A reader writes:
My desk is (shamefully) extraordinarily messy, each with crumbs and stray papers. I clear it as soon as every week, however I’m not a naturally neat individual. Nevertheless, my direct report, Lauren, may be very neat and loves bodily media. If I ship her a Slack message, she’ll present up at my desk with a Submit-It word. She retains placing issues on my desk for me to overview, anticipating that I’ll get them carried out because it’s on my desk.
Final month, Lauren let herself into my workplace whereas I used to be out at lunch with our office-wide key and put a Submit-It word on my desk with an replace for a venture. I didn’t see the word, after which in our assembly I requested her for an replace, to which she responded she’d put it on my desk. This made me really feel I needed to scramble to overview it on my messy desk. I then requested her to not put stuff on my desk, or if she did, to ship me a Slack message so I may look out for it. Since then, she’s put just a few papers and notes on my desk for me to overview, no Slack message accompanying them. She even gave me a written-out schedule earlier than my workplace transfer and requested for it again when my provides have been in packing containers, and I needed to cease and discover it for her since she hadn’t saved the knowledge wherever else.
This week, I returned from a sick day to see that Lauren had let herself in my workplace once more to place papers on my desk with a word for me to overview earlier than our assembly later that day. There’s not a ton of context within the papers themselves to overview them — it could make extra sense to me for us to simply go over them collectively in a gathering. Then, she despatched me a file hyperlink for a shared drive for my overview earlier than our assembly yesterday by means of Slack. I requested her if she may simply print it and convey it to our assembly later that day so we will look over it collectively, because it’s not a protracted file (1-2 pages) and the content material would make sense to simply look at in our assembly. As a substitute of doing that, she let herself in my workplace once more and put the printed copy on my desk, I assume for my overview earlier than our assembly.
Was I incorrect to ask her to not put stuff on my desk? How can I ask her to cease assuming I at all times have time earlier than our conferences to go over paperwork? Am I being too bizarre about my personal-ish workplace area, or ought to I simply be neater?
No, it’s utterly affordable to ask somebody to not put stuff in your desk. That’s a fairly widespread desire — even amongst individuals with out terribly messy desks — and also you’re not being bizarre or unreasonable by asking for it.
On the contrary, Lauren is the one being bizarre by insisting on doing it after you’ve requested her to not.
Since you did ask her to not, and she or he’s persevering with to do it anyway! That’s an issue, identical to in the event you stated, “Please e-mail me as an alternative of calling me about X” and she or he stored calling you about X, or in the event you stated, “Please ship these information electronically quite than printing out 50-page tomes” and she or he insisted on printing them out each time anyway. Hell, it’s the identical form of drawback as something the place you, as her supervisor, instructed her to do X quite than Y however she ignored you.
It’s time to ask why she’s nonetheless doing it! Sit down along with her and say, “I’ve requested you just a few instances now to not put something I have to see on my desk however you retain doing it. How come?”
Possibly she’ll have some rationalization that is sensible, though I’m hard-pressed to think about what it’s. Do you by no means see emails both? Do you’ve her blocked on Slack? Did she utterly mishear you and listen to, “Please do proceed placing issues on my desk — I like it”? Who is aware of what she’ll say, nevertheless it’s helpful to ask what’s taking place on her finish of this.
However then it’s affordable to say, “I wish to be actually clear: Going ahead, please don’t put something on my desk.” Additionally, don’t water this down with “until you message me on Slack to say it’s there.” You’ve tried that, it didn’t work, and at this level it’s best to depart no wiggle room.
Equally, with the factor about her dropping off paperwork so that you can overview earlier than a gathering if you’ve explicitly requested her to carry it to the assembly to take a look at collectively, that’s most likely a case of needing to be extra specific too: “After I’ve requested you to carry one thing to our assembly so we will take a look at it collectively, that’s what I need you to do. Typically you’ve printed it out and left it for me as an alternative — however my schedule is packed and I usually don’t have time to overview these paperwork earlier than we meet. So once I ask you to have it prepared for us to look over collectively, I need you to take that actually and convey it to our assembly. If that causes points in your finish, I after all wish to hear that, however in any other case please assume that’s the plan.”
Additionally, do you need her persevering with to unlock your workplace if you’re not there? It feels like it could be helpful to inform her to cease doing that too.
I feel at some stage you’re questioning in the event you’ve introduced this on your self by not being neater — and possibly are having some Messy Particular person Guilt? — however that is actually about an worker who’s ignoring clear and particular instructions from her supervisor, and that’s how it’s best to strategy it. In case your desk set-up works for you, then it’s actually nobody else’s enterprise (assuming you’re not creating a fireplace or well being hazard, and assuming individuals can discover what they want if you’re out if they’ve standing to go searching, and assuming your individual boss doesn’t have an objection to it — none of which feels like the issue right here).
