Help handling co-worker

[monicar]

Hi guys!
Love your pieces of advice. This time, I need your help in helping me out to better handle my co-worker.
I´ve been working at this Company as the secretary to the Plant Manager (previous experiency = 10 years). The previous secretary, after 16 years decided to take up logistics and therefore asked for a secretary to take her place. I was hired throught out-sourcing and was also interviewed by her. We share the same office, since that´s what she wants. She´s very nice to me but there are a couple of things that piss me off and Bossie (he´s great to work with) knows about them but doesn´t mind since he thinks she´s very professional and I believe that he doesn´t want to have problems with her.
1) I have access to Bossie´s e-mails and have to read them and print the one´s he tells me. She keeps having access to them, reads all of them ... and when I told her she says that if they don´t want her to read them then they should cut her access. I told bossie that in case something happens, I´m not the only person who reads them. He sayed it´s ok and trusts her.
2) Even though I organise traveling for everybody here, she keeps controlling bossie´s expenses and sending them every month to the main office. When I told her I should do it, she sayed no way. I told bossie one day that she says to other colleagues that he includes personal expenses... That day he told the Human Resources Manager that I should do that work myself. The HR told her that bossie did not want her to keep doing it and she got back to him angry saying that she was not interested in doing it since it gave her a lot of work but that she was going to keep doing it. She sitll does.
3) She told me that I should tell bossie that she wanted me to learn her job (logistics) so that I could fill in for her sometime. I did tell bossie and he arranged a meeting with the three of us. To our surprise, she sayed that only she would do that job (even though he insisted that at least 3 people should know that job). Then she sayed I had to take over two products  we manufacture but whose suppliers and customers give a lot of trouble. Bossie sayed then that both of us should handle it, but she sayed that just me since she did´n t want to dispute with the customer/supplier. I´ve been the person responsible for those two products, just on my own, with a lot of headaches for almost two years.
4) She always tells me that if I want to take sometime off not to worry that she will fill in for me. First week of September I will be on holidays, so she will do just that. When I told her I could fill in for her first week of August, she sayed no thanks that her work is too complicated.
5) I´m working as secretary speak 5 foreighn languages (she 2), I´m responsible for the logistics of two products which nobody wants to be responsible for and to top it she has always been two categories above me both when she was just a secretary (I arrange my bosse´s familly holidays, she never did) and now when she is just responsible for logistics.

Perhaps I should not complain since if it weren´t for the above she´s nice. Bossie is great to work for. Colleagues in my building are real sweet. Pay is good (though earning less than her, working more and having more responsibility).

Sorry, didn´t meant to vent. Just started writing without thinking.

Hope you can give me some piece of advice. Am I right to complain or am I just being foolish?

Thanks a lot to you all and wish you a great week.

Monicar

[raindance]

Group dynamics are very subtle.  This seems to be about job demarcation lines, but I also think there is a good old-fashioned power-struggle at play here.  It appears that you have been hired to do a job, but this lady cannot let go of the job she used to do and this situation is partly exacerbated by the fact that you share an office.  Effectively, you are a newcomer on "her" territory - territory where she used to be Top Cat or Top Dog, so you are possibly at a psychological disadvantage.  But you should be aware that she may feel threatened by you.  You are Bossie's PA and therefore potentially privy to all sorts of information to which she used to have access.  In addition there is just the possibility that you may do things "better" than she did, although, unless she was extremely incompetent, you may not necessarily do things "better"; you will do them in a different way.  Equally, she may not be sure of her capabilities in her new role.  So I guess I am suggesting that you be a bit sensitive to these potential issues.

I am interested that she asked YOU to tell your boss that SHE would like you to learn her job.  I would have handled that differently.  If she makes this sort of suggestion again - and if you are agreeable to that suggestion - then you should ask HER to approach your boss, saying that she has discussed it briefly with you to see whether you would be prepared to help.

Your boss is paid to manage and it's his task to manage this situation so that you can all work in peace.  It also seems to me that your boss needs to be made aware that his way of dealing with this isn't helping you assert the natural authority you should have as his PA, but that needs the greatest tact and discretion.  

