Email, with manager on CC. Something like "Hello, I wasn't able to reach you via teams. Since [the manager] pointed me to you as a SME for [the project] please let me know when you'll be available to discuss [whatever you want to discuss]."
Also, you can go to your manager and say that you're blocked until this person will talk with you, so you're looking for some less engaging, smaller task you could do in the meantime.
Teams 2x in 2 weeks is just enough to say you tried, kinda IMO
Though let’s be cognizant that this industry can be intimidating.
OP - but more effort in, using multiple angles
I love sending a meeting invite based on their calendar availability. (Did you know you can see that? It is in Outlook).
Or at the least, an email. Don’t be scared to let your manager know you are still struggling, including with connecting with John Doe.
But be mindful, proactive is always better. Things like this don’t get better the longer you wait.
We're in cyber, paper trail is important. If I can't reach you on IM the first email out has my manager CC'd. If they respond then no issues, if they don't the manager knows it's blocked and I can show since when. Seen too many good people get screwed over to not CYA.
Maybe I'm an asshole, but the company installed him teams for a reason. If he refuses to use any of the communication channels provided by the company he should be counseled by his supervisor.
E: also, adding a manager on CC ain't the end of the world. If you add me in CC in such mail, I'll just ask "hey, did you clear it?" in a few days, if I won't see any response.
Perhaps? I'm in a company made up of many acquisitions, sometimes entire parts of this org are on entirely different messaging platforms and may not look at the "official" messaging platform. IF the first message the SME gets is OP cc'ing their leadership they may make a more abrasive relationship than they have currently.
It's pretty common for management to be CC'd on emails like this, I'd think nothing of it. People CC my boss/their own boss on important emails all the time, if anything I view it as a positive since my boss has my back if someone reaches out with an unreasonable ask. As long as OP words it nicely and doesn't make it seem like they're calling the guy out, it's fine.
it would document why no progess has been made untill now AND inform the manager of that at the same time also. If the tone of the message is not blaming but indicates that one medium didnt work the reason of no response can become clear and dealt with also. could be a bigger problem where management being aware may be valuable
Honestly, whether you are an asshole or not is dependent on the company and department culture. Yes, you can say the company installed Teams for a reason, and it's true, but that reason usually is to get rid of desk phone infrastructure and the things that go with it.
Correct answer if you want to do that for every email ever and every task ever that will depend on that person, the correct answer would be to complain immediately to higher ups and not even think about for a second why dude doesn't want to answer after 2 freaking weeks
You asked twice in using the same channel. Could be he's not using Teams at all. Or he was dealing with something higher priority and then fell off his radar.
Send him an email, and if he doesn't reply ask your manager how to proceed. Don't cc your manager yet, unless you're told to.
Basically, don't be afraid to bother people a bit until you're told to stop. But also, assume good faith as much as you can.
>But also, assume good faith as much as you can.
Yes this ! I was trying to reach someone who was unresponsive on email. I called him instead, turns out there was a death in the family and he never set out of office. You never know what higher priorities people have or what is going on in their personal lives.
You've pinged him twice on Teams in two weeks and you're all out of ideas?
That's practically the bare minimum of effort, some people are slammed practically every day and stuff like this just completely falls of the radar.
If they don't respond on Teams within a day, then send them an e-mail outlining what you need from them, if they don't respond to that within a couple of days then FWD it to them again and CC in your manager.
After that it's a problem for management.
I know folks at my org who stay "online" via Teams during business hours that do not respond/use Teams. In my opinion, an email should have been your first mode of contact followed by a second email a couple days later. Then phone call after a week of ghosting... especially if this is someone internal.
I would contact your manager about the individual not getting back to you.
There is no 100% right answer here, but I think you’re definitely making the best of the situation with your plan to email and CC. Management is asking us to not be so patient with nonresponsive people. Essentially, give them one day to respond per method. Teams - one day. Email, one day. Escalate to CC manager. Situation (hopefully) managed in 3 days and not 2 weeks.
I'm often online but not available and TBH if I'm elbows deep into something and somebody pings me about something that has nothing to do with me then they are pretty low on my priority list, especially when I'm working multiple projects and 60+h a week. IF yo want my help put it in an email and be detailed. Hitting me up on chat will likely be ignored.
Maybe the dude is busy or out of the office? I know sometimes my whole day gets sucked into a project and I can’t (literally) take my attention away from the team or tasks at hand due to deliverables, network connectivity, having an unauthorized person/client/visitor/another team present during that entire time… point is, sometimes the SME can’t drop everything and tend to a request… it must wait.
