Helping Your Old Team? Tell Your Manager First

Updated September 2026: in 2020 I wrote about being asked to help my old team with a service request and walking to my manager's cabin to explain it, only to learn he was about to send a rejection email to everyone. I have rewritten it as a guide to getting your manager's support before helping another team.

After a long discussion with my old delivery contact, I understood the request would take very little of my day for the next few days. I had two options. I could simply do the work, since I knew the project and nobody else could step in quickly. But my manager was on the email trail, and doing it without telling him could backfire later if he asked why he had not been told. So I went to his cabin to explain. He told me he was about to send a rejection email to my old team, saying I was tied up with new work and could not support the request. I stopped him in time and explained what was needed and how much effort it would take.

Why should you tell your manager before helping another team?

Because your time is theirs to plan. Even small side work can clash with their priorities, and if they learn about it from someone else, it can look like you went around them. A short conversation avoids that.

What should you say?

• What the request is, in one or two sentences.
• How much time it needs, for example an hour a day for a week.
• Why you are the right person, such as knowledge nobody else has.
• What will not be affected, naming your current priorities.

Why talk in person rather than email?

Speed and tone. In my case an email would have crossed with his rejection. A quick conversation lets your manager ask questions and decide on the spot, and it is harder to misread.

What if your manager says no?

Accept it and help find another option. Offer to hand over notes or join one short call so the other team is not left stuck. That keeps both relationships intact.

How do you keep your manager informed afterwards?

Send a brief update when the work is done and mention any time it took beyond the estimate. It builds trust for the next request.

Keep reading

• Assigned to a New Team Overnight: First Steps
• Said Yes Too Fast at Work? How to Weigh a Request
• When Your Manager Does Not Back You in Public