First I want to say how grateful I am these forums exist! There's not anyone I can really talk to about this. Here's the situation: I am on a week's semi-vacation (caring for a sick family member), but I let my directs and boss know I am available, and I have participated remotely in some meetings and been in close touch with my team this week.
I got an email today (Thursday) from one of my directs to inform me of what she's been up to this week. The email contained a thread of several email messages between her and our CEO (my boss). In a nutshell, she was asking for more labor resources and "informing" him that we are getting behind. I don't agree with her assessment to begin with, but that's beside the point. Neither she nor my boss contacted me before coming up with a plan which will put my dept over budget and add labor hours that I don't consider to be necessary. I feel like I was thrown under the bus by both of them, especially my direct. It's a good thing I'm a couple thousand miles away right now, because I'm furious. I feel this direct was posturing and exaggerated a situation in order to be the hero and make me look bad.
I don't know whether to go straight to her or to my boss when I return on Monday. Any advice?
First, Take a deep breath
I wise person once told me that they could not remember getting into trouble for something they did not say. So,let it rest until Monday.
Based on the info you have shared, it is tough to draw a lot of conclusions. Is it possible that you have jumped to the worst case? Email is a pretty blunt comm tool and sometimes things get inferred which may not be there.
Is it possible that due to you being on family leave that good intentions to solve what someone else perceived as an issue were at play without distracting you (for better or for worse)? Was it your boss that initiated the dialouge? Did this direct have any reason to assume that they were "covering" for you in your absence? Have you had past issues where this direct has gone around you or is it possible that "initiative" just got a little bit out of control this time? Is your CEO updated by you on a regular basis so the information that the direct provided was reasonably close to what he was aware of an/ord he had a pre-exisiting basis to question her assessment? Did something new emerge during your absence which was relevant? Is the plan you reference a done deal (e.g. execution has started) or is it still a plan that is open for discussion? If the direct came off looking really good, does it reflect well on you?(it is likely not a zero sum situation) I could go on, but you get the picture. Point is that you may not have all the information to merit charging into the office Monday loaded for bear.
Personally, I when I am on the short end of a situation liked this it really pops a gasket and takes every once of professionalism I have to not get visibly bent out of joint. More often than not, I discover that it is not as "bad" as it seems once I start gently probing to figure out what really went on. Generally, I am more ticked at my boss than the direct becasue the boss should know better. However, since I can't manage my boss or tell them how I would like them to interact with my directs (who aslo work for them), my tact is to start with the employee and find out, from thier perspective, what happened. Usually is is not Macheveillian and they intended well. Unless the track they are on is egregiously wrong, I try to build up what they did or plug any shortcomings. After all, my role is to help my boss meet their goals and if the boss decides on this tact, then I try and make it work -- and at least carfully validate that the boss is aware of any additional risks (e.g. being over budget). Telling the boss they made a wrong call is extremely tricky in part becasue it will not be completely clear if you are separating the result from your dislike of how it transpired. And you have the extra dynamic of the direct feeling about you the way are feeling about them right now. I would, at some point but not 8 AM Monday, follow up with the boss mostly to validate the decision, its status, and to see if they have any concerns your should be aware of. It could fit into your weekly update.
Regardless, you have an opportunity to assert professionalism in the face of what is an awkward and upsetting situation. Hope that your week taking care of family is going well and am sorry that this had to add more strain on you. Deep breaths, be measured....
deep breath is good advice...
..which is why I'm glad I'm so far away. The only response I sent so far was to thank the direct for letting me know what was going on. I'm really disappointed that neither she nor my boss copied me on the email discussion, until it was all said and done. A little background....I am a production manager, and I am fairly new to this job - was hired from outside the company last year. The department was not well managed (previous mgr was fired for that reason). I have been dealing with my directs feeling that I micromanage. My direct initiated the conversation with the CEO. I have been challenging my team in areas new to them, such as goal-setting, accountability, measuring production rates for all teams, etc. I want them to think outside the box at ways to accomplish our work without the first and only solution being to throw more resources at the problem. We were over budget first quarter and set a goal as a team to reduce our overage for 2nd qtr. I thought we were on the same page when I left last week. One team had carried some work over from the previous week but had a lighter week and was going to be caught up by end of this week, which was fine with me. The email my direct sent to the CEO was that we weren't getting our work done and needed help from another dept. He advised her to meet with team leads from that dept and come up with a plan, which they did. I don't think the extra help was needed.
