a good news story — Ask a Manager


I’ve been an avid reader for years, and have always appreciated your no-nonsense advice. I hadn’t realized quite how much I had absorbed until I needed it, though.

Earlier this year I started a new role in an industry I’m very familiar with. I was assigned to work with Cedric, who was at the same level as me in our organization’s hierarchy. It’s a small industry and word had gotten around about Cedric — that he didn’t deliver on projects, took 4-5 days’ sick leave each month, started late and left early — but it was made clear that I wasn’t his manager, so I just had to learn to work with him (the frustration was evident!). Our manager works from a different location and would be managing us remotely.

In week three, Cedric took me aside and said that he had been going through a significant mental health crisis over the last six months and had also been diagnosed as autistic, but didn’t feel safe raising this with our managers. He asked if I could have oversight of delegating his work, because he felt comfortable and safe with me.

I had a chat with our manager who was very happy to trial a new system where I oversaw the overall work program and Cedric’s workload, but development and performance were still managed remotely.

It’s been three months and everything is coming up Millhouse! It turns out he had been given big projects like “organize a llama grooming workshop” with no input from others, and no clear due date, milestones, budget, or agenda — no wonder he was floundering when you added in mental health challenges and neurodivergence! We now have daily and weekly catchups and one-pagers for each project with clear outcomes, we’ve designed some new processes together, and most importantly he knows I have his back. He still has some “wobbles” (his words) but they are much less frequent, and he’s been super proactive about working out what has caused the wobble so we can address it. (For instance, we have moved to a quieter part of the office with less sensory overload, and our catchups are mid-morning once he has settled in for the day.)

My manager is astounded at the turnaround, I’ve been promoted to team leader, and Cedric is smashing his work program. I’ve kept his confidences about his health, so if anyone asks I just say we’ve got some new ways of doing things that Cedric seems to gel with.

All that advice you dole out on the regular — be up-front about expectations, be kind, look for practical solutions, be friendly but don’t be friends with your subordinates, acknowledge that everyone has something going on in the background — has been gold.



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