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Delegation

1) Can you take care of this?
2) FYI
3) See below
4) No text, just a forwarded message
5) Please complete ASAP
6) Can you complete by X
7) We need to do this
8) Let's finish this

Sound familiar? This is basically the only text in an email, along with a forwarded message from someone else. Best part  is when this is from a mobile phone during the day, so you know the individual is nowhere near his computer doing work.

Delegation at its finest. I'm sure everyone's received this. Partners to senior managers, senior managers to managers, managers to senior associates, senior associates to staff associates.

As much as it irks me when I get this, especially since I don't know how the reviewer wants this, I can't complain since I'm guilty of doing the same to my teams.

In a world where everyone speaks their minds, it should be something on the lines of this...

"I'm doing everything but work right now, but I still have every intention of getting you to do this task below for me. Yes, I am not giving you any color on how I want it, figure this sh*t out yourself. Man I love having the people below me doing the btch work. Excuse me for now, since I have to go on Kayak.com to figure out the cheapest flight for my vacation."

Comments

Anonymous said…
what level are you at, amigo?
September 12, 2012 at 8:22 PM
Anonymous said…
I take it he's a manager at KPMG, maybe senior manager, though by then he would have had too much kool-aid to keep this site up and running.
September 14, 2012 at 10:33 AM
Falguni said…
Been reading your blog entries from the start since I stumbled upon it this afternoon. I have gone through many of the same stages as you during my 6 years at a Big4 in London. How I feel tends to depend significantly on: the team I am working with, the amount of unpaid overtime I find myself doing on a regular basis, the interest factor of the current engagement, and other things like tales of co-workers leaving and my family telling me to leave already and get a regular 9-5 job.

Was just wondering if you are still looking for opportunities outside of audit, or have decided that this brand of Kool-aid is not so bad ... For now?
September 23, 2012 at 8:35 AM
notfordisplay said…
Falguni, not sure, drinking the kool-aid for now, but who knows.
October 8, 2012 at 1:38 PM
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