions!  TANSTAAFL!

That's how it's supposed to work out, Tazuk (or at least, I guess). However I get the classic side-stepping of the PM and straight to me with undocumented changes.

I guess in the future I will have to religiously follow Cajun & Sleipnir's advice. I'm not exactly thrilled with the situation, but it appears as though there's no other way out of it. In the meantime I'll hope she'll get a promotion which would involve a transfer to the other coast.

Strange, though - I went to the PM with the request listed earlier and of course changes were made to the specs without a problem. Everything could have been made way easier if she would have went to the PM herself (and followed the chain of command, so to speak). But then again that wouldn't have been kosher with her little games. Thanks, guys, for the advice.

-Jason

You are learning the hard lesson that brains, hard work, and productive ability mean absolutely nothing in the workplace. This is how and why unqualified people get into such positions.

You have my sympathies dBjason. I had similar difficulties in my last role which I've posted about elsewhere on Tek-Tips, and (as I'm also a non-confrontational type) I had dreadful diffulties turning down unauthorised change requests (in my case from end users).

In the end what saved my bacon (and my sanity!) were my 3 years of archived email that revealed the extent of the problem. Towards the end of my time with that employer there was a highly satisfying meeting where I had the opportunity to clear my name and put the hammer down on the problem people with a line by line rebuttal of their accusations and over 40 A4 pages of proof.

Best of luck with your BA.

TazUk

Blue-screening PCs since 1998

I used to work with her...well maybe not exactly her.

We hired a person as a programmer, she was a compulsive liar also. It became her downfall. I am the senior systems analyst, and she was screwing up royally and lying about it constantly. I would, at first, clean it up and move on, but it became too regular. I eventually stopped and let her explain herself to others.

One day I got paged out of a meeting to speak with the HR director and IT director about something she said I had told her to do. Sorry, not so. I never saw her again. Her personal things were still at her desk a month later.

My point is, do what you need to do, don't help her unless your PM tells you to, and things should work out in the end. Even in the "cor-prick" world, there can be justice.

Mark

SELECT * FROM management WHERE clue > 1
> 0 rows returned

--ThinkGeek T-Shrit

My tactic for dealing with this is always ask for them to send it in an email and always JOKINGLY say I have a really bad memory. That way you have covered yourself (unless you forget to do it) :)

"I'm sorry, but my ToDo list is really overwhelming me today.  Would you mind sending me a note so I can remember to take care of it for you?"

This delaying tactic has worked well for me, and has cut down on the number of times I have to jump up and run because my name is being shrieked from somewhere in the office.

I would get the same thing quite often... others calling me up directly and asking me to either change a report that 9 times out of 10 they don't own, or create a brand new one and expect to have it done immediately. Seems to always be the same few people. What's even worse is when I design a report to the exact specifications of the user and they call me 5 times a day because the report is "wrong". Everything is documented, every email saved, every report footnoted extensively, so I have the best defense when they complain; that the report is written to their exact definitions.

One or two people have actually gotten upset with me when I told them to file a formal request, and I'll get to it in 6 to 8 weeks when I get done with my mission-critical work. I have to follow the chain of command, no ifs ands or buts.

To be fair though, after months of this going on, lately everyone is finally getting used to the process, and the calls coming in are less revisionary in nature, and more simple fires that need to be put out. Just takes time to adjust.

"I have no idea what's going on." -Towelie

I can concur with adjusting to the process.

At my last company, i was assigned to work with HR and payroll(i took care of the hr and payroll systems) HR was widly know for being the worst group to work with. They demanded things immideatly and to be finished yesterday.  When i was just starting there and getting my feet yet we acceded to it. But when my Director of IT and i went to a "feelings" meeting a few months into the system conversion since they didnt feel we were fulfilling thier needs we put it on the line and explained how it works.

We can do just about whatever you possibly want. But it take time to do things.  We need to knwo what it is exactly that they want. You will need to test it when completed to ensure it does what you think it should do.  We have other things that need to be done as well.  After i explained this the Director of HR asked my boss if this was correct and he said  yes thankfully. After that they were all much more reasonable.

They would come to me with requests. I would then sit on them for a couple days regardless of my schedule since they are known for changing their minds. I would then go see them and get clarification quetions and make sure it hadnt changed.  Then i would let them know when i could have it done for them. They knew i can do things fast if they have to be done ASAP but to not abuse it.  There were some things that they needed done right then like when an auditor came in and needed info at that exact moment.

All in all they became the best group to work with. They didnt really understand till we took the time to explain it to them how it works. But as long i got thier stuff to them wheni said i would, most the time, they were happy. They also learned that sometimes other things come up that take priority.

I would say the following:
"I am not allowed to work on requests until they are approved by the project manager. Please direct all request to the project manager."

To me, that would be the end of it.

I knew this Business Analyst!  Just kidding, but have come across their type.  I just started to take her comments, and send an e-mail to 'clearify the request', and CC my boss.  As a consultant, he paid my invoices not the BA.

Yes, the BA was pissed, but I got the point across without making myself look foolish twice.

If the company you work for is even somewhat functional, this person will get theirs.  That type eventually crosses the wrong person.  Even when they are hot and sleeping with an executive, it comes around eventually.  The advice you received here is good, so just document requests and ignore undocumented ones.

It would be wise to find out if she is running her own schemes or is simply executing instructions passed down by her boss.  You can wait for a day when she is out, then go to her boss for clarification of a request.  If he or she has no idea what you are talking about, the BA is a rogue.  If he/she knows exactly what you are talking about, the BA's boss may be the problem.  Not saying you should change the way you interact with the BA, but it would be wise to know the source of the pain.

I just say, "All requests now have to go through the Help Desk; I can't work on your issue without a Help Desk case number. Here, let me transfer you. . ."