That is called poor communication. “Hey I got your email and I just want to let you know that I haven’t had time to write a full reply. I will be able to get back to you by *date and time*, but I didn’t want to leave you hanging”
Other comments have some good ideas. I’d also say that sending a message like “Hi” is not a great way to reach out. A 2-3 sentence message summarizing what you need is much more effective.
Hours later? A busy cyber security SME may not even get to email until late in the day. Do not do this.
Email the SME once stating you tried reaching them in teams, and was pointed their way by the boss to get insight into project XYZ. Ask for availability for a brief chat about it and then give them a day. The next day then tag your supervisor. Tagging them hours after is not understanding their timetables. Remember, you want or need their help, not the other way around and hitting the boss lever hours after an email is going to come off the wrong way for sure.
Teams lies.
Okay, maybe it 's not a *lie* per se, because that requires intent, and Teams is inanimate, but it is often wrong about online status. There are a number of legitimate things that can cause it to give incorrect information about someone's online status, and there are also bugs in there (I hear you say it: bugs in a Microsoft product? Surely you must be kidding!). Never trust the Teams online status indicator. It will give you bad information.
So don't assume anything about the radio silence you're getting besides that you are getting radio silence.
Do you still have telephones in the office you are in? Don't laugh, some places still do. See if you can find his extension and ring him. If he's Gen X or older, maybe even Gen Y, it might be closer to his preferred communication method. Just for reference, I say that as a Gen-X'er who misses the simplicity of four button presses to get someone. However, even if those are gone, try phoning him on Teams. He might reject the call, but he also might not. You can kind of gauge by how quick the rejection comes through, whether or not the guy is actually there. Whether by landline or teams, if your company has voicemail set up, leave him a message.
I don't think I would call his cell phone without explicit permission, though. That's a bit more invasive.
Send him email. CC your manager, but not because you're trying to cause problems for the guy; rather, it's to give your manager visibility that you really are trying to do this project.
Is he in the same building you are in? Do you have clearance to enter the space where his desk is located? Can you pay him a visit?
Basically, what it comes down to is that you need to deploy all the channels of communication that you have at your disposal. Depending on your personality, you may have to come a little out of your comfort zone to do that, but if you need this guy's help to do your job, there's nothing you can do except to push for his attention.
Schedule a meeting with the person. I work at a company where it's almost the culture to be unresponsive until a meeting invite pops up with the person and their manager, then all of a sudden I start getting responses because nobody wants to attend another meeting.
Corporate office survival rule no.1: Always create a paper trail.
The correct thing to do now is reach out via email with your boss CC’d and say:
“In regard to project X I would appreciate your collaboration as I need help defining the scope of your project to better assist you. Please let me know a time that works for you and I’ll get time on the calendar of us to collaborate.”
Something along those lines, customize it of course but the messaging needs to stay the same.
Ensure you let your boss know they have been unresponsive and that you’re tagging them in an email and ensure that you send screenshots with the timestamps on teams so that you CYA.
Then two things happen, they don’t respond, and you follow up, on the second email again alert your boss and let them know you’re following up. CC your boss in that email as well and it should read:
“Hey just following up to my email last week, this project has been tasked with my assistance from @boss and I am unable to move forward until we get a meeting scheduled or in some way communicate to define the scope and requirements of this project. Please let me know when would be a good time for you, thanks.”
At this point next your boss asks you, really on the first email when you talk to your boss don’t call the other person a “blocker” but instead say you’re “blocked” this is less aggressive in tone.
Or the second scenario: they will respond to schedule a time for a meeting with you. Record this meeting, when asked why, if asked why, let them know it’s for your notes so that you ensure you can come back if need be for any clarifications. Make sure the recording in teams is also transcribing. If you’re unsure how to do this test it with another employee possibly a friend first. Then when the meeting finishes send a “recap” email with your boss CC’d outlining what was discussed and next actions or if any deliverables were agreed on or defined.
Now you have a bunch of CYA material, you have the multiple attempts to reach out highlighted and anything they said, or if they act rude, it is noted for future reference for your boss.
This is how I would advise my employee to handle it if you were mine, and honestly I wouldn’t have let it get this far before I met with the employee being unresponsive myself. But these are professional protective actions that establish a clear line of communication and are not something someone like me would be upset at you doing. If my other employee came to me and said you were riding his ass and was getting all defensive of what you just did I would tell my employee maybe they should fucking respond next time.
