I lead a team which has been short-staffed for months. I have spoken to my boss and given written reports on numerous occasions detailing why we’re short staffed and requesting that he begin an interviewing process for a new employee.
In the mean time we are sharing an extra job between us, and as a small team this often means that we don’t get as much work done as we’d like.
In particular, I spoke to my boss yesterday to show him that the amount of work I personally have to do does not match the hours I’m given to do the work in. My boss was very understanding, and in that private setting he not only assured me that he will get a new staff member but also arranged time at a future date where I can tackle this growing backlog of tasks I personally have to do.
Then today I was holding a staff meeting and he walked in and (among other things) started asking me why X wasn’t done or Y wasn’t done. I had literally just discussed these things with him yesterday. I tried to give a clear answer but I am concerned that it looked bad in front of the staff.
How can I tackle this with my boss, especially given that we had a very productive and clear discussion on it less than 36 hours ago? Is there a way that I can prevent him interrupting and derailing a meeting (which was on limited time as we have so much work to do!) for a topic that did not need to be covered? I know he’s the boss so I’m in a limited position. Please advise.