Related Posts
More Posts
Any opening for Sr. iOS Developer?
Anonymous User
Public library near to river north?
Additional Posts in Finance
What do you guys think about municipal finance
New to Fishbowl?
Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
Chief
Play nice, she probably needs to know what you do but not the granular details so she is listening but might space out. Always good to manage up and be professional especially with someone at that level. If you’re looking to move up it’s always good to have a strong network who can vouch for you.
If you did the EXACT same thing, you would have the EXACT same title. Maybe you should get more clarification on what you are supposed to be training. She might be new to management and is politely letting you show off or isn't sure how to bring you back on track. Analysts are detail people and can sometimes get into the weeds....
+ these meetings tend to go almost 1 hour past work time because she spends HELLA time talking about her dog that died and all her medical problems. Now I have sympathy yes, but to some extent this is WORK and she’s stretching my patience. Her lack of focus (understandable) but it is causing her to not seemingly retain what I’m saying to her
This ^ just drop a “I’m tied down with something. Give it a go and lemme know if you have any questions.” Also, VP is basically a “years worked” title for the most part in finance. Everyone and their moms will eventually be a VP and it’s not necessarily skill based or anything 👀
Perhaps your colleague has a higher title because she may have other responsibilities beyond what you’re training her on. If not, perhaps let your manager know you’re interested in a higher title and would like to understand what you need to demonstrate to earn that title. Come up with a plan and work toward that.
As for the training, keep documentation. Send an agenda and training/reference materials ahead of each meeting. After each meeting, send an email recapping what was covered and any follow up items you or she had and any next steps. Ask your manager to confirm when he/she expects your colleague to be ready to take over this work and work toward that end.
It may be too late this time, but next time you are asked to train someone consider asking the person if there are certain methods that most effective for their learning. Some people like to learn by doing, others like to read the procedure in advance and prepare questions, etc. If you are able to be flexible on how you train someone you may be able to get the person trained faster by using an approach the person prefers. 😊
Welcome to the new world of work where they have to hire people at increasingly high titles to justify comp.
Alternatively, one of the other explanations - she may just need to know less than you are sharing. My guess? Too much detail.
If you need to do it, set your expectations with her. No training unless she has a tablet and pen, plus takes notes. Quiz her at the end of each session. “What did we cover today, what did you learn, teach me. When she asks you a question, your response should be “what do you think the answer is or what do you think you should do”? Then press your lips together and wait for her to respond. Make sure that your manager gives you a clear list of every topic you need to cover and document what was covered at each session. For example Monday cover topic 1, Tuesday review topic 1, Wednesday review topic 1 again, etc. so you have a record.
Same boat trained someone senior to me for what felt like a year and they seemed to retain 0 and asked the same questions for months! First of all unsure of your beliefs but I'd offer to pray for her since it sounds like she's going through a lot, good to show compassion but can be taxing.
Suggestions-
1 Put her in the driver seat. You guide as needed but have her do the work with little intervention during the trainings, you're just there for questions. Do not spoonfeed, my coworker basically seemed to use me as google it was super inefficient and could save a ton of time if you set boundaries early and stick with them.
2 Gather a list of urgent phrases to start the meeting to ensure she knows your 'busy' or in the middle of something and have no time to chit chat. Ex. 'Hey thanks for joining, thought I'd have time for the full hour but will need to cut this short.', 'I'm in the middle of another task so real quick overview..., hope you're taking notes', 'Let's just do a quick Q&A today, anything you need further clarity on? Lets just focus there.'
3 If she continues with personal stories, either be direct and request you set aside time later for 'catching-up' on the rest but need to focus on getting her trained so you both can focus on the work OR change the subject frequently, offer prayer or advice quickly OR join the call late or drop off early to limit the window.
Maybe try setting up some goals by the end of the week. I feel that it might be hard to teach someone if there isn't a path and you can easily go over it in your training meetings for that same reason.
That is possible. She might have other obligations and duties so she needs extra help. But I have to agree with the comments above. If you are also eyeing a promotion, I suggest you bring this matter to your manager so that she can also help you.
Just address this with manager. Ask why the title is different? If what you are thinking is true challenge it. Call our your skills etc.
No one will fight for your career but you regardless of the manager nonsense they sell you on.
I have trained someone higher-up than me to use a banking software platform and I saw that the person had the heart to learn, he would take notes diligently but would still come back to me with same questions a few months later. I realised they were technologically challenged and made them simple task based videos of workflow on the platform (basic stuff that they need to live on) and they were truly appreciative of the effort. Sometimes you need to be imaginative to let the other person grasp everything you want to say..my 2c