The Career Doctor: Judi James

Your Employment Questions Answered

I recently overheard my area manager discussing redundancies in a phone conversation. It sounded as though at least half the department would be going. The problem is, I know my boss is about to take on a hefty mortgage when she gets married and that this is with the assumption that she has a steady job. She's a friend as well as a boss. Do I tell her what I overheard?

This sounds like one hell of a moral dilemma to me. Blabbing what you heard could scupper your own career, but I can see that you don't want to stand by and watch your friend get into a mountain of debt. As I see it you have three options:

1) Tell and take the consequences. However, do understand that your friend may not be on the list for the chop. 2) Keep quiet and feel guilty if she is. 3) Drop hints. This is known as a half-tell, as in "How would your mortgage be affected if anything went wrong with the job?" This last path has been recommended to me by managers in similar situations who have wanted to sit on the fence and not be accused of either saying nothing or of breaking a confidence. How you imply knowledge of something this traumatic without your boss lashing you to the desk and setting about you with the stapler until you tell all, heaven knows. Only you can balance your own interests with your moral values. The one option I would recommend against is the "not tell", followed by an "actually, I did know all about that" once the news is out.

Our IT department seems to hold us to ransom. When a computer crashes, they are supposed to be on hand to help. We work to very tight deadlines and everything has to stop until the repair is made. All we get when we call up for help, though, is delay and what borders on rudeness. The trouble is, when the deadline is missed it's us who gets the blame, not them.

Until recently, IT departments rarely saw themselves as customer-friendly. They were the ones with the superior knowledge and we were the numbskulls who systematically beat up their babies, ie the PCs. Now there is a lot of training going on trying to change this. The trouble with changing behaviour is that it has to be seen to have benefits for the trainee.

The other problem is that their argument is that we are all stressed-out and abusive. How does your own behaviour look when your computer crashes? Are you all sweetness and light or is there conflict on both sides? Often it is this perception gap – ie that there is aggro from both sides – that needs clearing up. Try a charm offensive. Go and visit them in their lair and say you've just popped in for a chat. Let drop that you like Star Trek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. You will find you bond immediately and they will begin to see you as a person, rather than just an irate voice on the phone. This might help.