my employee is monitoring other people’s work

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

A reader writes:

We are a semi-remote team that uses a project management system to keep our workflow organized and distribute assignments. One of my employees, Jane, feels it is necessary to look at everyone’s work on this system and comment on it. She also uses it as a tool to fuel her immense paranoia (“Why is Boss watching my tracker and not Coworker’s)?” when I haven’t even looked at either — Jane misread!

It’s none of her business, and definitely not her job. Every time I have said something to the effect of “Jane, there’s no reason for you to be looking at other peoples’ work, focus on your own assignments and if there an issue I need to handle, rest assured that I will,” this has been met either with self-pity, pouting, remonstrations about how she’s just trying to help, or some combo of all three. Do you have any advice? I cannot set permissions to keep her from viewing other peoples’ trackers.

I answer this question — and three others — over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here.

Other questions I’m answering there today include:

• Colleague wants us to stay connected in cutesy ways
• Bathroom breaks during video calls
• Should I tell my employer my concerns about a friend’s wife who’s applying for a job?