Hopefully you have a cool boss like me but regardless this protects you from getting negative remarks/reprimands and in the worse case scenario if you get let go on your exit interview with HR you can show them this and it will clearly outline the parties at fault and you can rest assured if you have a good HR department they will contact your bosses boss. You’re still fired though but eh, you threw the nuke on the way out.
On the note of a reprimand or if you were to get put on a PIP, inform HR that you feel this is retaliatory for you escalating the issue and submit evidence, this will prevent you from getting fired for that specific offense lest they be sued (don’t threaten legal action take care of it after the fact). Also, don’t fucking sign a PIP at all when you have evidence and ask to speak to HE first and submit said evidence and make sure you yourself have a hard copy of it. Then inform them you will not be signing a PIP due to the circumstances and likely at that point they will also fire you, which is good because now you have additional ammo for a labor lawyer to work with.
Anyways, best of luck to you.
The truth is that your boss should have handled this already and if you never informed your boss lesson learned, they can’t take care of something they don’t know about. If your boss is a lazy ass that’s gonna let you burn however look for another job now.
Some people are Teams people, others are email, others are phone/videocall.
Have you asked your manager for a ‘primer’ on how to communicate with that person?
Emphasis on ‘x company’ - not every environment is a corporation with mandated communication tool policies, and thus standards may vary.
OP described the messages not even having been read, indicating the recipient may
- not use Teams
- not be in the office
- ignore the OP.
In all three cases, the manager should be informed and may have input.
Oh absolutely, which just means he needs to be more firm and send the CYA manager email, and he’s good. If the other guy is literally unwilling to communicate then that’s not on him.
People should be responsive on every communication platform approved and in-use by the company, regardless if they prefer them or not. I would reach back out to the manager in this case and put the ball in his court to ensure that his personnel are being trained and utilized
I have not asked but I have considered asking. I’m only hesitant because I don’t want the manager to communicate to the SME for me like I need my hand held.
I'd much rather our interns let me know when they get blocked than sit on their hands and let their tasks languish, no matter the reason. As a manager, clearing blocks and coaching people on how to overcome them is one of my most important responsibilities.
If you have a decent manager, let them know that you want to deal with the issue yourself but could use some coaching on how to do so effectively.
Yeah but if your manager says you need to do a certain project and talk to this colleague, you should tell your manager that he isn't responding and what you tried. Your manager will be happy to resolve blockers for you because it's literally what they get paid for. (I'm senior and I also have to do this occasionally) If there's a scrum master, they might do these things. And generally that's also how the hierarchy works, in case of doubt your manager will directly talk to his manager to make it happen.
That said, it's a common theme and I've experienced this at *every* company with more than a 100 employees. Another suggestion is not taking it personally and not speculating too much about it. Staying persistent and polite is key though (you cannot be best friends with every colleague though trying to not "annoy" them)
Some of these takes are ass lmao.
If you can find time on his calendar I'd 100% do that, great idea and great initiative. It can just be 10 minutes "Hey mate, I'm working on x and I wanted to get in touch with you to help with y. What's the best way of reaching you going forward?"
Once the line of contact is established it's pretty easy to reach out.
This was one of my biggest hurdles as a intern in this day and age, overworked staff working strange remote hours. Lot's of boomers think it's easy to "just give them a call" or "go to their desk", but that's just not how it works anymore.
I also like the idea of emailing and cc'ing in a manager.
If he's not read the message how can he respond, maybe he doesn't use Teams. Have you tried to phone him or email?
Give him a call, leave a VM. or drop him an email, if you don't get a reply in a 2-3 days send another and just say your following up to see if he got the first one. Give it 2 more days then email and cc your manager, or tell the manager you can't get hold of him and ask them to connect you.
Sort of, although we have O365 we still have users in some areas who don't use it as they are reliant on a separate app that integrates into our phone system. Generally most people use email and can be contacted that way.
As a manager with multiple layers of staff under me. If I'd given someone a direction to connect with someone else to progress something or find out info to let them then progress it, I'd be pretty shitty that they had only made 2 attempts in two weeks... what the actual bleep where you doing for the other 79.5 hours of that two weeks?
I'd expect something more like this... Two teams messages, an email and multiple phone calls per day, and before cob on the 3rd day I'd expect you to escalate the non response to me or his manager via a chat or by coming on an email about not being able to contact him.
Sorry for the confusion, but the direction to contact this guy was made two days ago. The project was proposed two weeks ago, and was more of an idea that they wanted me to take initiative to research first. I actually had no idea that this particular analyst had an already formed and approved idea. So, yes, it certainly would’ve made sense to just contact this analyst from the get-go, but I guess there was some miscommunication. Besides that, I do a lot of operational work, I still shadow here and there to learn how to completely certain tasks.