I would keep a diary of things that happen in the office for the next three weeks or so (apart from the time when she is on leave).  Then arrange an appointment with your boss to discuss this matter.  You need to give him specific examples, and then ask for his help in resolving this matter.  I would also make specific requests "I would prefer to have sole responsibility for your emails, expenses etc etc".  

Hope this helps.

Best wishes,

Raindance

[uberpa]

I completely agree with Raindance.  It is your boss's responsibility to sort it out and if he is not entirely aware of the situation he needs to be made aware.  You as his PA or Secretary should have sole responsibility for things like his diary and expenses, this is only reasonable and standard practice for such a position.  Now it's reasonable to allow someone LIMITED access to these things when you are on Holiday/Leave but it should not be part of normal practice when you are availalbe.  It should be made aware to her by YOUR boss that it is no longer necessary for her to read his emails, do expenses and diary etc.  

Of course we hope that he will be tactful but honestly it's time for her to let go and get on with the new job she so desperately wanted to do.

You shouldn't have to handle her as it really is your bosses responsibility.

[gee4]

I have to agree with the others - def a power struggle here and your boss must take action to sort this out now!

G

[monicar]

Thank you guys for your piece of advice. I do agree with you on everything but knowing bossie, he won´t tell her anything, and if he does, he won´t be tactful and then I will have serious problems with my co-worker, since I have to share office with her, who will make my life a living hell.
She has just asked me for my pc´s access code though she doesn´t need it because like I sayed she has access to bossie´s e-mail as well as all job files (we share all of them) and I have told the logistics people that I´m in contact with that during the week that I´ll be away they should write to her e-mail adress. I don´t want her to have access to my pc because I´m afraid she will read my agenda on Lotus Notes as well as read my e-mails. On the other hand, in the past she has given me her pc´s access code (I´ve never used it though) and if I don´t give it to her she will tell everybody and that will not look good on me. Do you know a way to code my Lotus Notes agenda and some LN files so that she won´t be able to read them? Thks a lot.

I´m thinking in the near future about asking my boss for a higher category since I´m two behind my colleague when she just worked as his secretary though I´m to him more like a PA, speak and use more languages and I´m responsible for the logistics of two products that drive everybody whose in the middle (including myself) crazy. Do you think I have a chance? I´ve asked the HR manager (he´s real nice) about it and he´s told me that people hire now days even if they have more degrees, same experience ... won´t get such a high category as the people they have been working here for ages.Thks.

Sorry again for bothering and boring you. Didn´t mean to, though.

Thanks again to all for reading me and for your previous answers.

Have all a great day!!!

[countrigal]

Re: giving her your access code.  Is there a policy in place that states you are responsible for computer security and your responsible for maintaining an access code that is private?  We have one here, and I'm sure that it's pretty standard in today's society in order to protect the company.  If so, that is your reason for not giving it to her.  Tell her you'd love to give her your code except that this privacy/security issue forbids you sharing this code, and that you're sure she'll understand and not want you to break policies that are meant to protect the company you both work for.  Then smile a good admin smile and go on with work as normal.

Now if your company does not have such a policy then I'm not sure what you can do other than have a separate password to get into your e-mail and password protect any documents you don't want her to access in your absence.

CountriGal
Peer Moderator

[monicar]

Dear CountriGal,

There is no such policy at our company that´s why I ask you if you coul pls tell me how can I password protect my Lotes Notes Agenda as well as some e-mails and files I have created on my Lotus Notes. If I give her a wrong password to my Lotus Notes then she will tell and give me a bad name. If instead I can password protect just my LN agenda and some LN documents then I will know if she has been trying to read my things when she tells me that she could not open all my e-mails and agenda.
Thanks for helping me out.
Wish you a pleasant day in the company of your beautiful baby!!!

[andream]

I think you've gotten some really good advice on handleing the dynamic taking place in your office, so I'm only going to offer a bit of advice on the Password/log in scenario.  You might not like what I'm about to say, (but let's face it I'm infamous for being direct).

the information contained in that computer belongs to your company.  I agree with CG above who stated that you need to abide by policy,but even if you've been told not to give out the password, rest assured that with what you've told us about your colleague she will apply for and find a waiver to that policy using the excuse that you're going on vacation.

