NY resolution is to stop being a doormat. I consider myself a friendly, thoughtful person but I feel like this has often led me into a danger zone of being treated like a doormat by my colleagues.
I have to deal with some dinosaur attitudes as well as managing the delicate egos of senior male staff.
One particular senior member of staff has taken a particular dislike to my (and other female colleague’s) personal usage of the “Busy”, “Focusing” and “DND” statuses on Teams.
Background; I’m in a demanding, extremely busy role. I cover an entire region and am the only one doing this particular role. I find myself pulling 10-12 additional hours at no extra pay each week, just to keep up. I by no means abuse the “Busy” status but see no issue with using it. There are no corporate rules on this either.
Every time this senior staff member calls me, he makes reference to it (even if it’s not set to Busy at that particular time!). I feel like he’s got a memory issue at this point as he keeps saying it.
I also think he’s covering for his own shortcomings; he is frequently set to “Away” – I have no doubt in my mind he wanders off for hours at a time, all the while believing that female administrative staff should be at his beckoned call.
Next time he says some variant of “set to Busy again are we?” or “I never know if I can call you or not seeing as you’re supposedly always “Busy”, I need a retaliation. I’m not willing to put up with this patronizing asshole anymore.
Confrontation isn’t my strong suit. If the response was witty but still direct, that might help? I don’t know but I want to get this guy off my case. Any suggestions?