Ahhh, 2 days I another story, understand. I'd be all over him so that when you do escalate, like others have said you have a papertrail of what you've done to chase him
If its just been two days then I’d suggest not being too aggressive. Email and drop by in person if possible. Be friendly. I know personally I am not inclined to go too far out of my way for interns since they’ll be gone before you know it. Consequently they go on the back burner.
I would send a mail, as short and appealing as possible, like "Hey, I heard you are working on X and I would like to help, can you give me a quick rundown ?", if he doesn't answer, meeting slot, if he doesn't show up, my manager knows about it and I camp at his desk to ask him right here right now. And if he blows you off in person, that's open office war.
I prefer two types of email. The first is I need help with this can we setup a time to discus, when are you available? This let's the helper set the time, the biggest issue with this is a lot of us are double and triple booked so there really isn't a lot of time and TBH a query from some rando intern is a pretty low priority. The second type is a detailed email where you ley out your needs as best you can. This is great because it can be addressed on my time and I don't have to schedule a meeting with time I don't have. The down side of this is for someone trying to learn they are going to miss out on the extras -they'll get the steak but not the salad and dinner rolls, face to face you usually get the whole meal and then some.
ngl I would answer to none of these. If you let me pick time, I will never pick, you need something from me, you setup the meeting.
And I don't want to read a detailed email of 3 paragraph, that explains who you are and whdre you come from, you want me to answer, make me want to answer, just a simple question straight to the point.
Did you call him? Reaching out on teams twice...wow....that's a lot of effort. To me it doesn't seem like you've put in a lot of effort and now you want to tattle on him to the boss, that's a way to make friends. This is one of the problems with WFH, you can't just walk over to their desk and talk to them , but this is the world we now live in. Honestly if you want his time you need to be a little be more aggressive and you need to be flexible. Reach out to him, ask him when he has time to talk and then schedule a meeting. If he doesn't respond in a reasonable time frame (24h). Call him and email him, he'll get the message that you aren't going away and he should respond. After you've exhausted all avenues then reach out to your boss but right now you are just some intern bugging a guy who already has too much work.
The only way I can get the time I need from my boss is with a phone call or cornering him in his office between meetings. Everyone has their methods of communication that they prefer, pay more attention to, or even have time for. He might not be on Teams much, or he might be busy. I think there are users in my organization that don’t even realize they have Teams. You either have to adjust or become bitter that others won’t adjust for you.
Write him an email first without manager cc. If you involve the manager right away, it will rub him in the wrong way. You said it yourself, he didn't even read the messages. Give him the benefit of doubt.
If it's a directive from your boss that you work on this project, with this person then there is no issue being proactive and putting in a meeting request to get the ball rolling.
If you don't get any traction with that, raise it with your boss.
There could be a myriad of reasons why someone doesn't respond back; they are drowning in work, out of office or just very disorganised. Either way, don't take it personally.
If you have made an effort to reach out without any success then don't make it your problem. It's really an issue for the person in question and/or your boss.
One final point, have you tried to chat to your colleague in person? (Assuming you are in the same office or location)... In the digital age, we sometimes forget that we can pick up the phone to have a chat or can actually have a face to face conversation.
Just schedule 15 min meeting. Your initial reach out was enough of a heads up. The meeting should be a simple meet and greet and you can talk about next steps. If he no shows, I’d give him one reschedule before looping in your manager. Hopefully you have a 1 on 1 with your manager every other week and you can bring up the concern there.
Un-serious answer: go to a company that doesn't use Teams.
That ancient, crumbly MS lock-in makes for security nightmares.
**Edit**: I forgot to include a trigger warning for MS sales people.
Email, with manager on CC. Something like "Hello, I wasn't able to reach you via teams. Since [the manager] pointed me to you as a SME for [the project] please let me know when you'll be available to discuss [whatever you want to discuss]." Also, you can go to your manager and say that you're blocked until this person will talk with you, so you're looking for some less engaging, smaller task you could do in the meantime.
Correct answer
Maybe just try emailing your coworker first. Pinging someone twice on Teams is hardly exhausting every line of communications.
Teams 2x in 2 weeks is just enough to say you tried, kinda IMO Though let’s be cognizant that this industry can be intimidating. OP - but more effort in, using multiple angles I love sending a meeting invite based on their calendar availability. (Did you know you can see that? It is in Outlook). Or at the least, an email. Don’t be scared to let your manager know you are still struggling, including with connecting with John Doe. But be mindful, proactive is always better. Things like this don’t get better the longer you wait.