. . .and off they go.

My voice mail also carries that admonition. If I get a voice mail that asks me to do something I'm not supposed to do without a case number, I'll e-mail the help desk, copy yht user (and his/her manager, and my manager).  

Feles mala! Cur cista non uteris? Stramentum novum in ea posui!

dyarwood said what I was going to say, but I'll take it a step further.

Ask for the e-mail ("so I can document the work flow," you'll say).  If she actually sends it, forward it to the PM and copy her (so she knows this is how you work) and ask "<name> asked me to make these changes.  Is this what you want?"

After that, she probably wouldn't ask you to hold the elevator door, let alone make a change!

Dave

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...east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce
they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does

that same person has a clone in every office in the world. it may be a parallel universe thing... i always agree with there STUPID sugestion and request a copy via email, which i forward to anyone else that needs to be part of the loop. my best one was requesting an invoice for several million to rebuild all networks for one BA's request... but what if it just saves one minute a day? write the check lady i'd love a new dell blade server farm..

john poole
bellsouth business
columbia,sc

My company is full of deadbeats, but management seems oblivious, I try to ignore them but it's hard.

You could try hypnotizing them. It's a lot easier with people that you don't like.

I actually DO have to request emails for every change request because my memory IS so bad!!

A quick drag and drop into tasks and its all sorted.

I would have had problems like yours many times over were I not so naturally stupid.......

Nobody can top my incompetence story: we had a programmer who didn't know how to cut and paste, no lie/exaggeration. She's in real estate now.

If more than 1 goose are geese, why aren't more than 1 moose meese??

I think I can top your incompetence story.

When I was in the Air Force, we had a Tester, as they were called, essentially a SDET.  We were back in the test lab connected to the building where my office was by a couple of breezeways, security checkpoints, and a couple of other buildings.  She's sitting there at the test box, staring at the Windows desktop, waiting for me to tell her how to do her job.  I say, "go to My Computer" and she gets up from her chair.  She was going to go to my computer!  After that I had her slide back so I could 'drive'.

This is a person who has been in the carreer field for 18+ years!  UFB!  This was a 'software engineer' that was to be testing our enterprise application!

v/r

Gooser

Quote:

Why do today
   that which may not need to be done tomorrow --me

Talk with your direct supervisor, whoever reviews you and approves your raises.  Tell them you want to BCC them on EVERYTHING.  Then tell the person giving you the problem that you must get emails for everything.  Always send a friendly, "I got it" type response to her requests and BCC your boss.  That way when you're in a meeting and she say's, "I never said that."  Your boss can be the first one to say, "Uh, yeah you kinda did say that."

Also, I never delete a [work related] email.  That has saved my @$$ on NUMEROUS occasions.  Especially when I was in the Air Force.  We'd always have some civilian that would tell us to do or not to do something, then come back and say, "I never said that."  I would then make a list of the people at the meeting and forward the email to each of them, CC the liar as soon as I got back to my desk.  Most of our meetings were across the hall from my office, so the emails would be waiting for the meeting attendees when they got back to their desks.  It sucks, but you HAVE to CYA, or you won't have an A to C.

It also should be said.  ALWAYS be professional in ANY email from your work account.  ALWAYS an opening, even if it's just 'Bubba,' ALWAYS use your Signature block for original messages and something like '--Lastname' for replies.  ALWAYS include the original text of the email in your response and forwards.  ALWAYS use good English, or at least decent English.  Your email is not a chat room.  The dumber you write, the dumber you look.  If your correspondence looks professional, YOU look professional.  Management has NO CHOICE but to recognize AT LEAST that eventually...

v/r

Gooser

Quote:

Why do today
   that which may not need to be done tomorrow --me

Gooser -

I've been at this job for 10 years. I have every one of my incoming and outgoing e-mails from as far back as 1998 (when we implemented Exchange). I save everything, even if it's just a reminder for us to take our stuff out of the fridge on Friday or it will be thrown out. You just never know when you will need it. Especially true now that we, as a publicly held company, are subject to Sarbanes-Oxley (I'm fond of saying that I'm just a SOX puppet).

Feles mala! Cur cista non uteris? Stramentum novum in ea posui!

I'm sort of a SOX-dummy, since I was in the USAF when it was born and I am in a not-for-profit type company now.

I see it mentioned often, and it looks like a serious PITA.

I used to save ALL emails, but in the AF, there are SO MANY stupid "PT is at 3:00 today", replied to by 15 different people, asking where, 15 separate answers, and it grows into a thread for each, then exponetially from there.  I now weed down to the ones that make sense to save.  But if it is anything even remotely related to the job, I save it.

v/r

Gooser

Quote:

I've been at this job for 10 years. I have every one of my incoming and outgoing e-mails from as far back as 1998 (when we implemented Exchange).

It is because of this that I never write/send emails when I am upset. I either wait and hour or deal with the problem over the phone.

hmmmm

I like to catch the person in person, and alone--Leave no witnesses!

--Gooser

I'm not sure if I've missed if someone has already suggested this, but...

My department frequently gets these issues. And it is EXTREMELY difficult to get people to initiate an email sometimes. So we do this (it's now our policy)...

When they request something from you, send the following email as a follow-up:

"Statement of Understanding for changes to Project A

Please verify that I have understood your request correctly.

The request is due mm/dd/yyyy. You need the following changes to be made to Project A:

- change 1
- change 2
- change 3

Please respond to this email with either approval of the change or any changes. Start of work on above changes will begin after changes have been approved via email response.

Thank you!"

Our customers know that for every request, we send an SOU and will NOT start work until everyone involved (sometimes just sender and receiver) has approved the SOU.

Good luck!

P.S. Quite a few times we've caught people trying to change their minds. We simply send them the approved SOU back.