Do I work for my Boss's Boss?

[alltherage]

Pretty straightforward. If I'm busy with what my boss gives me, and then his boss approaches me about something... all things being equal, which becomes priority?

Personally, this hasn't been a huge problem or anything, but my boss works for a couple people, and once in a while they've called or asked me to do something when I've been swamped, and it drives me nuts! I want to try to do it all, but there aren't enough hours sometimes.

Do you find yourself in this situation? What do you think/do?

[DESS]

Generally, you should probably do it. Maybe give your boss a head's up, though.

[awildermode]

do not make yourself too available. a sense of need for you is important.

if you do all that is asked, they will come to expect it every time. i refuse to stay late here at work. of course, i am on CP most of the time.

if you are like me, people count on you and are willing to wait an extra day/week for your service. supply and demand. make them wait, but when the job comes, do it right.

[MoneyGuy]

I'm a boss. I'd do it as long as it's not a huge task, but make my direct supervisor aware. He/she should then discuss it with his/her boss. If your boss is smart, he/she will make them aware that these things should be coming through your boss, not your boss's bosses. If your boss has no backbone, you may have a problem.

[Yeah_Baby]

Was it your performance review?

[SeeGeeWhy]

You should be honest with both of them about your ability to complete the tasks they come to you with.

The worst situation is trying to please both and then end up failing both.

This is something I struggle with all of the time... being realistic with what I can and cannot accomplish. I just love saying "yes". Not always because I think I can do it, but because I usually think that I want to try, and to see if I can.

[DESS]

Originally Posted by awildermode

do not make yourself too available. a sense of need for you is important.

if you do all that is asked, they will come to expect it every time. i refuse to stay late here at work. of course, i am on CP most of the time.

if you are like me, people count on you and are willing to wait an extra day/week for your service. supply and demand. make them wait, but when the job comes, do it right.

LOL wut?! Work Ethic Fail. I can haz beter werkR? RU SRS?

I don't see you lasting too long in the real world there big guy, or at least not going very far. I agree that the job should be done right, but to do the job right often requires some urgency on your part and can require you to stay late. I've never worked for a company in which a person with this poster's attitude would succeed.

[awildermode]

Originally Posted by DESS

LOL wut?! Work Ethic Fail. I can haz beter werkR? RU SRS?

I don't see you lasting too long in the real world there big guy, or at least not going very far. I agree that the job should be done right, but to do the job right often requires some urgency on your part and can require you to stay late. I've never worked for a company in which a person with this poster's attitude would succeed.

so far, the plan is working.

[Rhettzky]

Originally Posted by DESS

I don't see you lasting too long in the real world there big guy, or at least not going very far. I agree that the job should be done right, but to do the job right often requires some urgency on your part and can require you to stay late. I've never worked for a company in which a person with this poster's attitude would succeed.

I was thinking the same thing. That idea is so bad on so many levels. Your superiors typically understand how long a given task takes (not always though). So they'll probably wise up to that kind of BS eventually. Also, if they ever have to hire another person to help you handle your work load they will find out right away that you are full of it. A new employee coming in and getting your same job done in half the time kind of makes you look bad.

[awildermode]

Originally Posted by Rhettzky

I was thinking the same thing. That idea is so bad on so many levels. Your superiors typically understand how long a given task takes (not always though). So they'll probably wise up to that kind of BS eventually. Also, if they ever have to hire another person to help you handle your work load they will find out right away that you are full of it. A new employee coming in and getting your same job done in half the time kind of makes you look bad.

depends on what your job is.

i have a special job. my projects generally take me anywhere from 2 days, to 2 weeks. people are willing to wait weeks for me to work on their projects. yes, there are others out there that can do what i do...but, they always come back to me. and, when others work on said projects, i usually have to fix others' mistakes.

all i am saying is, if you let people walk all over you, they will never stop. believe me, i have been in that position, i used to work 12, 16, 20 hour days..all for basically nothing. you know your value and you should use that to your advantage.

[Flame Of Liberty]

Pretend you don't recognize him. If he comes up to you with a bunch of documents just say "put my mail over there bro" and go back to youtube and CP.