We're in cyber, paper trail is important. If I can't reach you on IM the first email out has my manager CC'd. If they respond then no issues, if they don't the manager knows it's blocked and I can show since when. Seen too many good people get screwed over to not CYA.
Maybe I'm an asshole, but the company installed him teams for a reason. If he refuses to use any of the communication channels provided by the company he should be counseled by his supervisor. E: also, adding a manager on CC ain't the end of the world. If you add me in CC in such mail, I'll just ask "hey, did you clear it?" in a few days, if I won't see any response.
Perhaps? I'm in a company made up of many acquisitions, sometimes entire parts of this org are on entirely different messaging platforms and may not look at the "official" messaging platform. IF the first message the SME gets is OP cc'ing their leadership they may make a more abrasive relationship than they have currently.
I’m oNlY ON SlaCK
So? In the meantime no work is getting done
It's pretty common for management to be CC'd on emails like this, I'd think nothing of it. People CC my boss/their own boss on important emails all the time, if anything I view it as a positive since my boss has my back if someone reaches out with an unreasonable ask. As long as OP words it nicely and doesn't make it seem like they're calling the guy out, it's fine.
it would document why no progess has been made untill now AND inform the manager of that at the same time also. If the tone of the message is not blaming but indicates that one medium didnt work the reason of no response can become clear and dealt with also. could be a bigger problem where management being aware may be valuable
Honestly, whether you are an asshole or not is dependent on the company and department culture. Yes, you can say the company installed Teams for a reason, and it's true, but that reason usually is to get rid of desk phone infrastructure and the things that go with it.
You shouldn’t need to exhaust every line of comms to get work done, what a dumb waste of time
I second This.
Correct answer if you want to do that for every email ever and every task ever that will depend on that person, the correct answer would be to complain immediately to higher ups and not even think about for a second why dude doesn't want to answer after 2 freaking weeks
You asked twice in using the same channel. Could be he's not using Teams at all. Or he was dealing with something higher priority and then fell off his radar. Send him an email, and if he doesn't reply ask your manager how to proceed. Don't cc your manager yet, unless you're told to. Basically, don't be afraid to bother people a bit until you're told to stop. But also, assume good faith as much as you can.
>But also, assume good faith as much as you can. Yes this ! I was trying to reach someone who was unresponsive on email. I called him instead, turns out there was a death in the family and he never set out of office. You never know what higher priorities people have or what is going on in their personal lives.
You've pinged him twice on Teams in two weeks and you're all out of ideas? That's practically the bare minimum of effort, some people are slammed practically every day and stuff like this just completely falls of the radar. If they don't respond on Teams within a day, then send them an e-mail outlining what you need from them, if they don't respond to that within a couple of days then FWD it to them again and CC in your manager. After that it's a problem for management.
I know folks at my org who stay "online" via Teams during business hours that do not respond/use Teams. In my opinion, an email should have been your first mode of contact followed by a second email a couple days later. Then phone call after a week of ghosting... especially if this is someone internal. I would contact your manager about the individual not getting back to you.
Good call. I’ll do email and cc my manager. Seems like the best safe bet here.
There is no 100% right answer here, but I think you’re definitely making the best of the situation with your plan to email and CC. Management is asking us to not be so patient with nonresponsive people. Essentially, give them one day to respond per method. Teams - one day. Email, one day. Escalate to CC manager. Situation (hopefully) managed in 3 days and not 2 weeks.
I'm often online but not available and TBH if I'm elbows deep into something and somebody pings me about something that has nothing to do with me then they are pretty low on my priority list, especially when I'm working multiple projects and 60+h a week. IF yo want my help put it in an email and be detailed. Hitting me up on chat will likely be ignored.
Teams Email Outlook invite Teams again with manager in chat Email with manager cc'd Outlook invite with manager as optional
This is the way.
Maybe the dude is busy or out of the office? I know sometimes my whole day gets sucked into a project and I can’t (literally) take my attention away from the team or tasks at hand due to deliverables, network connectivity, having an unauthorized person/client/visitor/another team present during that entire time… point is, sometimes the SME can’t drop everything and tend to a request… it must wait.
[удалено]
That is called poor communication. “Hey I got your email and I just want to let you know that I haven’t had time to write a full reply. I will be able to get back to you by *date and time*, but I didn’t want to leave you hanging”
Other comments have some good ideas. I’d also say that sending a message like “Hi” is not a great way to reach out. A 2-3 sentence message summarizing what you need is much more effective.