I am reading a wonderful book called "Crucial Conversations", and this may be an opportunity to practice what I'm learning. I loved your first line, that you can't get in trouble for what you don't say. I need to find out why this direct was so far off from the behavior I've been trying to instill - that is, to think creatively at how to tackle challenges without resorting first to more labor or more hours. I really think there is a serious misunderstanding between us. I need to be able to work with her going forward, and obviously with my boss, so I don't want to do anything to jeopardize the relationships. But I also need to make it clear that these sorts of decisions about allocating labor and increasing hours need my approval. At least, until I'm confident that my directs and I are working toward the same goals!
When you're away, you're away
Give it time, find out what happened, why it happened, and only then measure your response.
It's not guaranteed this is a bad thing after all, as MDAVE pointed out (your direct might have acted with the best of intentions, and/or it might reflect well on you).
Furthermore, I could imagine this was all a mis-understanding. When you're away, you're away. Your term "semi-vacation" made me cringe. There's no such thing. When you're "away", someone on your team must take matters in their own hands; when there's a perceived crisis, isn't it their obligation to act? When you're "there", it's clear what's expected of you. Being "semi-away" hardly ever seems like a good idea.
Best of luck getting to the bottom of the story on Monday, regards
Jochen
Presume positive intent
I agree with the responses you've had so far -- do not come in on Monday feeling like someone tried to go around you. Deal with this as part of the "catching up on what happened while I was away" process and evaluate what you see when you have a fuller picture.
My guess from the summary you have posted is that your direct fell back on "inside the box" thinking and asked for more resources to get things done instead of taking an approach you would have preferred. Getting your group back on the "lower overages" track should make your CEO happy, but it sounds like they haven't internalized that goal yet.
When you learn more about what really happened and why, you'll be able to understand things better. Depending on where you are in your relationships with your directs, perhaps a little feedback is in order. ("When you email the CEO before coming to me, I feel like you're throwing me under the bus. What can you do differently next time?")
As a side point, I agree with Jochen's observation that when you're out, you should be out. I have received "aren't you supposed to be on vacation?" emails from my boss when I have done something when I was out, and he's been a good example to me about really being on vacation. Anyway, this doesn't preclude asking your directs or your boss to keep you informed by email about things happening in your area -- they just shouldn't expect quick replies, because you're not supposed to be working.
Take this as a learning experience and prepare differently for your next vacation. In this case, you would have preferred for your direct to inform you first about any workload or scheduling problems, even though you weren't in the office. What would be a good process or procedure for handling similar issues during future vacations? Do you still want to deal with those things on vacation, or is there a peer or direct you would trust to make some of those decisions? (Some vacations may leave you without reliable Internet access, so your decision may change from vacation to vacation.)
I know, my "side point" is more text than my main point, but I had my Longest Vacation Ever last summer, essentially without Internet access, and I am a web developer. I had to give it a lot of thought myself.
I hope your family member is feeling better, and I hope your return goes smoothly.
flexiblefine
Houston, Texas, USA
DiSC: 1476
Best wishes, sorry
I sincerely hope and wish your family member gets better. Simply forgot the mention, apologies for being so rude the first time.
Jochen
thanks to all for the advice
My initial post was right after this transpired, and I was still steaming. A few days have passed and I am much more level headed about the whole thing. I still feel my direct was out of line in going to my boss without so much as copying me on the email. However, I also believe she was acting in what she felt was the best interest of the company and our department. Increasing hours and/or headcount has historically been the only method employed to tackle a work load increase. It will take some time for that to change, so I'm not surprised that in my absence that is what happened. And Jochen, I did not detect any rudeness in your first reply! I expect candid advice here - otherwise it wouldn't be useful. I have been caring for my mother who is recovering from a hospital stay, and she is doing much better now.
I attended an Effective Manager Conference last month in Seattle, and have been using one-on-ones for some months now. I am starting to use the feedback model. I agree with what was said at the conference that "with people, fast is slow and slow is fast". I don't expect to change a mindset that has existed for years, overnight. My problem is my disc is 6333! I want to get things done, and done NOW. Fortunately I can choose my behavior.
Thanks again to all for the good advice.
Without details, it's hard to be precise...
...but I would reach out to the CEO immediately and explain to him what you think has happened, and work to correct the situation to what you would have done. It sounds like - though, again, hard for me to say, because you haven't been clear - that you wouldn't have asked for the additional resources.
Your direct WAS out of line, if my guess is correct.
Mark