So this morning I am at work and a co-worker, who was on vacation last week, storms over to my desk and starts yelling at me about something someone higher up the "food chain" told me to do while he was gone. I explained I was just doing what I was told to do. He said he didn't care and said I wasn't supposed to do that unless he said it was OK. I told him I wasn't going to argue with him, and said he was not my boss and a higher up (who is over both of us) had instructed me take the steps I did. I also said if he had an issue with it, then he needed to go to the person that instructed me to do it (and my boss) to discuss it. He stormed off back to his area and didn't say another word.
Why do some people feel they are entitled to tell you what to do when they have absolutely no say over you? It's so frustrating and makes the work environment a little tense. How do you handle situations like that? Especially when you know nothing will be done about it...?
I think you did well, what can you really say in that type of situation. I would ask my supervisor to send a courtesy email to my coworker letting them know what they asked of me while the coworker was away. This simple process may have defused the coworker and avoided the uncomfortable situation to begin with.
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