Episode 101 | Corporate America Is a Giant Group Project. Get Used to It.

Question

Hey, Work Wives. My name's Amy Michelle and I'm calling from Chicago, Illinois. I have a co-worker... Okay, actually, I'll start here: we're both new and the only ones on the team. So this person doesn't pull her weight. I can see the logs of her work and she doesn't show up at all for days on end. That means that she literally isn't even clicking any buttons in the system. She's had multiple tasks past due for a month and a half. And it's very frustrating because our stakeholders come to me asking where these things are, even though we have the same title.

Okay, for example, she had a task due at the end of July, and the stakeholders came to me to set up a meeting to discuss it. I mentioned that my co-worker needed to be included since it was her work. She said, "Oh, I can't make it, but just take notes for me."

My boss recently assigned both of us a project and emphasized that it should be collaborative. I broke out the user stories and asked her to choose two out of four to complete, but was met with, "Well, I'm busy with other things right now." I told her that this was the priority and we needed to complete it ASAP. Guess what? I logged in this morning and once again, nothing was even started. I expressed to my boss that I can't make any progress until my co-worker finishes her part, and was immediately met with, "Okay, can you pick up her other work?"

I feel incredibly frustrated that my completion of work is being met with having to do my co-worker's tasks. I wasn't hired to do the work of two people, and I'm afraid that this will become a precedent. I need advice, because I'm literally going to quit if this continues. I'm carrying the entire team on my back, and I'm gonna burn out.

Summary

Is your co-worker really your co-worker if they don’t actually…work? Spoiler alert: it doesn’t matter. Focus on keeping the main thing the main thing so you can make opportunity out of the chaos that is Corporate America.

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