This
incident happened during my National Service (NS) stint. I was posted into the
Manpower Branch of my camp when I was initially posted in. After a year and a
half there, I was getting close to my Operationally Ready Date (ORD), when this
happened.
I
had sent some work to the other Branches in the battalion Headquarters, to be
completed by representatives of each respective branch. I'd given the reps each
one week to complete work, except for the rep for the busiest office, to whom
I'd given two weeks. True to expectations, I'd gotten the work back from,
checked and redone from the rest before three days had elapsed. However, at the
end of the two weeks, I'd still not gotten a reply.
I
decided to send an email to that rep, enquiring about the status of the work. At
the end of the two weeks, I sent another email. The reply I’d gotten was quite
powerfully worded, a reprimand from his superior specialist demanding that I
stop pestering him for work to be done immediately as they were very busy.
However, what made it worse, was that he decided to CC all the heads of the
offices, as well as our Commanding Officer and Sergeant Major.
I
was horrified! My own superior gave me a look that said “Don’t worry, I’ll clear
it up.” However, I decided to take it into my own hands. I sent an email back
to that specialist, CC-ing all the same officers. I attached the five emails
that I’d initially sent to the five different branches, pointing out that I’d
given his branch an extra week to complete work despite having the least amount
of work to do. I then pointed out that his junior should have read the emails
before accusing me of being pesky.
Ten
minutes after that damning email was sent, the work was delivered on my table.
Now, I probably could have handled this better, as this led to more conflicts
between me and the two specialists later on, but I chose to do it this way. My
reasoning being that they had tried to get me in trouble with other officers
before this, and that unfair accusations should not occur. My own superior
would have defended me later, but the damage to my reputation would already
have been irreparable.
Would
it have been possible to handle this differently? Indeed it would, but would it
have been possible to salvage my reputation and at the same time get a timely
delivery of the work?
