3 ms·

Thank you patio. Well done. I'd be worried he thought that was condescending, but I am probably being paranoid. And sorry if I'm being dense, but what's the gen

by jquery 17y ago

Thank you patio. Well done. I'd be worried he thought that was condescending, but I am probably being paranoid. And sorry if I'm being dense, but what's the general principle behind that response? Be assertive yet gracious?

gridspy 17y ago
In most cases, your job is to execute tasks. Your managers job is to prioritise / filter them. Put your manager between you and any unwanted feature requests.
jason_tko 17y ago
I agree with patio11, but I'd probably find a slightly softer way to say it, especially if you're new to the company. Keep in mind, if he's from a different team, he has no authority over you. If he keeps asking you to do things unrelated to your teams priorities, this becomes an issue for your manager. In any case, your first priority should be to your own team, so I would find a friendly way to say this. "Hey X, Thanks for your mail, it's good to hear from you. I understand where you're coming from on your request. I'll discuss it with my team leader the next time we have a meeting. I should also let you know that I've got a set of high-priority tasks in relation to (my team) at the moment, so I'm not sure when I'll be able to get back to you on this. If this is a critical request, I'd be grateful if you could speak to (my manager) about this. Thanks very much" General principals : * Be friendly and clear on your priorities. * Set expectations correctly. * Communicate that your priorities are defined by your team/manager. * Explain that if changes to these priorities need to be made, they should go through your manager. I hope that's helpful. Good luck !
patio11 17y ago
1) I value your opinion and will acknowledge where it is correct rather than getting defensive. We're all professionals here and can discuss our professional specialty without egos getting in the way. 2) I am the person responsible for this feature, and as such decisions about weighing competing priorities are my responsibility. That is, after all, why the firm hired me. It is not impolite or inappropriate for me to reach conclusions different than yours: professionals such as ourselves routinely disagree on many issues. 3) I understand that other groups have competing priorities and will gently remind you that we have a mechanism for resolving those competing priorities.
salaaami 17y ago
It is condescending. The problem is we don't know how friendly you and Dave are and how he handles things. This could suffice as well. "Nice, didn't think of doing it that way. Once my plate is clear I'll change things. -You"
- patio11 17y ago
  You've just said "Yes, I will change this" instead of "No, I will not change this, but I am open to the possibility of changing this at a later date if you feel strongly enough about it to bring it up again." Six months from now if this is not done yet it is because you have not done your job. With my mail, Dave should understand that I consider this issue resolved unless Dave continues to make an issue of it. That is a critical thing to communicate to Dave if you do not, in fact, plan on changing this.

by jquery 17y ago

gridspy 17y ago

In most cases, your job is to execute tasks. Your managers job is to prioritise / filter them. Put your manager between you and any unwanted feature requests.

jason_tko 17y ago

I agree with patio11, but I'd probably find a slightly softer way to say it, especially if you're new to the company. Keep in mind, if he's from a different team, he has no authority over you. If he keeps asking you to do things unrelated to your teams priorities, this becomes an issue for your manager. In any case, your first priority should be to your own team, so I would find a friendly way to say this. "Hey X, Thanks for your mail, it's good to hear from you. I understand where you're coming from on your request. I'll discuss it with my team leader the next time we have a meeting. I should also let you know that I've got a set of high-priority tasks in relation to (my team) at the moment, so I'm not sure when I'll be able to get back to you on this. If this is a critical request, I'd be grateful if you could speak to (my manager) about this. Thanks very much" General principals : * Be friendly and clear on your priorities. * Set expectations correctly. * Communicate that your priorities are defined by your team/manager. * Explain that if changes to these priorities need to be made, they should go through your manager. I hope that's helpful. Good luck !

patio11 17y ago

1) I value your opinion and will acknowledge where it is correct rather than getting defensive. We're all professionals here and can discuss our professional specialty without egos getting in the way. 2) I am the person responsible for this feature, and as such decisions about weighing competing priorities are my responsibility. That is, after all, why the firm hired me. It is not impolite or inappropriate for me to reach conclusions different than yours: professionals such as ourselves routinely disagree on many issues. 3) I understand that other groups have competing priorities and will gently remind you that we have a mechanism for resolving those competing priorities.

salaaami 17y ago

It is condescending. The problem is we don't know how friendly you and Dave are and how he handles things. This could suffice as well. "Nice, didn't think of doing it that way. Once my plate is clear I'll change things. -You"

patio11 17y ago
You've just said "Yes, I will change this" instead of "No, I will not change this, but I am open to the possibility of changing this at a later date if you feel strongly enough about it to bring it up again." Six months from now if this is not done yet it is because you have not done your job. With my mail, Dave should understand that I consider this issue resolved unless Dave continues to make an issue of it. That is a critical thing to communicate to Dave if you do not, in fact, plan on changing this.