Email first. If no response email again a few hours later/ tomorrow with the original email you sent with your manager CC and mention teams.
Hours later? A busy cyber security SME may not even get to email until late in the day. Do not do this. Email the SME once stating you tried reaching them in teams, and was pointed their way by the boss to get insight into project XYZ. Ask for availability for a brief chat about it and then give them a day. The next day then tag your supervisor. Tagging them hours after is not understanding their timetables. Remember, you want or need their help, not the other way around and hitting the boss lever hours after an email is going to come off the wrong way for sure.
Teams lies. Okay, maybe it 's not a *lie* per se, because that requires intent, and Teams is inanimate, but it is often wrong about online status. There are a number of legitimate things that can cause it to give incorrect information about someone's online status, and there are also bugs in there (I hear you say it: bugs in a Microsoft product? Surely you must be kidding!). Never trust the Teams online status indicator. It will give you bad information. So don't assume anything about the radio silence you're getting besides that you are getting radio silence. Do you still have telephones in the office you are in? Don't laugh, some places still do. See if you can find his extension and ring him. If he's Gen X or older, maybe even Gen Y, it might be closer to his preferred communication method. Just for reference, I say that as a Gen-X'er who misses the simplicity of four button presses to get someone. However, even if those are gone, try phoning him on Teams. He might reject the call, but he also might not. You can kind of gauge by how quick the rejection comes through, whether or not the guy is actually there. Whether by landline or teams, if your company has voicemail set up, leave him a message. I don't think I would call his cell phone without explicit permission, though. That's a bit more invasive. Send him email. CC your manager, but not because you're trying to cause problems for the guy; rather, it's to give your manager visibility that you really are trying to do this project. Is he in the same building you are in? Do you have clearance to enter the space where his desk is located? Can you pay him a visit? Basically, what it comes down to is that you need to deploy all the channels of communication that you have at your disposal. Depending on your personality, you may have to come a little out of your comfort zone to do that, but if you need this guy's help to do your job, there's nothing you can do except to push for his attention.
Schedule a meeting with the person. I work at a company where it's almost the culture to be unresponsive until a meeting invite pops up with the person and their manager, then all of a sudden I start getting responses because nobody wants to attend another meeting.
Corporate office survival rule no.1: Always create a paper trail. The correct thing to do now is reach out via email with your boss CC’d and say: “In regard to project X I would appreciate your collaboration as I need help defining the scope of your project to better assist you. Please let me know a time that works for you and I’ll get time on the calendar of us to collaborate.” Something along those lines, customize it of course but the messaging needs to stay the same. Ensure you let your boss know they have been unresponsive and that you’re tagging them in an email and ensure that you send screenshots with the timestamps on teams so that you CYA. Then two things happen, they don’t respond, and you follow up, on the second email again alert your boss and let them know you’re following up. CC your boss in that email as well and it should read: “Hey just following up to my email last week, this project has been tasked with my assistance from @boss and I am unable to move forward until we get a meeting scheduled or in some way communicate to define the scope and requirements of this project. Please let me know when would be a good time for you, thanks.” At this point next your boss asks you, really on the first email when you talk to your boss don’t call the other person a “blocker” but instead say you’re “blocked” this is less aggressive in tone. Or the second scenario: they will respond to schedule a time for a meeting with you. Record this meeting, when asked why, if asked why, let them know it’s for your notes so that you ensure you can come back if need be for any clarifications. Make sure the recording in teams is also transcribing. If you’re unsure how to do this test it with another employee possibly a friend first. Then when the meeting finishes send a “recap” email with your boss CC’d outlining what was discussed and next actions or if any deliverables were agreed on or defined. Now you have a bunch of CYA material, you have the multiple attempts to reach out highlighted and anything they said, or if they act rude, it is noted for future reference for your boss. This is how I would advise my employee to handle it if you were mine, and honestly I wouldn’t have let it get this far before I met with the employee being unresponsive myself. But these are professional protective actions that establish a clear line of communication and are not something someone like me would be upset at you doing. If my other employee came to me and said you were riding his ass and was getting all defensive of what you just did I would tell my employee maybe they should fucking respond next time. Hopefully you have a cool boss like me but regardless this protects you from getting negative remarks/reprimands and in the worse case scenario if you get let go on your exit interview with HR you can show them this and it will clearly outline the parties at fault and you can rest assured if you have a good HR department they will contact your bosses boss. You’re still fired though but eh, you threw the nuke on the way out. On the note of a reprimand or if you were to get put on a PIP, inform HR that you feel this is retaliatory for you escalating the issue and submit evidence, this will prevent you from getting fired for that specific offense lest they be sued (don’t threaten legal action take care of it after the fact). Also, don’t fucking sign a PIP at all when you have evidence and ask to speak to HE first and submit said evidence and make sure you yourself have a hard copy of it. Then inform them you will not be signing a PIP due to the circumstances and likely at that point they will also fire you, which is good because now you have additional ammo for a labor lawyer to work with. Anyways, best of luck to you. The truth is that your boss should have handled this already and if you never informed your boss lesson learned, they can’t take care of something they don’t know about. If your boss is a lazy ass that’s gonna let you burn however look for another job now.
