A Manager Told His Team to Handle Their Own Tasks on a New System—So They Complained to His Boss Until He Caved
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Learning a new system takes time, but refusing to learn shouldn’t mean someone else has to do your work.
That’s the problem one employee faces with a group of older managers who hold the same rank.
Since their workplace introduced new software, those managers have refused to learn it and keep passing tasks over instead.
But whenever the employee pushes back, they go straight to the boss, who sides with them to keep them happy.
Apparently, they don’t have time to learn, yet they managed a two-hour meeting about the Christmas party. Now the employee’s wondering how to stop picking up the slack.
Read on to see what you think he should do.
Older managers refusing to use new system, dumping tasks on me, and running to our boss when I push back. Not sure what to do
I’m really struggling with a situation at work.
I’m in a deputy-level role, and there’s a group of managers who are at the same level as me but a few decades older.
Earlier this year, our organisation got a brand-new system to replace an extremely outdated one. It’s much more modern and can do far more.
He’s becoming really fed up with their behavior.
The issue is that this group absolutely refuses to use it. They won’t learn it, they won’t attempt tasks they could easily do themselves, and they push back against basically any new technology that could improve their workflow or benefit the wider organisation.
Instead, they keep trying to pass that work onto me.
I’m autistic and can be quite direct, and I also struggle with things that feel like unnecessary inefficiency. I’m aware I sometimes need to soften my communication, but the pattern has become: I suggest they do the task themselves, they immediately run to our boss, and he sides with them because he wants to keep them happy.
Then, one of their colleagues passed away.
They’re not used to being told “no,” and everyone still handles them with kid gloves.
Also, about six months ago, a key member of staff, someone they worked very closely with, passed away after a long illness.
During that time, they were understandably going through a lot, and the rest of us were very gentle with them. But it feels like that dynamic never reset. People are still overly careful around them, and they seem to expect that treatment indefinitely.
They also genuinely do not want to change anything they’ve been doing for the last 20 years. They regularly say they have the hardest job in the building and that no one else works as hard as they do.
Now, he’s not sure how to respond.
And the kicker? They keep saying they “don’t have time” to learn the new system or handle these tasks… but last week, they somehow did have time to sit through a two-hour meeting about the office Christmas party.
I’m stuck between wanting to be fair and supportive and not wanting to be taken advantage of or continue doing their work for them. I don’t want to damage relationships, but I’m also exhausted by the dynamic, especially being escalated to the boss simply for setting reasonable boundaries.
How do I navigate this? Has anyone dealt with older colleagues refusing to adapt and leaning on social power when you’re technically equals? And how do you set boundaries when your boss caves to them just to keep the peace?
Oh no! This seems to be a pretty unfair workplace.
Let’s take a look at what Reddit readers would do.
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This reader thinks it’s time to quit.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a cashier who got annoyed with a group of friends who insisted on returning their items separately.
Here’s someone who would go a different direction.
These managers need to learn the system and do their own work.
But as long as their boss keeps giving in, they probably won’t see any reason to change.
At this point, he should talk to his boss about how much extra work keeps landing on him.
And if his boss still won’t back him up, he may want to start looking for a job where saying no doesn’t cause all this trouble.
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