Irritated By Someone

How do you get over an irritation that is caused by someone who has no idea that he is actually irritating you? I am having that problem now. It’s no one really and it is purely work-related. I really want to show my professionalism around him, and I think I have, but deep inside I know that I am giving him a hard time.

Whenever he approaches my cubicle and asked, “So is there anything that I can do for you? Any work?”, I get irritated because, it’s not like I have never given him work before. My first experience with him when it comes to work was not actually good. He’s this young executive who has just joined the department. But he will not be here for long. He’s on an attachment basis, if you can call it that, and he will rotate within the group company every six months or so. So, he is not very focused nor is he committed. Whenever I give him something to do, yes he’ll do it, but then he would tell me that he has got to see his mentor, or that he has a seminar which finishes after 5pm and will not come back to the office, or that he’ll not be around for the next 4 or 5 days because he has to attend some workshops in relation to his young executive scheme project. I mean, come on. How am I supposed to have the confidence in you whenever I give you things to do, you just can’t seem to deliver? Yes no doubt you have other important things to do, but the work I give you is equally important. End up; I have to do it myself.

What makes me mad is that my boss asked me to give him more work because he has to rate him by the end of the day, and how is he going to rate him if all he does is do the photocopying or binding? Fine.. but this young bloke’s failure to deliver will be at my expense. My reputation. I hate that. There is another executive in the department. Fairly new as well, but somehow he can do work. He’s unlike the other bloke. And I find him quite reliable. But my boss has asked me to stop using him because it seems, others in the department are also using him to their benefits. Work-wise of course. I mean, why am I the one that has to compromise.

So these days, whenever he asks me for more tasks, I can’t seem to be nice about it. My head would be talking inside saying things like, “Yeah.. err.. I seriously do not know what to give you because I find you irritating”. I can’t say that, can I? How do I get over the irritation? Because of this, I find other things he does annoying as well. It’s not very professional of me, I know that, but he has done a little mistake. And first impression really does count.

At the moment, I am asking him to send out the survey forms to all our financial stakeholders. So far so good, but he keeps on referring to me even on the littlest of things. Do it yourself, first. If you don’t know, then let me know. Don’t expect me to spoonfeed you all the time. Penatlah macam ni. I thought you wanted to be Manager-material… [sigh].. it’s just so tiring thinking about it. I don’t want us to have problems, but whenever he starts asking me whether I have jobs to give him, it ticks me. Stop asking me..!! I’ll give stuff for you to do if you stop harassing me with that question. It can be very tiring you know. And imagine, I have to put up with this for the next two months. I wonder whether others are also having similar prolems.