There should never ever be anything on a company computer that is not 100% transparent to the rest of the organization.  If you wouldn't post it on the bulletin board in the break room, then it shouldn't be there.  E-mails, calendars etc should be a matter of record for everyone within an organization.  If you're netsurfing on your lunch  break, fine and dandy as long as your company policy allows that.

go immediately to your employer and mention that your workmate has asked for the computer password and ask for instruction as to whether you should provide it. And how you should present a possible negative answer to this colleague.  If bossie tells you Not to give her the passwords, your immediate response should be to get his advice on what you should tell your coworker and stick to it exactly without deviation.

Even if your employer tells you NOT to provide the passwords, this employee sounds like she has her own agenda and you can pretty much assume that some "emergency" will arise which means she needs access and will get it.  She's connected, she's been there longer and you my dear are a threat, whether you mean to be or not.

Take an hour before you go and look at the files contained there and make sure there's nothing there that shouldn't be, and in the future resolve to never have to ask yourself if there's information on a company machine that couldnt be seen by the CEO on a bad day and be misread. Cause IF there's anything on there that CAN be misread by others, be very sure it will be looked over by your workmate at some point during your absence.  When people identify others in the workplace as a threat to their position or to their level of "imtimacy" with the bossie, they don't always behave in the same way that they would in other professional situations.  

If you and bossie have specific files that you don't think this person should see, then back them up to bossies machine and delete them from your machine, restoring them when you return and in the future, store information which is collective for you bossie and which you BOTH feel is sensitive on his machine rather than yours. Because you both (you and the other employee) both have access to bossie's email, I have to consider that it's more personal information you're worried about your colleague seeing, rather than business information.  IF (And I am sorry if I've made a bad supposition here! ) IF That's the case, remove the offending information and make it a PPP (Personal Professional Policy) that you never EVER put anything back into a work machine that's not 100% to do with objective work and workflow process.  Doing so means you can't send an email to a colleague which says,,,, "GRRR! Xyz is driving me CRAZY today".  And Trust me that's an excellent policy to have.

My tuppence,,,,
Andrea

[mlm668]

Reading your post, I have to ask how your company's network it set up.  Are there areas that information is stored that more than one person has access to?  It sounds like you work for a good sized company so I find it hard to believe that you are storing important information anywhere other than a network drive.  If you have a network, nothing should be stored on your C:/ drive.  

In my offfice, we have two or three network drives.  One is used for information, one for applications, one is a confidential drive with limited access and each of us has a personal drive for anything that we don't want anyone else to see.  For the personal drive, its basically an honor system.  You're expected to use it for company work that can't be kept on the common drive.  

If you have an access code to your computer, odds are you handle information that only you and your boss are supposed to see.  If there is infomration she is going to need access to while you're gone, see if you can copy it to a shared drive for her. If not and you have personal info on your computer, delete it before you leave and find a different way to track it without using company resources.

Michelle

[mina]

Hi Monicar,

I'm not sure how your Lotus Notes is set up or what edition you have but on ours, if you go into the folder you want to protect and go up to actions.  Under Folder actions you have an option of Design.  Go into that.

Then in that view you want to right click in the top half and go down to folder properties.  The last tab is security and you can check who accesses this.  I've never used this myself so I'm not sure how reliable it is, but it is worth a shot.  Also I'm not sure if it protects emails when under all documents.

I'm afraid I can't help on the agenda schedule, but that should help with the folders.  

The other option is that you can say that you don't want her to go inundated with work as you understand that she has a difficult and busy job already so you have put an out of office reply on your email asking people to contact her if the message is urgent, otherwise you will reply on your return.  Then she won't have to trawl through unimportant emails if something comes up.  And as long as you have a comprehensive handover pack she shouldn't need to go through your emails.

Hope that this is of some help.

Mina

[gee4]

I agree with all recent postings here.  We assign certain colleagues to act on behalf of those on holiday.  There is no need to gain access to another persons's pc when all you need to do is put contact details in the "out of office" message when you leave.

