Ugh ugh ugh. Ugh.

Hi, just venting. I have never worked in any type of office environment before and I am finding it difficult to adjust to some of the petty garbage that goes on. To make a long story short, I did some work today that apparently another 'team' does, and was told to be careful not to do any work for another 'team' because my 'senior team leader' gets her knickers in a knot if she thinks I'm neglecting 'our' work to do the work of others. This sort of malarkey makes my butt pucker!

How do you learn to deal with this sort of thing?

Ugh.  Welcome to my world.  Just play the game, man.  Play the game.  People are so petty sometimes and if it makes them sleep better at night, more power to them.  Just remember it's just a job.   

New mantra: It's just a job, it's just a job, it's just a job. My senior team leader has no life.  (oops, how did that last bit get in there!)

It sometimes reminds me of kindergarten or pre-school in my office. It really is childish sometimes.

Office politics. They're crap but sometimes necessary.

My advice is to do what you think needs to be done. If the Senior manager has a problem with it then explain why you did it. At the end of the day, it's the same company and aren't you all therefore part of one team?

I'm sorry, I agree with your senior team leader. Even though you were trying to be helpful, you are hired to perform certain tasks.  Volunteering to help other people out doing other things  just takes time away from the tasks you are supposed to be doing. Although this was an honest mistake on your part, and your senior team leader should deal with things calmly, and not get her "knickers in a knot".

I hate office politics and the pettiness of working in what is, sometimes, a closed environment!! ARGH - I add that to your litany of UGHs My DH says it's because I've worked with mostly women in my offices, but who knows. I had a few jobs where I got in trouble a lot because I was doing other people's work - but if I've finished all my projects, wouldn't it be better to do SOMETHING other than just sitting there? It was easier to do something myself rather than wait for someone from that other department to do it! I don't think it took away from what my actual purpose was and like Ashley said, TEAM WORK (or else we'll call the boss task-master rather than team leader).

Aip jen, that's exactly what happened to me. I was caught up and spent an hour when I was on the enquiry desk doing NOTHING (few customers that day) so I weeded out an old information folder and updated the contents page. OOPS! That's information team's job apparently. I'm on the stock team, so I can only handle stock and plan reader development activities. So if I had sat there an hour with my chin on my hand daydreaming that would have been okay. But since I did something that's an uh-oh. *roll eyes*

Anyway, never mind. I shall sit on my hands and keep my big mouth shut and say yes ma'am and no ma'am like a good little member of clerical staff.

Anyway, never mind. I shall sit on my hands and keep my big mouth shut and say yes ma'am and no ma'am like a good little member of clerical staff.

Sadly, sometimes the only thing you can do is keep your head down and make sure that you do what is asked of you. It might not be efficient use of your time but that is really a problem for your employers.