I am a new-ish employee that works in a different location than the rest of my team.

Anonymous

October 11,2023 at 2:04PM UTC

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I am a new-ish employee that works in a different location than the rest of my team. As such, my job responsibilities are very different. I am a hybrid of three positions because the workload in my location doesn’t warrant 3 people for each role. My manager only does one of those 3 jobs and has trained me accordingly. It is a very minimal part of my job and doesn’t affect their workload at all. Their manager does another part of my job and has connected me with a great team and lots of resources to get me properly trained. I feel very comfortable with that aspect of my role. The third role is held by many different people in different capacities. It’s arguably the biggest portion of my job and I have received very little training or assistance. I have used as many online resources as I can find for my very niche industry. I need additional help. When I ask my manager, they regurgitate websites that I have already explored and tell them I explored. I’ve been told not to reach out to others outside of approved contacts because of office politics with my position. I feel stuck and do not know how to do my job. I keep hitting road blocks. I feel very comfortable with my boss’s boss, but don’t want to overstep. Any advice?

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AnonymousOctober 11,2023 at 2:28PM UTC
Put everything in writing. Everything.
Institute a weekly update where you offer a status of what you've worked, training your received and accomplishments/projects completed successfully. At the end list the training you need, websites that have not offered anything constructive and a request for resources in order to best meet the needs of that particular area of responsibility. Repeat your request every single week. Highlight the aspects of the job you are not able to address due to lack of training and resources and directions.
AnonymousOctober 11,2023 at 6:19PM UTC
I know this feeling. I worked in a company like that. I had some questions about various processes and I, naturally said, "why don't we call corporate for advice?" I was flatly told, "We don't talk to corporate. We don't want them to know what we're doing down here." I fled that location shortly after that. This was a health care facility and it was being run like a joke. Staff disappeared for hours at a time.
AnonymousOctober 12,2023 at 4:54PM UTC
If you are getting a roadblock to the work you need to do or learn you could seek mentorship from an expert outside of your company. If there is a professional organization for what you do you could reach out to them directly and ask for guidance. If there is an HR person in your company ask them to help you get what you need. Do it in a productive way by saying you want to do a good job but are missing a few things to do so. Good luck.