I work in a small office of about 8-10 people, depending on the day. It’s the start of the year and things are slow going. I’ve asked two or three people who sit around me if I could help them with anything because I’m not currently on an active project. All of them, along with the secretary, confirmed that we don’t have a lot of projects going right now and everyone is just trying to look busy.
There is one ongoing project from last year that I haven’t heard anything about from my boss besides "you need to work on this" in the past several months.
I did work on it, finished my assigned tasks in half a day and uploaded them to the company server, gave the project lead a heads-up that it’s done.
Project lead left the company a few days later, and the project was given to someone else who sits on the other side of the office and did not hear the "we don’t have much going on right now" conversations.
I was asked by the new project lead today what I’ve worked on for the project and I told him, but apparently the entire project has changed significantly since I was last briefed, without me being called into any meetings or discussions to keep me updated.
I expressed frustration to the new project lead – perhaps unwisely – that I was not communicated with. I wasn’t blaming him and made it clear that that’s not what I was doing.
He proceeded to rant at me about people not taking responsibility, not asking if they can help other people with their projects when they’re not busy, slacking off in general. Apparently he’s been working nights and coming in early because he’s been given several different projects to work on. When he walks through the office he can see everyone else being bored as hell and it’s "not acceptable".
Apparently it’s my fault for not offering to help him specifically, when I was under the impression the office just wasn’t busy, which is common for this time of year.
AITA?
NTA. if you have a big workload and need assistance, it’s on you to inform your coworkers and/or employees of what tasks they need to take on, not expect the people around you to guess that you’re super busy. i am sorry you got yelled it.
NTA. As the lead on the project, it is up to him to make sure that the people involved are given the needed information to work effectively. If he needs help, he should ask for it. If the needs for the project have changed, he should notify them on what needs to be updated. You are right to be frustrated. He’s right to be frustrated with his workload, but at some point, he needs to take the reins that we’re given to him and get things done.
NTA. The project lead is just taking it out on you. When in reality it is poor communication on the part of the project lead and the company in general that is to blame.
NTA but be careful going forward. My guess is that the new lead is under pressure to show results in their new capacity (or possibly to assert who is the boss) and you were the first person to get in their line of fire.
I suggest that you ask for another conversation to get caught up on the changes in the project, and specifically write to him the goals/tasks/timeline as communicated to by your previous lead. Then say, clearly there a discrepancy between the previous leads instructions and the current situation, and you want to discuss it so you can move forward effectively and efficiently
NTA you tried to ask around your area
His fault for not assigning out tasks or walking a little over to ask
NTA but a good lesson. Now you know. If you get a chance, maybe apologize and let him know you did ask everyone, followed direction from previous lead and from now on you’ll check with him as well. It’s s legit oops and it will show maturity and hopefully clear the air. I do prefer to be busy than trying to look busy. ✌🏼 He sounds frustrated.
NTA, if theyxare the new project lead why did they have a meeting when they took over with everyone involved to let them know the changes, get to know the work already done, who handles what pieces. That seems to be SOP from my view. No one’s problem but the new lead who chose to forge ahead without ANY retro
NTA. You asked for work, completed what you were assigned, and weren’t kept in the loop when things changed. His burnout is real, but dumping responsibility on you for a communication failure isn’t fair.
NTA. It’s not your job to go search for something to do. If there is a manager or a team lead you report to it’s on them to give you a job to do. They didn’t and you don’t have a crystal ball to see if they need help. If the project lead can’t do it on his own then he has to ask for help, not berate other people for not offering.
Maybe he needed to take responsibility and ask for help, NTA
You’re NTA. If he were any kind of leader, he would step up and lead, speak up and delegate, instead of taking on too much so he could be a martyr.
NTA. The new team lead is not being a great lead if they aren’t thinking about what can be delegated and then delegating it. And you should not have to double-check your superior’s schedule to make sure they are keeping you properly updated on a project. The new lead should’ve gotten themselves up to speed on the project and then met with everyone to make sure that they were on the same page and had enough work.
Sounds like the lead needs to learn how to lead and how to delegate tasks. Talking to you like that was not appropriate