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View Full Version : bad or good? kinda gossiped



Zoe Girl
3-25-15, 10:01pm
i am going into a lot of frustration around the summer camp plans i am making.

i am blending my camp with another program and 2 of us wrote a proposal including schedules and budgets and a name. then she left! oh dear, and i went ahead to work with the guy who is the supervisor. He came late to one meeting, another he admitted being unprepared, his marketing materials did not include the name we chose, and then he starts talking about different rotations and groupings. So basically i think he did not read the proposal. i answered his email with direct communication that was clear and professional, not rude, but then i called the person who quit to vent and get a phone number of someone also involved in this. well about an hour later i get a call saying he heard i was frustrated. this was literally the only person i trusted to share with and there is a leak. i apologized a lot and then explained my frustration with the camp process this year, not so much about him. But it did include that we got no responses to our proposal (including him) and i had expected to adjust based on feedback a month ago when we submitted it by the due date.

well he must have really listened because today i get an email from a supervisor up the line saying that my proposal is fine, who is also going to be sharing space in the building with our camp and that it is okay to move forward with the next steps. despite cringing over how it happened i am so relieved to have these answers. i want to correct some things i did last year by not being clear on approvals. meanwhile i can still look like crap but i can look like crap for the homeless issue or the 4 goal systems or my numbers.

razz
3-26-15, 7:14am
Sounds as though the 'leak' handled it with some care and you carried on with a professional approach. Well done!

Zoe Girl
3-26-15, 8:18am
the biggest thing for me was that it broke through the wall i have been hitting in communication, i couldn't send one more unanswered email on the topics. So having a pretty valid concern i think saved me from looking like a jerk

Float On
3-26-15, 8:45am
I think you diffused it well and got your point across. Be careful about how much you apologize. A simple "sorry but yes I am frustrated due to...." is much better than apologizing a lot. Taking the blame allows a dumping spot for others to place the blame. Your organization seems to have lots of chefs stirring the pot. Keeping them all stirring at least in the same direction takes a lot of work.

Zoe Girl
3-26-15, 8:52am
thank you float, i did stop short of too many apologies this time. i kept reminding myself of his part in all of this to balance out my urge to grovel. i did take a large dumping back in December in the spirit of getting some families taken care of and it felt crappy, and didn't help my image in the department at all. one situation is still going that i feel i have been totally appropriate with. it doesn't help we are now running almost everything by committee! i like being included on some of them overall but logistically it is a nightmare.

Hey, i just realized that other than talking to my one person i have not dumped on anyone or classified them as the bad guy or a problem. when i went to the head of the department to get clarity on something during her office hours i was clear in saying that we were all doing our jobs to the best of our ability and on this issue the goals were at odds.

Float On
3-26-15, 8:54am
i was clear in saying that we were all doing our jobs to the best of our ability and on this issue the goals were at odds.

Excellent!