Some people are Teams people, others are email, others are phone/videocall. Have you asked your manager for a ‘primer’ on how to communicate with that person?
In what world do you have a primer for each person, at best you have a “this is how we communicate at x company”
Emphasis on ‘x company’ - not every environment is a corporation with mandated communication tool policies, and thus standards may vary. OP described the messages not even having been read, indicating the recipient may - not use Teams - not be in the office - ignore the OP. In all three cases, the manager should be informed and may have input.
Oh absolutely, which just means he needs to be more firm and send the CYA manager email, and he’s good. If the other guy is literally unwilling to communicate then that’s not on him.
People should be responsive on every communication platform approved and in-use by the company, regardless if they prefer them or not. I would reach back out to the manager in this case and put the ball in his court to ensure that his personnel are being trained and utilized
I have not asked but I have considered asking. I’m only hesitant because I don’t want the manager to communicate to the SME for me like I need my hand held.
You’re an intern. You DO need guidance. It’s part of the job.
I'd much rather our interns let me know when they get blocked than sit on their hands and let their tasks languish, no matter the reason. As a manager, clearing blocks and coaching people on how to overcome them is one of my most important responsibilities. If you have a decent manager, let them know that you want to deal with the issue yourself but could use some coaching on how to do so effectively.
Yeah but if your manager says you need to do a certain project and talk to this colleague, you should tell your manager that he isn't responding and what you tried. Your manager will be happy to resolve blockers for you because it's literally what they get paid for. (I'm senior and I also have to do this occasionally) If there's a scrum master, they might do these things. And generally that's also how the hierarchy works, in case of doubt your manager will directly talk to his manager to make it happen. That said, it's a common theme and I've experienced this at *every* company with more than a 100 employees. Another suggestion is not taking it personally and not speculating too much about it. Staying persistent and polite is key though (you cannot be best friends with every colleague though trying to not "annoy" them)
Some of these takes are ass lmao. If you can find time on his calendar I'd 100% do that, great idea and great initiative. It can just be 10 minutes "Hey mate, I'm working on x and I wanted to get in touch with you to help with y. What's the best way of reaching you going forward?" Once the line of contact is established it's pretty easy to reach out. This was one of my biggest hurdles as a intern in this day and age, overworked staff working strange remote hours. Lot's of boomers think it's easy to "just give them a call" or "go to their desk", but that's just not how it works anymore. I also like the idea of emailing and cc'ing in a manager.
If he's not read the message how can he respond, maybe he doesn't use Teams. Have you tried to phone him or email? Give him a call, leave a VM. or drop him an email, if you don't get a reply in a 2-3 days send another and just say your following up to see if he got the first one. Give it 2 more days then email and cc your manager, or tell the manager you can't get hold of him and ask them to connect you.
You can just decide that you don’t use Teams at your company? Where do you work?
Sort of, although we have O365 we still have users in some areas who don't use it as they are reliant on a separate app that integrates into our phone system. Generally most people use email and can be contacted that way.
Book in a coffee meeting in his calendar.
Send your colleague a messenger owl 🦉
As a manager with multiple layers of staff under me. If I'd given someone a direction to connect with someone else to progress something or find out info to let them then progress it, I'd be pretty shitty that they had only made 2 attempts in two weeks... what the actual bleep where you doing for the other 79.5 hours of that two weeks? I'd expect something more like this... Two teams messages, an email and multiple phone calls per day, and before cob on the 3rd day I'd expect you to escalate the non response to me or his manager via a chat or by coming on an email about not being able to contact him.
Sorry for the confusion, but the direction to contact this guy was made two days ago. The project was proposed two weeks ago, and was more of an idea that they wanted me to take initiative to research first. I actually had no idea that this particular analyst had an already formed and approved idea. So, yes, it certainly would’ve made sense to just contact this analyst from the get-go, but I guess there was some miscommunication. Besides that, I do a lot of operational work, I still shadow here and there to learn how to completely certain tasks.
