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Author: Willmott, Ben1

Q I'm an outreach worker in a three-person team - my manager and a colleague are on the same level as me. My colleague is super-competitive. He constantly volunteers to work late and take on extra projects, interrupts me and takes over in meetings. I love my job and will go the extra mile when necessary but I'm worried I look less committed than him. How do I broach this with my manager?

A Good managers can spot staff who spend too much time trying to look great. But some managers judge performance by input (time spent in the office) rather than output (results). Your manager should recognise your colleague's behaviour as potentially damaging to the team.

And team is the important word. Individuals who constantly assert their own personalities and views are not going to contribute to team performance. Good performance is not the sum of each individual's effort but people's ability to work together, recognising strengths and weaknesses and building on them to produce best results.

Perhaps a conversation with your manager could start by suggesting some team exercises to improve your understanding of each other's contribution. You might find that if you can understand what drives your colleague to behave in this way, you could deal with it better.

Prepare for meetings by writing down what you want to say and then ensuring you get this across. If your colleague interrupts, politely ask him to wait until you have finished and make it clear you have as much to contribute. Keep your manager aware of your achievements and be confident of your ability to do a good job on your own terms.

Who's doing it? Jane Morel.

Where? Terrence Higgins Trust, Wolverhampton.

Job description: Managing services in Wolverhampton, Walsall and Sandwell. Providing money advice to local people with HIV.

Skills/qualifications needed: I have a degree in social welfare law and a background in advice and support work and care management.

What's good about the job? The variety. One day I can be at the drag Miss Wolverhampton competition. Next I might be working with a woman who was diagnosed HIV positive during pregnancy and has financial problems. I work with a great, although slightly eccentric, team.

What's bad about the job? Dealing with ignorance and prejudice and the stigma that surrounds HIV, especially among social care professionals who should know better. Struggling to deliver under-resourced services.

Pay: £24,845- £28,812.

What's the job like? Anti-poverty work is a crucial part of supporting people with HIV, as marginalised and poor communities are often disproportionately affected by the condition. The benefits system is bad at helping people with long-term chronic health problems, whose support needs may fluctuate. We support people with benefits applications and appeals, hardship grant applications and debt-related county court cases. New funding allows us to develop training for agencies that give financial advice and create new information resources -- including a website -- to disseminate our work. Like many gay people I have always felt a personal connection with the HIV sector because of the way HIV was used to stigmatise our community when I was growing up in the 1980s. Sometimes the work is stressful and I never finish on a Friday feeling like I've done everything that needs to be done, but it's a great job.

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By Ben Willmott

Ben Willmott is employee relations adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development