Manager not telling me in advance where I'll be working

Question

I started a new job about a month ago. I'm in the IT department of a medium sized company. They have two offices that are relatively close together. When I accepted the job I understood that I would be working out of different locations on different days. I had assumed this meant something like one week at Location A and the next at Location B etc. Currently it's basically random and I often find out the day before. This is causing me stress and inconvenience. When switching between the two locations I need to bring my belongings and work gear (including a laptop and its docking station) so I need to bring a large enough bag on these days. Also I sometimes don't go straight home from work and go to other activities. I asked the manager "what is the rotation schedule?" and he gave a non-answer "there isn't one yet, it still needs to be created" and then walked away. I don't know why we even rotate between the two locations instead of just being assigned to one. It seems like everyone else is on a fairly fixed schedule.

In general I've been having a little trouble adjusting to the manager's communication style. I never get the chance to talk to him one on one. He always CCs the whole department when replying to emails. He seems sort of invested in getting out of doing work and just laughs at everything. He also seems to only be in the office for 4 hours at random times. I'm not saying these things are unethical or unprofessional, I'm just saying I'm not used to it.

What's the best way to address this issue? I think I should send an email to my manager asking for clarity. I'm having trouble knowing what exactly to ask for. For example:

"Hi Manager. I was wondering if I could get more details on my rotation schedule and where I can expect to be working? Would I be able to know a few days in advance instead of learning the day before where I'll be working from?"

Answer 1

I expect that you floating between sites is a "half person" problem, where they need 2.5 people at one site and 1.5 at the other (for example) and they need flexibility based on emergent requirements. If that's the case then more than a day's notice might not be possible.

One thing I would suggest to your manager is to duplicate whatever equipment is possible at the two worksites. Having a docking station with mouse and keyboard available at either site is a pretty reasonable request. I would phrase the request in terms of limiting the amount of company equipment that you would be responsible for outside of company property and outside of working hours.

"Hey boss, can we get me an X, Y, and Z for each site as opposed to me carting them along with me? With how much gear I'm hauling all over, I'm concerned if something gets damaged or lost and I'll be responsible for it or without it while we wait for a replacement."

This might not solve the problem entirely but it will make it easier to change between sites.

Answer 2

This definitely sounds rough, so you're going to talk to your manager, efficiently.

To communicate efficiently with your manager, your first task is to understand your side better. This will allow you to both present a more solid case to your manager, and to be able to better react to new arguments/issues presented.

It's also a good idea to prepare alternatives/suggestions in case what you're asking for is not possible, and once again this requires understanding what are the exact issues on your side. Bosses are not all-knowing, and quite often just handle things on the fly -- or let them slide if they don't quite know what to do. Bringing them a suggestion, rather than an open-ended question, makes their job easier... and helps you get what you want.

My advice, therefore, is to start a list (or table). Don't expect to finish it in one go, instead start it, and add to it over the course of a week. Sleeping on it is quite likely to reveal new problems/suggestions, take advantage of it.

Your list should be composed of:

• A list of the issues you encounter with the current situation.
• For each issue, possible alternatives/suggestions.

You've already given a few pointers, so let's try it out:

• Stress: not knowing where you'll be working tomorrow is stressful for you.
  • Suggestion A: alternating sites on a daily or weekly basis.
  • Suggestion B: choosing (yourself) which site to work on on a particular day, with perhaps some metric such as "at least 40% of the month at site X" or "at least 2 days per full week at site X".
• Gear: lots of gear to haul, with risk of damage/loss.
  • Suggestion C: double peripherals, at the very least screen + docking station, possibly keyboard + mouse. This may also mean double decks, or a locker, etc...
• Plans: hard to plan meetings, or shared tasks with teammates.
  • Suggestions A & B would definitely help here, with B making it easier to be reactive.

Go through the exercise, familiarize yourself with the issues you face and try to figure out more suggestions.

Then schedule a meeting with your boss to discuss it:

Topic: Improving my haphazard schedule.

Hey boss,

My current lack of schedule is stressful and very inconvenient for me, so I'd like to meet with you for 15 minutes to expose my problems and offer a few suggestions of my own that I think would be beneficial for myself and the team.

Regards, X.

Important points:

• The topic is clear.
• You clearly mention that you have suggestions.
• Because the first word in the topic is "Improving", it doesn't sound like a complaint ;)

Good luck, and let us know how it went.

Answer 3

Talk, call or email your manager to explain that it would be wonderful if you can have the schedule in advance a few days before the work dates.

In your conversation with the manager, don't make it look like you strongly demand that he must let you know the schedule a few days in advance. Instead, make it look like you would greatly appreciate it if he can help you out by sending the schedule to you early or a few days in advance so that you can plan ahead.

Explain to him what you wrote in your post such as:

Currently it's basically random and I often find out the day before. This is causing me stress and inconvenience. When switching between the two locations I need to bring my belongings and work gear (including a laptop and its docking station) so I need to bring a large enough bag on these days.

Answer 4

"Dear Manager,

In order to best meet the team's needs for a consistent approach for IT support, from the 15th of Xmonth, my working schedule for each site will be as follows;

Monday/Tuesday/Friday - Location A

Wednesday/Thursday - Location B.

Please let me know if you would like to amend this schedule"

He won't set a schedule until you propose one.