ARGH [warning: venting/ranting session ahead]
Can I just say...
I hate incompetent and/or sloppy subordinates, especially ones that don't have enough respect for those senior to them, even if the seniors are actually more junior in age.
I am truly aggravated. This is the second time that I have been badly burned by someone I've given an assignment to. The first time, the summer associate was just incompetent and hard to work with, but she at least had a fair amount of common sense and respected the deadlines that I set for her. Only problem was that her work sucked and I couldn't trust her to do a good job. And I had to pull an all-nighter to redo her work. (Please, please don't let her accept her offer at my firm.)
But this guy. Man! The law is a second career for him, so he is quite a bit older than me, but I have 4 years of experience on him. But this doesn't stop him from making judgment calls that he has no right to be making as a first-year. For example, I comment on his work product and ask him to do certain things. He doesn't do half of them. So either he is sloppy, or he doesn't think my comments are correct/worth putting in. He needs to address every comment -- whether it is inputting it into the document, or debating with me whether it should go in. He shouldn't just be choosing what he wants to include and what not to include. At the end of the day, it's MY ass on the line for this assignment because I am supervising it. Another example? I set deadlines for him. We are a fast-paced fire-drill-all-the-time type group. We turn things around quickly because it keeps our clients happy. The client asked me directly to do some research, which I farmed out to him because I am slammed. This was WEEKS ago. If I had done this myself, or given it to someone else, it would have been done in no longer than a week. Not only is this guy one of the slowest people on earth, but he has no respect for the deadline. I would say, "give it to me before 7 because I have to leave for my class." At 7 I hear nothing. I have to go to his office to see what the hell is going on, and he is all relaxed and unconcerned about my deadline. He then sends it to me at 7:15. If you can't make a deadline, TELL ME.
But the worst offense by far was yesterday. I told him that I had given the piece to a senior associate to review, and that the senior would be sending him comments that evening. He was free to leave, but he needed to keep his blackberry on him so that when the comments came in, he could work on them, turn around a draft to me, and I could edit and then send to the partner. I specifically told him that we had been sitting on this for too long and that we needed to get it out last night. (Yes, yes, I know we work late.)
I see on my bberry that the comments come in at 8:30. I hear nothing from him for hours. I decide to go to bed thinking I will just work on the piece in the morning. I wake up and there is nothing. I get to work and there is nothing. At 10:30, I go to his office and ask him what's going on. He proceeds to tell me that he got the comments last night at about 10pm, decided that home wasn't the best place for him to work on it, and that he would just wait until the morning to BEGIN working on the changes.
WTF?!?!? I mean, I know English is my second language and all, but I was absolutely clear that I wanted the piece last night. If he didn't think he could get it to me, he should have told me so! Perhaps I would have told him it was ok to wait. Or maybe I would have done it myself because I had promised the partner that I would send it for his review last night. A first-year can't just unilaterally decide not to follow my instructions and then not frickin' tell me about it! And I had to follow-up with him! This is not the way things work at a big law firm. I hate to write someone off this early in their career, or see someone who is genuinely interested in the practice develop a bad reputation early on, but I am not looking forward to working with him after this assignment is completed (if it is ever completed).
Whew. I feel vaguely better. But not really, since it is now past midnight. Why am I up? Because I was reworking his piece into something that I hope the partner doesn't tear to shreds. Double argh!
I hate incompetent and/or sloppy subordinates, especially ones that don't have enough respect for those senior to them, even if the seniors are actually more junior in age.
I am truly aggravated. This is the second time that I have been badly burned by someone I've given an assignment to. The first time, the summer associate was just incompetent and hard to work with, but she at least had a fair amount of common sense and respected the deadlines that I set for her. Only problem was that her work sucked and I couldn't trust her to do a good job. And I had to pull an all-nighter to redo her work. (Please, please don't let her accept her offer at my firm.)
But this guy. Man! The law is a second career for him, so he is quite a bit older than me, but I have 4 years of experience on him. But this doesn't stop him from making judgment calls that he has no right to be making as a first-year. For example, I comment on his work product and ask him to do certain things. He doesn't do half of them. So either he is sloppy, or he doesn't think my comments are correct/worth putting in. He needs to address every comment -- whether it is inputting it into the document, or debating with me whether it should go in. He shouldn't just be choosing what he wants to include and what not to include. At the end of the day, it's MY ass on the line for this assignment because I am supervising it. Another example? I set deadlines for him. We are a fast-paced fire-drill-all-the-time type group. We turn things around quickly because it keeps our clients happy. The client asked me directly to do some research, which I farmed out to him because I am slammed. This was WEEKS ago. If I had done this myself, or given it to someone else, it would have been done in no longer than a week. Not only is this guy one of the slowest people on earth, but he has no respect for the deadline. I would say, "give it to me before 7 because I have to leave for my class." At 7 I hear nothing. I have to go to his office to see what the hell is going on, and he is all relaxed and unconcerned about my deadline. He then sends it to me at 7:15. If you can't make a deadline, TELL ME.
But the worst offense by far was yesterday. I told him that I had given the piece to a senior associate to review, and that the senior would be sending him comments that evening. He was free to leave, but he needed to keep his blackberry on him so that when the comments came in, he could work on them, turn around a draft to me, and I could edit and then send to the partner. I specifically told him that we had been sitting on this for too long and that we needed to get it out last night. (Yes, yes, I know we work late.)
I see on my bberry that the comments come in at 8:30. I hear nothing from him for hours. I decide to go to bed thinking I will just work on the piece in the morning. I wake up and there is nothing. I get to work and there is nothing. At 10:30, I go to his office and ask him what's going on. He proceeds to tell me that he got the comments last night at about 10pm, decided that home wasn't the best place for him to work on it, and that he would just wait until the morning to BEGIN working on the changes.
WTF?!?!? I mean, I know English is my second language and all, but I was absolutely clear that I wanted the piece last night. If he didn't think he could get it to me, he should have told me so! Perhaps I would have told him it was ok to wait. Or maybe I would have done it myself because I had promised the partner that I would send it for his review last night. A first-year can't just unilaterally decide not to follow my instructions and then not frickin' tell me about it! And I had to follow-up with him! This is not the way things work at a big law firm. I hate to write someone off this early in their career, or see someone who is genuinely interested in the practice develop a bad reputation early on, but I am not looking forward to working with him after this assignment is completed (if it is ever completed).
Whew. I feel vaguely better. But not really, since it is now past midnight. Why am I up? Because I was reworking his piece into something that I hope the partner doesn't tear to shreds. Double argh!