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I have a collaboration issue, and I want to get something off my chest...

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Anonymous

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I have a collaboration issue, and I want to get something off my chest...

My company is having us do daily meetings with an offshore team, which is highly exhausting. We are mostly training them and handing over our work to them. It has been months of this, and we have two years under our belt as a new company (we merged).

I feel like we're being scrutinized and that this is EXCESSIVE. Everything that we say is being tape-recorded on Teams Meetings. Spot checks are done with cameras, and they make you go into your emails and files, etc (over sharing) or do on-the-spot trainings on a whim with no agenda. I am so exhausted, I want to fall over. My boss is a huge collaborator/talker, so I don't want to object.

I feel like this collaboration is just bringing up more and more problems and work the more we meet and talk, and it is not productive (getting nothing done, and clients are getting angry). This is fueling tons of pressure and stress to get things done yesterday!

Our dept. has also been scrutinized in the past, some layoffs and fine-tuned quality control on us by the owner.

I really think they want us to quit in this case...almost to see who will quit first. I feel as though we're being tested, and trust isn't very high on my list these days with all the transparency they are insisting on.

I'm in a crazy place. Can anyone help me find some perspective here?

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  1. Barbara Mastroddi

    It sounds like a lot of micromanaging going on, with the likelihood that those in charge have to prove themselves to their supervisors by how their teams are functioning.

  2. Anonymous

    Thanks, Barbara, for your reply; I'm at my wits' end.

  3. Anonymous

    My old company did this too. It was a form of quiet firing in our case. It got way worse the year leading up to the product being sunsetted. Rather than laying people off and giving them a severance package, they basically drove us all crazy to get us to leave. A lot of people stuck around and waited to get laid off but I jumped as the culture was driving me insane.

  4. Anonymous

    Yes, that's what this feels like big time...

  5. Anonymous

    Merger ~2 yrs ago, daily calls with offshore team, going into your emails on a Teams call. ? Sounds like your entire department is about to be the offshore team. They have you training your less expensive replacements.

  6. Anonymous

    I've seen this very thing happen, back in the early 2000s, when everything (product development and customer services) was being sent overseas.

  7. Anonymous

    Thanks for your comment.

  8. Anonymous

    Yes, it feels that way. They've wanted to go this route for years (I think)...

  9. GirlBossanova934974

    Why aren't you long gone aka turned in your 2 week notice? A very shortsighted decision made by a few greedy executives is not your problem. Let the management figure it out after you and your coworkers are long gone. The problems are only going to get worse. Wait until the folks on the offshore team start leaving as well. Those organizations are usually overrun with large turnover as they are paid rather poorly in many cases. A few years ago, I saw this myself in a mid-sized company. We saw the error of our ways aka fired the executives who did this, closed down the offshore operation, and never looked back.

  10. Anonymous

    Been looking for quite some time now...thanks for commenting.

  11. Anonymous

    Perspective? Leave this job asap. As soon as you land a new job, QUIT this horrible company. Even if they ended up laying you off, you haven't been there long enough to receive a decent severance anyway. 1 week severance for each year employed is not worth your sanity. Best of luck with new job search!

  12. Anonymous

    I think it's horrible too what they are doing to good people. I've been there for over a decade. Thanks for commenting.

  13. SPQ

    In my first corporate job, the North American accounting team was training offshore accountants for about 6 months and were then laid off.

    It was pretty hellish because they spent hundreds of hours training them to do their job and not being allowed to do it themselves if there were mistakes or delays. I think everyone knew the layoff was coming... And that's what happened.

    It was super demoralizing for the entire office. And the severance was not that great. I would leave if I were you, it's a terrible atmosphere once they're given notice.

    A senior accountant was 'spared' so to speak, where all the mistakes ended up having to be cleaned up by her as she worked exhausting hours. To the surprise of no one, the offshore team flopped, I had left by that time but it seemed that they had to bring some operations back. What a circus.

  14. Anonymous

    ty for your comment.

  15. Anonymous

    The perspective is that it is entirely possible they will choose to replace you with an offshore team once they feel that team is fully up to speed. Time to look around for an environment that suits your working and career goals that is more healthy. Wishing you the best.

  16. Anonymous

    Thank you for taking the time to comment.

