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Sticky situation at work, advice appreciated - RESOLVED

W

WhiteKnight

Platinum Member
I recently started a new job and for the past few months I?ve been in charge of designing and implementing a system that will be interfaced with an existing system at an off-site location. So far things have been on schedule and generally free of major problems. This week, one of our subcontractors happened to mention that there is a data feed that is mandatory for their device, which is part of our system, to function properly. Our install date is in less than two weeks, so as you can imagine, there?s a lot of scrambling going on.

So far, heads have been cool and no accusations or raised voices have been flying. After the subcontractor meeting, I was looking through my old emails and I happened to find an old email from the project engineer who I have been working under, we?ll call him Bob. I had asked him for a manual and he had just forwarded me a 10-15 message long email exchange from the subcontractor that had the manual attached. It turns out that in the email exchange, the subcontractor explicitly stated that the data feed was necessary. This email was from September, before I even started working at the company. In the forward to me, Bob basically said, ?Here?s the manual, I was too lazy to save it to the network drive where such things are kept?, so I just saved the manual and never even thought to read through the entire email correspondence.

Anyway, if we miss our install date, I?m sure that things won?t be pretty. I?m not looking to screw anyone over, but I?m not sure if I should just sit on this information either. There?s already some tension between Bob and our principal engineer for the project, and I certainly don?t want to get caught up in that. Any thoughts? Thanks.

Cliffs
- I?ve been in charge of designing system
- Install is in <2 weeks
- Major miscommunication between subcontractor and our team
- Discovered miscommunication is immediate superior?s fault


Update: Issue resolved
We managed to find a workaround for the problem. I didn't exactly solve it by myself, but I did manage to get things going in the right direction. Hopefully the install goes smoothly and my subsequent review (my first) goes well too.
 
I don't see any advantage in making this information public at this time. Just keep your head down and do everything in your power to get the job done. Remeber, if the sh1t really hits the fan, you also knew about the need for the data stream as the email was in your possession some time ago.
 
Unless it is gonna end up on your lap, dont get anyone else's ass in a sling.

Only when fingers are pointing in your direction, or it is gonna cost you money, should you rat out the boss.

Unless you want his job... then all is fair game.
🙂
 
Originally posted by: D1gger
I don't see any advantage in making this information public at this time. Just keep your head down and do everything in your power to get the job done. Remeber, if the sh1t really hits the fan, you also knew about the need for the data stream as the email was in your possession some time ago.
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I'm not really worried that I'll take the fall. I have extensive email records and engineering notes from my correspondence with Bob in which I ask what the specific requirements of the system are he never mentioned it.
 
Originally posted by: sixone
Take it to the supervisor - he's in charge, let him deal with it.
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This is kinda tough. Was anyone else copied on any of the emails in the chain after the client stated the required data feed?

The client might be able to pull the email from last september showing the fact he stated the importance of such, and then your boss is going to get screwed, but then it might also come up that it was forwarded to you and you overlooked it (missed a big chance to be a fat hero if you'd discovered it earlier).
 
I wouldn't rat him out... i really don't see the good in it. It looks like it was an honest mistake, and it happens.
 
Originally posted by: Kelvrick
Originally posted by: sixone
Take it to the supervisor - he's in charge, let him deal with it.
Click to expand...

This is kinda tough. Was anyone else copied on any of the emails in the chain after the client stated the required data feed?

The client might be able to pull the email from last september showing the fact he stated the importance of such, and then your boss is going to get screwed, but then it might also come up that it was forwarded to you and you overlooked it (missed a big chance to be a fat hero if you'd discovered it earlier).
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Since it all took place before I was hired, I don't know who else may have been copied. I can only see the two of them in the chain.

Keep in mind, this is my first job out of grad school and at the point at which I received the email containing the incriminating information, I wasn't even involved with that part of the project yet, I was working on something else. Even if I had seen the info about the data feed, I wouldn't have had any reason to think twice about it at the time.
 
bring it up if the start to blame you for things. otherwise, if the job gets done, it gets done.
 
Keep your trap shut.

Do your job to the best of your ability and don't screw people over. People will then screw you over.

Welcome to "the real world"
 
Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004
Keep your trap shut.

Do your job to the best of your ability and don't screw people over. People will then screw you over.

Welcome to "the real world"
Click to expand...

Like I said, I'm not looking to screw anyone over. If anything, I'd want to tell the project engineer (Bob) so that he has time to think about what to do if it comes back to bite him. I did not consider using this to my advantage at cost to him for a second.
 
if your only interest is to help bob, then go to him privately... tell him that you were clearing out old emails and found it and that you were just skimming it before deletion when you notice the exchange.

 
Originally posted by: KarenMarie
if your only interest is to help bob, then go to him privately... tell him that you were clearing out old emails and found it and that you were just skimming it before deletion when you notice the exchange.
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Right now I think I'm going to just wait it out. We may end up resolving the issue in time. I think I'm only going to talk to Bob if the SHTF.
 
Originally posted by: bmacd
talk to your boss or let him take the fall for it. Be proactive and take initiative.

-=bmacd=-
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Yep, be proactive. It's going to come to a head regardless and a bunch of finger pointing isn't going to solve a damned thing.
 
Originally posted by: WhiteKnight
Originally posted by: KarenMarie
if your only interest is to help bob, then go to him privately... tell him that you were clearing out old emails and found it and that you were just skimming it before deletion when you notice the exchange.
Click to expand...

Right now I think I'm going to just wait it out. We may end up resolving the issue in time. I think I'm only going to talk to Bob if the SHTF.
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That's how I would keep it.

No harm, no foul, I suppose.

Depending on what type of person he is, after everything is over with, you might want to let him know what happened because people who ignore things like that often do it habitually and nobody really has the balls to let them know it was their F' Up, so they never START paying attention.

 
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