Scans › Is my coworker manipulating me? › The Backchannel
Your coworker scans as
The Backchannel
HIGH TRAITS · DAMAGE BY OMISSION
Emails you weren’t on. Deadlines that slipped just for you. Your mistakes travelling upward at speed. Your answers describe someone doing real harm without ever leaving fingerprints.
Typical trait profile for this readout. Your own scan will differ.
THE SHARED READOUT
WHAT TIPPED IT · THEIR ANSWERS
What this readout means
Quiet sabotage scoring high alongside information games is the most corrosive workplace pattern because it is deniable by design. Every incident looks like an oversight. Taken together they form a shape, and the only defence is to make the shape visible: written confirmations, cc’d stakeholders, and a record you can point to.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
- Confirm every request from them in writing with a date. “As discussed, you’ll send X by Friday.”
- Loop your manager into anything that depends on them, framed as coordination, not complaint.
- Keep a private log with dates. Patterns persuade; single incidents don’t.
WHAT TO SAY · SCRIPTS FOR THIS READOUT
How to raise it
- “As discussed, you’ll send me the figures by Thursday noon. Reply to confirm if that works.”
- “I noticed I wasn’t on the thread about the timeline change. Can you add me going forward?”
- “Copying Dana so we’re all aligned on the handoff dates.”
How to set the line
- “I’ll need every request from you in writing from now on. It keeps us both clear.”
- “I’m going to confirm anything time-sensitive by email, so please expect that.”
- “I’m looping my manager in on the dependencies. It’s coordination, not a complaint.”
When they push back
- “I’m not implying anything. I’m making sure the record matches what we agreed.”
- “It might have been an oversight. Either way, the deadline stands as written.”
- “I understand. Let’s keep it in the thread so nothing gets lost.”
Say them in your own words. The point is to have something ready before the conversation, not to read from a card.
Your full readout, as a PDF
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