[DESS]

Originally Posted by awildermode

depends on what your job is.

i have a special job. my projects generally take me anywhere from 2 days, to 2 weeks. people are willing to wait weeks for me to work on their projects. yes, there are others out there that can do what i do...but, they always come back to me. and, when others work on said projects, i usually have to fix others' mistakes.

all i am saying is, if you let people walk all over you, they will never stop. believe me, i have been in that position, i used to work 12, 16, 20 hour days..all for basically nothing. you know your value and you should use that to your advantage.

Who said anything about letting anybody walk all over you? Obviously that would be ######ed. If your projects take two weeks, that's fine. But if you are taking two weeks to do a job you could do sooner because you are trying to create an artificial shortage of your skills to increase demand as you explicitly stated in your OP, then you would be a total ######.

[Orange]

Okay, I know an enemy of my enemy is my friend, applying the same logic here would mean a boss of my boss is my employee. Seems like sound logic to me.

[BlackArcher101]

This opens up a can of worms, especially if there is no communication in the company.
I used to work under a single person, who also had two bosses above him (the company was 90% managers). The trouble began when other managers would come to me and demand I do something for them and it slowed down my previous projects. Sooner or later, my actual boss wasn't happy with my performance, but when I explained to him that other projects were slowing things down, he wouldn't believe me. The other managers never did tell him they had work for me... and when I told him why, he wouldn't believe me. Worst possibly situation you can be in.... Damn am I glad I'm not there anymore.

So basically what I'm saying is... you may be damned if you do and damned if you don't if the bosses don't talk to each other. You will piss off at least one of them.

[FurnaceFace]

I see nothing wrong with variations on the following:

"I am working on _____ right now. I will be able to get this task complete for you by _____. Is that acceptable?"

"I need to finish this task by ____ and then I can look at this and will be able to tell you when I can get this done. Is that ok?"

If boss-boss says no, it needs to be done NOW or similar. Then you're expectations change and you should let your boss know your priorities have shifted.

[alltherage]

That's a good call, Furnace Face. That's the path I've been on so far. I've always been totally open and honest... maybe even to a fault at times. I think it serves me well. If they did have something for me I always try to get a timeline out of them.

awildermode, on your "no overtime" policy, I have to agree to an extent. I get paid salary, and it's a pain in the ass to stay late when there is zero benefit to me. However, I have a very cushy job now, and I'm often off early on fridays and sometimes other days during the week, so I try to keep a casual tally of that and know when I owe them and when they owe me.

[awildermode]

by the way, i love the tags

alltherage, thanks for kinda understanding what i am trying to say.

[rubecube]

Is your boss Steve Tambellini?

[blankall]

Originally Posted by DESS

LOL wut?! Work Ethic Fail. I can haz beter werkR? RU SRS?

I don't see you lasting too long in the real world there big guy, or at least not going very far. I agree that the job should be done right, but to do the job right often requires some urgency on your part and can require you to stay late. I've never worked for a company in which a person with this poster's attitude would succeed.

To play devil's advocate here for a moment...

Awildermode's attitude doesn't necessarily reflect a problem with the worker, but a problem with middle management. I have worked for several middle managers who judged success on how little of a hassle their workers were.

Productivity and results didn't really matter, and it was better to just fly below the radar. In situations where there is an objective standard of performance, ex. sales figures, these kinds of attitudes never get you anywhere. However, you would be surprised how inefficiently some businesses are run and how incompetent some middle management can be.

Awildermode's behaviour may not be reflective of a bad attitude, but a survival skill in what is most certainly a company filled with idiots.

[alltherage]

Originally Posted by blankall

Awildermode's behaviour may not be reflective of a bad attitude, but a survival skill in what is most certainly a company filled with idiots.

I have to agree again here. I once worked myself into a problem, where I was out working the other people in my office, and they became annoyed that I was making them look bad. I even got a girl laid off, and then I had to take on all of her work without a raise. It was totaly BS. Now when I have down time, I just pay a visit to my favorite site. forum.calgaryflames.com.