Just one of those days...

Ever have one of those "what in the heck" kind of days? Apparently that's the kind of day I had today. We were having a breakfast meeting this morning...all of our "office" business had been discussed, so we were just chatting about a bunch of random stuff. Then out of no where one of my team member's said, "So and so on the other team was mad at you last week...they told me they could never work for you..."

Hello, what? Are we in the 1st grade? #1 my buddy was out of town last week, so I not only had to manage my team, but his as well. #2 both individuals are older than I am...why the need for a grade school comment?

I'm not going to lie, it took me by surprise and hurt my feelings. I've always tried to be fair and provide equal attention to my buddy's team when he's out.

Here's the kicker...the reason that person was upset with me...apparently he was trying to turn in his time sheet and instead of me taking it from him, I just pointed to my inbox, where the rest of the time sheets were sitting...waiting for me to approve and sign.

Was I supposed to stop what I was doing and check and approve his right then and there?

Don't get me wrong, I work with good people, but I don't think all of them realize what it's like to be in my or my buddy's shoes. We each have 7 individuals to manage, and all have very different personalities. At times I don't think they understand there's only one team leader to help the 7 of them.

I know there are individuals on both teams that would like to take on more of a leadership role, but we're hampered on the kind of tasks we can hand off. Hopefully we can change some of that, but until then, I guess I need to develop a thicker skin and let some of those silly comments roll off my back.