Is there any way to block e-mails from someone?

How to best work with someone who doesn't respond to emails or follow up on tasks if they don't report to you?

• I'm a contractor. My current contract involves working with and reporting to a technical team lead. He does not read emails or follow-up on things that block my work. Possibly has Aspergers I cannot talk to him directly as his personal style of interaction is peculiar. He takes things quite literally yet doesn't seem to pick up on body language or subtext. I've witnessed this in meetings with those who report to him who get more and more frustrated and are balling up their fists and looking visibly upset; the team lead seems oblivious. Another example, the second day, when I passed him in the hall, I said "How's it going?" He responded flatly "Nothing unusual has happened since the last time you asked. It is the same." After two weeks of daily interactions, he has a hard time remembering my name.I've speculated that he may have Aspergers but a person answering felt this may be a moot point. However his style of interaction does make having a conversation about this difficult. How to get answers if a person doesn't read emails? I need to ask to ask the Team Lead questions in order to receive need answers to do my job. The questions I'm asking are background related to the history of the projects and internal process. These are not found in any internal documentation or in any outside reference material.  From the company's point of view, they paid highly to have me as a resource and I’m twiddling my thumbs while I wait on something from him. I read reference materials but I want to help this company and I want to meet my deliverables. On a personal level, it annoys me that I’m not being used in the best way possible.   This isn't personal. He has stated to his team in the first team meeting I was in that he does not want to be copied on emails unless there’s an action item for him. Fair enough. I keep my emails to him short and if more than one sentence, in point form. I try to email him less than three times a day. It’s challenging as he’s the point person on several projects and I need his input.  I would drop him off the CC list if possible and I’m prudent with CC’g him.   The only way I've found to reliably get his input is to book a meeting with him two or three times a week in person. Before we meet, I summarize any updates in point form by project and keep it under a page long.  I have clear outcome that I want to get out of that meetings (questions to have answered, things I need). I’m really trying to work around his personal style.   How can I help him organize his tasks so my dependencies are completed? Part of the reason I need to meet with him is that he keeps promising and forgetting to give me certain tools (for example, the template for a change request which needs to go to another department/group). The change has not been able to go through for over a week and it is holding up work being done. How to stop the excessively detailed non-work related conversation? He fixated on and goes into excessive detail about one particular non-work related topic. Once last week, I needed to ask him a quick, time-sensitive, work-related question. He was in the middle of this non-work related conversation. I apologized and explained it was time-sensitive. The other person immediately excused himself. I asked my question, the Team Lead answered and then turned and walked over to the desk of the person he was talking to continue the conversation. I've gone over at other times to ask him about another follow-up question and he's in intense conversation, showing photos to another employee who looked both uncomfortable and bored.  There are other topics we share that I would be happy to discuss but I haven't found a way that works to move the conversation in that direction.  I want to say politely "Please stop, I'm really bored by this" but I can’t as it could jeopardize my reputation and contract. I believe if I were direct that his feelings wouldn't be hurt but if someone were to overhear, it would not be good for me. I have to be professional and polite at all times. Lately, I make an excuse to physically leave the conversation. I want to be polite but firm.

• Answer:

  I have Aspergers and I have been a technical team lead in the past. I had little patience for people who were technically incompetent and tried covering up for it by socializing, schmoozing or cracking jokes. Do you really need his input, or do you need to be taught how to do your work? Chances are that you are asking him questions that you ought to know answers to. He's just having a hard time conveying it to you (probably because he has got feedback in the past that he can be rude at times). Imagine you are on StackOverflow. Do your research first before emailing him or approaching him. Else your questions will be marked as closed. Do you normally tend to talk a lot? If so, he is trying to make you get to the point by cutting you short. If you firmly emphasize that what you are saying is indeed important, he will listen - without getting offended. But please cut down on the general chatter. You are supposed to be working. If the boring topic being discussed in the shared kitchen is non work related, we autistics usually say, "Please stop. I'm bored by this." But that's often perceived by others as rude. Feel free to do whatever 'normal' rules of social interaction suggest. If the topic is work-related, you better listen. And try to understand it well. It will reduce the need to ask too many questions and irritate him. Overall, if you focus on your work and try to excel at it, you'll enjoy a great relationship with your team lead. You'll look back at it as one of the best phases of your career. If you focus on whether he is a life-like robot or not, you'll ruin it for both of you. Edit: This answer was written before the question-asker's self proclaimed technical competence was added to the question details. The basic answer remains the same as I've mentioned in the comment: "Has it occurred to you that your 'diagnosis' might be wrong? That your boss could be just an asshole and not an aspie? Feel free to change the topic of the question, and remove references to aspergers."