Also if your company is of any great size (like mine), you def do not need to store docs on your C:drive.  I am told that is for applications only and all other docs should be stored in My Documents.  If anyone needs access to certain docs or a link to a certain location, sometimes we have to seek permission and explain why we need that info.  Other times docs are attached in an email but full access to a network drive is not permitted by IT security unless a manager gives approval.

Should be pretty easy for her to get her head round this.

G

[monicar]

Thank you all for your replies.
I have only job related info in my pc but since I use the LN agenda for writing down everything I do every single day, I don´t want her to read it because the less she thinks my skills are the safer she will feel and less trouble will give me.
The LN files I have are regarding important info I get from deskdemon and other secretarial pages. I also have a file where I safe all e-mails that I send on behalf of bossie and are read by her so that if in the future, if needed, I can proof that she keeps reading all his e-mails. It´s obvious that I don´t want her to know that I´m keeping this track. What I wanted to do is rename this file (it has her name on it) with another name and password safe it but I do not know how I can do it with Lotus Notes. Any experts on Lotus Notes out there?
Thanks again to all.

Take care

[spitfire78]

Can't help you with Lotus, I'm afraid.  But, are the files something you can pull off on a disk or CD?  Then you could lock the disk up or even take it home with you until your return.  Just a thought...

[mathwhizchick]

Monicar, that's a tough one.

In several companies I've worked for, giving or receiving access to your personal email account was a SERIOUS offense, usually resulting in termination.   However, if your company does not require this, then all you can do is make it a personal issue, i.e., you don't feel comfortable allowing that kind of access to your LN account, etc., etc.

I've had a fair amount of experience in LN, so let me run through some things and see if they help you.  

In notes, you can give someone various levels of access to both your email and calendar, from view only to complete access.  It's under tools--preferences while you are in your email view.  Even at the open access,  when you send an email from someone else's inbox, you get a "sent by XXX under the header", which indicates that the email owner did not send it. (i.e., I send mail under my bossies name, so it shows as Bossie's name, sent by mathwhizchick).  Can you give your co-worker view only access to your inboxes?

Once someone has view access to your inbox, I don't know of any way to stop access to a specific LN folder by encrypting that folder.  (I'll keep nosing around and see what I can find, though).  You CAN work with specific emails, however.
--encrypt the emails so they cannot be copied, forwarded.
--encrypt them so ONLY the email owner can open and view (not the viewer access person).
--tag them with a return receipt so you know when they are opened.
--bcc a copy of each email to your private (non work)email account so you have a copy of the original email.  This will allow you to demonstrate that she altered the email.
--attach an electronic signature (can only be done by the email owner, not the viewer)
--if you haven't already done so, check the LN help feature (F1 on my PC), and do some browsing; you may glean some other ideas, since you're the closest to the situation.

I'll keep nosing about and picking brains and see what I can find out.  In the meantime, you may need to go to a low-tech documentation system for this.

If your boss believes this person can do no wrong, then I suspect no documentation in the world will convince him otherwise.  At that point, I would be trolling for a new spot, since working in that situation would become untenable (BTDT, wore out the t-shirt.  At least I honed my guerilla warfare tactics for the future... :-/)

Sorry for the length of this post.  Feel free to email me with specific questions if you like.

Good luck.

[monicar]

Dear Mathwhizchick,

Thanks a lot for trying to help me out. She has insisted that I gave her my pc and LN access codes though I told her she has access from her PC to all docs, to bossie´s e-mails and that if somebody wrote to me during the week I will be absent, they will get a reply e-mail stating they should contact her and send me a copy. She insisted she didn´t want to eavesdrop but in case she needed access ... So I have given her my codes. I´m gonna go to a book shop to look for a book in LN to see if, since maybe she will access to my LN from my pc, I can encrypt some e-mails as well as my agenda so that she can´t read them and if she tryes to that I get a message so that when I come back I know she has been eavesdropping.
I don´t want to look for another spot since pay is good, work not too stressful, other colleagues great to work with and some social benefits. If it weren´t because I have to share office with her, it would be the perfect job.
A thousand thanks once more for letting me vent.
Have a great week-end!!