  17. Katherine Akbar

    You are training your replacements. Unless you've been given a clear transition plan for when this stage will be over and what new responsibilities you will be given, you'd be well served to begin job searching. However, since the transition is going poorly, is it possible they'll abandon the transition and keep you all on? You need to judge how much they value saving money versus maintaining client satisfaction. If your boss is someone you trust, a conversation with them sounds essential. I'd start asking questions and listening critcally to others in power as well. If I can be of any additional assistance to you, please feel free to reach out.

  18. Anonymous

    We have somewhat of a transition plan, but it was NOT very clear at all...no structure or day-to-day activities stated...ty for commenting.

  19. Pauline Mosca-Cyphers

    You are at your wits' end and I don't blame you. Either you find a new position, or you wait until you are laid off and collect unemployment after the little severance you will receive. (Look at your company's severance policy). Best of luck.

  20. Anonymous

    Thank you for your comment.

  21. maria rose

    You are just dealing with a company that views employees as mere numbers and I gather from your various responses to the comments you are aware that you are sitting on a ticking time bomb of being pressurized out of a job or just forced to work in a very stressful environment that doesn’t encourage you much positivity. You, the OP, would prefer a more relaxed environment or better feedback on how to achieve the stated goals that have to be achieved and you are not getting them— you might be getting instructions via an AI program that doesn’t respond well to human interaction questions—those need to know details are not there. But your choices are quite clear—stay employed while taking time to find other employment opportunities with less stress pressures to achieve or adapt how you achieve the goals given on a consistent schedule without expecting feedback and stay working. You may feel like you are being pressured to quit ( forced out) but it also may be that the company’s goals of how they achieve profitability has shifted to less employees satisfaction to more profits in the bottom line. It’s your choice whether to stay or leave just do it on your terms. Good luck

  22. Anonymous

    Thank you for your response.

  23. Anonymous

    they're making you train your replacements. Start looking for a new job - now.

  24. Anonymous

    ty for commenting.

  25. Anonymous

    ty for commenting.

  26. Anonymous

    you are training your replacement. Start looking for a new job. As a recruiter, I see this all of the time.

  27. Anonymous

    ty

  28. Anonymous

    this does sound extreme. all bad signs. the only positive is that you have a job right now. So start looking for something different. That company sounds unstable and with current political and economic events, instability won't improve.

  29. Anonymous

    It has been beyond miserable. ty

  30. Anonymous

    in the future, you will look BACK on this whole experience as the nightmare that it really is. I've had a job or two like this over the years, and you always wonder: "is it me, or is it really THIS BAD?"-- but it's not you. Just change your focus to being thankful for a paycheck and looking for a new position. You'll end up elsewhere and will be able to end your nightmare here. Hang in there.

  31. Anonymous

    Thank you. I am looking forward to the day that this is all just a bad memory.

  32. Anonymous

    Question: if it's an offshore company, just wondering if there are any language barriers that's making it difficult to translate job functions. Also, if you're handing off job responsibilities to this group, what will happen to your jobs once the transition is complete?

  33. Anonymous

    Yes, there are; they're difficult to understand. We're being told we have other things to get to that are really needed, but it's a very unclear path. I feel that we're being lied to now. ty

  34. Anonymous

    I hate to break this to you, but it sounds like you are being replaced and should probably start looking now for a new job.

  35. Anonymous

    Yes, I am aware, it's a harsh reality. I am looking for something desperately. ty for commenting.

  36. Beth Whight Morales

    Good night that sounds miserable. It’s bad enough that there’s no fixing it, unless there is a 180 starting from the top. I could recommend any number of strategies that would work if this company was starting from ground zero, but they are so far out in left field that I’m afraid there’s not going to be any recovery for you or your team without significant backup from the executive team.

    you could suggest to your boss that a weekly - written - plan of action would ease some of the burnout. Then any requested on-the-spot training can be punted if the current week’s plan of action is not complete. Usually I’d recommend long-term plans, but I don’t see those working based on what you’ve said here.

  37. Anonymous

    Thank you for your advice.

  38. Anonymous

    How stressful! I just went through something similar, and I don't say this to freak you out, but it sounds like they are having you train your replacements, which is what I was doing. I would start looking for another job immediately.

  39. Anonymous

    Thanks, I am looking...it has been quite difficult on my health issues...What happened after you trained your replacements? What was the process afterwards? (if you can say)...

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