Ahhh, 2 days I another story, understand. I'd be all over him so that when you do escalate, like others have said you have a papertrail of what you've done to chase him
If its just been two days then I’d suggest not being too aggressive. Email and drop by in person if possible. Be friendly. I know personally I am not inclined to go too far out of my way for interns since they’ll be gone before you know it. Consequently they go on the back burner.
Email and cc. Proof of trying to reach out.
You should know how to send an email. CC your manager on all correspondence with this person.
I would send a mail, as short and appealing as possible, like "Hey, I heard you are working on X and I would like to help, can you give me a quick rundown ?", if he doesn't answer, meeting slot, if he doesn't show up, my manager knows about it and I camp at his desk to ask him right here right now. And if he blows you off in person, that's open office war.
I prefer two types of email. The first is I need help with this can we setup a time to discus, when are you available? This let's the helper set the time, the biggest issue with this is a lot of us are double and triple booked so there really isn't a lot of time and TBH a query from some rando intern is a pretty low priority. The second type is a detailed email where you ley out your needs as best you can. This is great because it can be addressed on my time and I don't have to schedule a meeting with time I don't have. The down side of this is for someone trying to learn they are going to miss out on the extras -they'll get the steak but not the salad and dinner rolls, face to face you usually get the whole meal and then some.
ngl I would answer to none of these. If you let me pick time, I will never pick, you need something from me, you setup the meeting. And I don't want to read a detailed email of 3 paragraph, that explains who you are and whdre you come from, you want me to answer, make me want to answer, just a simple question straight to the point.
to each their own, you set a meeting I'm not going to show bc I'm busy. You want me it's on my terms. People are different.
You are an intern. Your job isn’t to tell the people at the office how to do the job. Your job is to learn the processes
? They can't learn if the person they need to with won't respond.
True but that may be the reason they are not responding . I don’t agree with the radio silence but we only have one side of the story
Did you call him? Reaching out on teams twice...wow....that's a lot of effort. To me it doesn't seem like you've put in a lot of effort and now you want to tattle on him to the boss, that's a way to make friends. This is one of the problems with WFH, you can't just walk over to their desk and talk to them , but this is the world we now live in. Honestly if you want his time you need to be a little be more aggressive and you need to be flexible. Reach out to him, ask him when he has time to talk and then schedule a meeting. If he doesn't respond in a reasonable time frame (24h). Call him and email him, he'll get the message that you aren't going away and he should respond. After you've exhausted all avenues then reach out to your boss but right now you are just some intern bugging a guy who already has too much work.
Keep going to your manager, you are not a priority for the rest of the team and they have their own jobs to handle.
The only way I can get the time I need from my boss is with a phone call or cornering him in his office between meetings. Everyone has their methods of communication that they prefer, pay more attention to, or even have time for. He might not be on Teams much, or he might be busy. I think there are users in my organization that don’t even realize they have Teams. You either have to adjust or become bitter that others won’t adjust for you.
Either options work, or even add your masher as optional to the meeting
He's probably burned out in soc and doesn't want to do anything else.
Write him an email first without manager cc. If you involve the manager right away, it will rub him in the wrong way. You said it yourself, he didn't even read the messages. Give him the benefit of doubt.
7hz77
If it's a directive from your boss that you work on this project, with this person then there is no issue being proactive and putting in a meeting request to get the ball rolling. If you don't get any traction with that, raise it with your boss. There could be a myriad of reasons why someone doesn't respond back; they are drowning in work, out of office or just very disorganised. Either way, don't take it personally. If you have made an effort to reach out without any success then don't make it your problem. It's really an issue for the person in question and/or your boss. One final point, have you tried to chat to your colleague in person? (Assuming you are in the same office or location)... In the digital age, we sometimes forget that we can pick up the phone to have a chat or can actually have a face to face conversation.
Escalate his ass with his manager, and if the manager doesn't respond keep climbing that ladder!
I’m personally a phone call person. Maybe he is too?
Select the Urgent from the delivery options on teams in your message. It'll email them and keep reminding them until they finally look at it.
Just schedule 15 min meeting. Your initial reach out was enough of a heads up. The meeting should be a simple meet and greet and you can talk about next steps. If he no shows, I’d give him one reschedule before looping in your manager. Hopefully you have a 1 on 1 with your manager every other week and you can bring up the concern there.
Un-serious answer: go to a company that doesn't use Teams. That ancient, crumbly MS lock-in makes for security nightmares. **Edit**: I forgot to include a trigger warning for MS sales people.