Seeking Advice on Navigating Difficult Team Dynamics
Anonymous
Seeking Advice on Navigating Difficult Team Dynamics
Hello, I’m dealing with a challenging situation at work that involves unclear ownership, conflicting expectations, and tension from leadership, and I’m hoping for advice on how to handle it professionally while protecting my well-being.
Here’s the context:
• I’m a valued member of my team with significant responsibilities, but recently I’ve been asked to take on more leadership in a high-priority initiative that’s beyond my current capacity and paygrade, which has created overwhelming pressure.
• There was an agreement to explore alternative approaches for ownership, yet middle management is pushing me to continue leading in a role that I’ve communicated concerns about. A main concern is that a middle manager who is not my leader is influencing and strong-arming my middle manager into agreeing to me doing this. My middle manager has also not made an effort to understand what our team does, and is therefore unaware of how this would create negative implications on current work.
• Despite discussing limits on my role, I recently received last-minute instructions from the other middle manager to proceed with a project plan that completely overlooks the previous discussions. My middle manager seems to be playing both sides of the field.
• There’s internal tension, with some colleagues appearing to side with leadership, which makes me feel unsupported. Other colleagues, while they empathize with me and agree that it is an unreasonable ask, also don’t want to do the job, as there is a lot at stake to do a good job.
• Given the history of drastic actions in my workplace, I’m also concerned about potential retaliation if I don’t comply.
Has anyone dealt with a similar dynamic or had to navigate a situation where workload expectations conflict with your role and the team’s needs? Any advice on how to set boundaries while staying professional in a high-pressure environment?
Share your insight
Join an authentic community that helps women support each other at work. Share your professional experience or ask for advice — you can even post anonymously.
3 Comments
Join the conversation