After hours 'pinging'

[kxpxsc3]

Hi All, 

I know to some this may be a trivial situation, but we all deal with things differently.

Where I work I am in a support function and I cover 3 organizations. There is a main point of contact I work with for each.  I should add that I am Europe based, and each of the org's is in a different part of the world (1 in the U.S., 1 in in Europe, and 1 in Asia).

The U.S. and Asia folks are quite considerate of my time zone, but the contact for Europe who is 1 hour time zone difference from me, consistently pings me between the hours of 6-10PM (i.e. outside of what's considered "normal working hours").  My manager's expectations, I should clarify, is that I work normal working hours for my time zone, with small exceptions when there is an important meeting with a higher up or presentation. 

The more irritating thing is that this person almost never pings me for what they need during normal work hours.  I know this person works LONG days, but I feel it's not fair or considerate to impose your long working hours on other people when things could/should be handled during the day.  However, they are considered my internal stakeholder, and their opinion of me matters for my performance reviews, so I feel a bit obligated to cater to their late night questions or requests - although I started to ignore majority of them but I feel a bit in a weird position. This person has not gotten the message despite my increased efforts to ignore.

Curious to see what would you do? Would you have a conversation with this person to understand what is going on, or just continue to ignore their pings dings and afterhours emails?

Thanks in advance  

 

[Sun Seeker]

I would tell them, 'My working hours are between x and y so I would appreciate any requests to be made during these hours. Unless it is an emergency then I will not be available outside of these hours. Thanks for your understanding.'

[Wiseman2]

Can you ping back " I'm in the middle of...(fill in good reason, have guests, whatever)..can I discuss this with you in the morning?"

[Happy Lemming]

When I worked, unless my boss specifically asked me to attend an on-line meeting or take a certain phone call, I was off duty in the evening/night.  Occasionally, my boss would forget about which time zone he was in and would text or call me late in the evening, so I built a Faraday cage/box for my cell phone. 

At a certain point in the evening, my cell phone went into the Faraday cage/box, where it could not receive a signal.  If I wanted to check my phone before bed, I'd pull it out of the box... allow it to regain a signal and check for texts/voicemail messages.

I still use that Faraday cage/box, as it seems I've been inundated with phone calls about extended car warranties.  They won't take "no" for an answer and won't leave me alone.

[vla1120]

2 hours ago, kxpxsc3 said:

My manager's expectations, I should clarify, is that I work normal working hours for my time zone, with small exceptions when there is an important meeting with a higher up or presentation. 

 

2 hours ago, kxpxsc3 said:

However, they are considered my internal stakeholder, and their opinion of me matters for my performance reviews, so I feel a bit obligated to cater to their late night questions or requests - although I started to ignore majority of them but I feel a bit in a weird position. This person has not gotten the message despite my increased efforts to ignore.

Since your manager expects you to work normal working hours for your time zone, and this person is only one timezone away, and if you are concerned about the impact it might have on your evaluation, I would ask your manager how he/she would like you to handle the situation. Personally, I would created an automated response to him/her, stating you will respond during your normal work hours unless it is an emergency. If it is an emergency, you can ask him/her to text you "911" (or whatever the European equivalent is) and you will respond promptly. Some people just have no respect for other peoples' time. I work for someone like that, so I know it's frustrating.

[elaine567]

3 hours ago, kxpxsc3 said:

  However, they are considered my internal stakeholder, and their opinion of me matters for my performance reviews, so I feel a bit obligated to cater to their late night questions or requests - although I started to ignore majority of them but I feel a bit in a weird position.

You are in a very weird position and it will do you no favours to ignore them.
Who is in the higher position in the company, this person or your manager?
If it is your manager then do as they say and stick to your working hours, but if it is the other person then you are kind of obligated to try to please them.
Making an enemy of them  by passively aggressively ignoring them, will not be in your best interests.

[Foxhall]

3 hours ago, kxpxsc3 said:

Curious to see what would you do? Would you have a conversation with this person to understand what is going on, or just continue to ignore their pings dings and afterhours emails?

dont overthink it,

just switch off (mentally and literally)  and reply to the evening messages the following morning.

[kxpxsc3]

1 hour ago, elaine567 said:

You are in a very weird position and it will do you no favours to ignore them.
Who is in the higher position in the company, this person or your manager?
If it is your manager then do as they say and stick to your working hours, but if it is the other person then you are kind of obligated to try to please them.
Making an enemy of them  by passively aggressively ignoring them, will not be in your best interests.

It was my manager until recently when this person got promoted. Now they are at the same exact level.

[vla1120]

2 minutes ago, kxpxsc3 said:

It was my manager until recently when this person got promoted. Now they are at the same exact level.

Ugh. In that case, and if you are worried it would be an issue to ignore him/her, I would bite the bullet and answer the pings. If it gets to be too much, you have to decide if your job is worth the extra expectations of this individual or whether you should be looking for another opportunity.

[glows]

You may not be expected to answer right away. Don't blow this out of proportion or get too upset just yet. Just let the person know that you'll be able to respond tomorrow morning or the next day. I get messages at all hours but this is because of different time zones as you noted. Reply when you are next at work or working your usual hours. I doubt you are expected to answer right away. 

[ShyViolet]

You need to send them an email, something like "I am available during working hours of X to Y.  All work messages will be answered during those hours."

And then be firm and do not answer their messages outside of those hours.  Put the person on "do not disturb" on your phone.  It's very important that we draw boundaries with work and not let people harass us on our own personal time.