[Xahl]

Hi,
I am a PhD student in the UK, and I have an issue with a senior co-worker.

I won't bore you with the details, but basically I have been working with a senior technician that oversees work in one of the labs of the University that I work at.

There's been an issue with exporting my data, one that can apparently only be fixed by a third party. This issue has dragged on for 2 months now, each time that I email the technician regarding the progress I just receive a "haven't heard anything" or "not yet solved".

I have supervisors and external funders breathing down my neck, and I feel that the technician is very uncommunicative with me, and shoots down any idea I have to investigate the problem further. The issue is not of his making, nor is it one that he can fix, however he has the contact details of this third party and is essentially responsible for making sure they work on this problem. Furthermore he is a lot more senior than me, is a nice chap, and is someone I hope to work with more in the future.

What on earth do I do?

I feel I have two options: either I berate him myself and tell him that "it's not yet solved" is not a good enough answer, or I ask my supervisor to intervene. In either case I feel that I will be directly impacting on the current, and future, working relationship I have with him. By nature, I am just not versed in creating this sort of conflict (I'm English fyi...) but time is getting on, and I will be the one to get it in the neck if I don't meet my deadlines.

Can anyone give me some advice?
Thank you in advance.

[Crazy Hitch]

Keep track of everything.

All records to the tech department for support.

All communication with your supervisor.

Everytime something didn't work due to a technical error that has already been lodged with tech support.

You should communicate the technical side of things with your supervisor.

It's a difficult situation when it's someone in a more senior position than you.

I can understand how you don't like conflict.

But right now you're being thrown in the middle of something that you don't have control over.

[hvert]

Can you say "Bob, I know that you are really busy and don't have time to take care of this data export problem. I have some time on my hands. Why don't you give me Jim's number so I can call and move this data export along?"

If he refuses to get you the info, you need to tell your supervisor. You can frame it without blaming this coworker -- just tell your supervisor that you have been waiting 2 months for someone to fix the data export, nothing is happening, what does he/she want you to do.

[Xahl]

Thanks for your feedback guys. It's such a tricky situation, but your suggestions are very reasonable. If I had a backbone I would've said something sooner to him, or my supervisor, and then just dealt with a colleague not liking me.

I will absolutely keep track of all communication, and try to get the third party's contact details off him (as you suggest). Thanks both

It's nice simply to offload.

[cuss.mustard]

Ask him for a specific date by which he can have it done. If you find that unreasonable, tell him that that will not be soon enough for you and perhaps give him a deadline.

Or, indicate that you're not wanting to strain the working relationship but are getting a bit frustrated with the situation. Ask if there's anything you can do to assist--including asking for the third party's contact information so you can troubleshoot, yourself.

Or, go to a supervisor and ask how to best proceed (assuming the supervisor is one with whom you're comfortable sharing these thoughts).

Remember, it's not an either/or situation--you don't automatically become "berating" if you stop putting up with the filibustering. You're just doing your job. That doesn't make you a bad person whatsoever.

[kim_johnson]

Maybe this is sorted now, but for the future... Email is a wonderful thing. You can really take a good half day with some of them (like this one) and then leave it a couple hours and check things... Before sending them on.

Maybe this will help for (inevitable) future problems...

Address it to the technician and cc your supervisor in. The aim is to... Show the both of them that you are capable of behaving professionally and appropriately... See... Now the technician gets to chase things up comperably (saying that not only does he have a PhD student breathing down his neck - which, no offence, doesn't mean very much - but he also has your supervisor breathing down his neck, which of course means a hell of a lot more). Showing your supervisor that you acknowledge and appreciate his seniority etc etc....

So... Something like...

Hi (technician),

Sorry to be bothering you about the data exporting issue, again (see emails on date, date, date, date).

[This is you covering your *** with your supervisor - very short way of letting them know what you have done to try and solve things yourself. It also gets the technician thinking that he can employ a similar strategy when he chases things up on your (and your supervisors since he's cc'd in now) behalf. CCing in your supervisor adds clout. A lot of it.]

I am concerned that if this isn't resolved soon then it will jepordise committments to my supervisors, and our committments to external funders.

[Not entirely happy about that. Would be nice to put realistic dates in... E.g., If I don't get the data exported by the y date then I will have failed to meet committments...]

I appreciate the efforts you have gone to thus far on chasing up z (third party). Any more information you could obtain from z on when this issue is likely to be resolved will help me provide realistic timeframes to parties who are relying on me [you get the idea].

Best,

name.

----

Do you get the idea? What you want to do is to show everyone involved that you are capable of handing yourself professionally and appropriately. Sometimes... **** happens. People don't come to the party and you don't meet your deadlines or whatever because of it. You need to learn how to be... Honest. Basically. How to... Take responsibility for things that are within your control and (professionally and appropriately) pass responsibility off to others for things that aren't inside your control.

If the technician is a slacker... I'm sure your supervisor will know this already. He'll have had similar problems with that technician. Your supervisor can put 2 and 2 together... If the problem is that the 3rd party is slacking... Your supervisor will probably already know that, too. What's on test here is... Your PhD. Your ability to show them that you can handle yourself professionally and appropriately.

Sometimes... You just do have to tell external funders that deadlines weren't met. You also get to tell them *why*. You don't want to get a reputation for being a tattle-tail... But you also don't want to get a reputation for being a slacker when you aren't (for being a person who gets bogged down in other peoples ineptitude).

Things to ask yourself:

Could I do something different with the data so this problem won't recurr for me in the future? E.g., use different software for the data. Can you upskill to sort out this kind of problem for yourself in future? COuld you have used the time... To have figured it out? These are things within your control... Ask yourself whether other people maybe didn't help you / sort it out for you because they were waiting for you to realise that you could actually do this for yourself...

Luck.

[kim_johnson]

Similarly... When your supervisor was chasing you up on this... I love email because I can take my time to do this properly... I'd have emailed my supervisor and said something like:

Hi, x,

Following up on our discussion about my progress, I'm having trouble exporting the data. In my efforts to solve the issue I have:

- x
- y
- z.

If there is anything futher that I could do that I haven't thought of I'd appreciate your advising me on this.

----

That's what advisors are for.