cheapie

my boss and i get along on some levels and not at all on other things. he's incredibly pushy and rude sometimes and is a micro manager to the nth degree. here is a recent email string. what's your opinion? i'll put it in reverse order so you don't have to read from bottom to top. sorry it's so long.

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Napoleon54

Yesh, I don't think you can justify yourself by giving more detail. It just prompts more questions, more prying.

Q: Why didn't you do it on the plane?
A: It didn't happen. I'll have it for you tomorrow. [period, end of story, nevermind why.]

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cheapie

he's always like this. i rarely, if ever, offer an explanation like that. i'm going to go to HR soon. he's driven away at least one employee and myself and my partner are ready to leave because of his poor people skills.

johnnymk

Anally retentive...I bet he points all of his paper clips on his desk to Uranus.

Thesifer

Sounds like he might be sticking them in Cheapies Uranus. It sucks that he calls you cheapie too, thats just weird!

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Nija

You eat and sleep too much. That is time you are taking away from the company. Cut your eating and sleeping time budget by 1/4 and use that time to effectively communicate with your superiors.

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"Nija is the dark soul of gotapex. We don't like to talk about him." - LPMiller

cheapie

he responded and it was just as crappy as the rest. le sigh.

Nija

Is he a 'get-the-last-word' kind of guy? He sure seems like it.

Jeffbx

Ah yes... the micromanager. There is no worse person to work for.

I agree w.Nap - going into detail about you day isn't going to help. He really doesn't give a rip how you spend your day. His ONLY concern is how much productivity you can provide to him, and whether you can do it on his terms.

If you want to burn yourself out, you can try to keep up with his demands. If you want to frustrate yourself to the point where you want to quit, contunue arguing with him & trying to justify your work.

If you want him off your back, here's what you can TRY (still might not work):

First, answer him directly & truthfully without offering excuses or explanations:

Second, talk to HR. I bet this is not the first time they've heard complaints about this guy. Explain that you're getting all of your work done, but Mr Micromanager is making your life hell. Ask them what correspondance or examples they want to see, and continue forwarding examples as they happen.

Third, stay out of his way - meaning, don't give him an excuse to micromanage you if you can help it. This part IS as difficult as it sounds - some people won't allow you to do it.

So even after doing all of this he still might not change his ways. Lots of people get into a leadership position not because they're good at what they do, but because they're good at making other people do the work. Sounds like he's in the latter group. The problem with this is that they often provide results that make them look very good to THEIR superiors, in which case you just may be screwed. I've seen it happen before, many times.

In any case, keep your cool. Stay low, move fast. Good luck out there!

DarkFury

Heh... I guess Lumbergh wants you to have your TPS reports on his desk first thing Monday morning.

Honestly, Cheapie, your boss is a major @ss it appears. Now I can see why you'd consider getting a new job somewhere else.

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guiseppewv

Dude, that is ridiculous! I thought my last (micro)manager was bad! She seems like a peach compared to this guy. My last manager was way nicer than this dude but she would sit in on my meetings and take them over or she would tell me, specifically, how to do things. I have never had a manager question my efficiency. I cannot believe that you work such long days and he still expects more and complains you are inefficient! Crazy!

I would continue to keep in contact with HR. I would also follow at least some of Jeff's edvice. Don't provide said manager with an excuse to micro-manage you and don't provide him too much detail on your activities.

mcs328

Ugh...I think you gave him too many chances to challenge everything you do. I agree with everyone else that he's a micromanaging jerk and he's paving his career on your tired, hungry ass.

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cheapie

thanks all. part of the problem is that i am occasionally late with BS reports. if i think a task has zero merit compared to all the other urgent tasks i'm working on, it falls down the list.

i don't mind the hard work. i'm doing something i enjoy. i just can't stand the petty bs regarding whether or not i worked on the plane and why i didn't have notes sent out from a fairly meaningless meeting right away.

btw, the reason i was placed in this job is because he and the former employee were having problems. they decided to give him another chance with someone else. in the meantime another dude on the team quit because of him.

we'll see. if i do go to HR, i need it to be in the correct manner. my goal is not to be proven right. my goal is to have continued and increasingly rewarding employment.

guiseppewv

Cheapie, you are a much more patient man than I!

Seems to me the other guy they did not give another chance to was not the problem - this dude is the problem.

cheapie

i have 3 kids, a wife, and a house payment. i have to be patient, especially in these tough economic times. i don't want to end up out on the street with nowhere to go.

Kevster

Cheapie, was this manager of yours promoted because of his skills, time in service or because he was the least qualified in his old position and they didn't want to promote someone with skills (like you) because then they'd have to try and backfill and it's more difficult to that? How long have you been working for him? Besides managing you what does he actually do?(anything?) I'm also curious what the average time a direct report has worked for him until they leave?

I feel bad for you, as from those emails he sounds like a real ***hole. If I were in that situation i would document everything I could and if he kept it up I'd go to HR, as you're alluding to.

As for being late on BS reports, isn't that another way you're showing your ability to prioritize?

__________________
I think over again
My small adventures, my fears.
The small ones that seemed so big,
For all the vital things I had to get and to reach.

And yet there is only one great thing, the only thing:

To live to see the great day that dawns,
And the light that fills the world.

-old Inuit song

clutchy

i've had this happen to me twice... however, it wasn't my career and it's always ended up with me quitting because of irreconcilable differences.


it's a power game first of all.

2nd, i've seen people do this attempting to build a case against someone...

he's probably just trying to micromanage you b/c he doesn't feel in control.

but i agree w/ Nap.

No explanation is needed, tell him you'll get it to him at a specified time w/i the necessary timeframe. Other than that there's no other conversation required. He's probably just a lazy bastard pushing you to do more of his work.

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LK was treated unfairly

thanks X

cheapie

he was/is a very good account manager. then he got promoted to sales manager...the person managing the account managers on a specific OEM account team. the transition hasn't gone so well imho.

guiseppewv

I can understand that but I would have probably vented a lot more harshly than you have! Are you going to take some time off for Thanksgiving? That will probably do wonders if you are able to.

attgig

I agree, no need to respond to his crappy emails with so much detail. he'll get more pissed off at you the more detail you give.

but yeah, it seems like it's control/power issue. the things that get sent to him seem to be highest priority, and the things that aren't sent directly to him are lower priority. that sucks.

sorry. he needs to learn how to trust you, and that's a frickin uphill battle.

with the history, sounds like it needs to go to HR, and definitely with the right attitude.

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attgig

on a side note, you were in DC and didn't call me up? screw your boss =P.

guiseppewv

I thought about that too when I first saw this thread. I thought I would hold the ball breakin' to a minimum considering his boss is riding him so hard! I am going to blame it on the boss too. His boss should be less concerned with him not doing work on a plane and more concerned with the fact that he missed a golden opportunity to hang out with some cool G|A people!

cheapie

lol. wtf. read from the bottom to the top.

Napoleon54

Does this guy play favorites? That is, do you think he has you pegged as someone who can never do anything right, whereas alias Mark is always perfect and can do no wrong? I've seen and been in such situations before, where a boss simply has their mind made up about what to expect from you and nothing you do or say can change it.

clutchy

Andy is his real name

cheapie

mark is the new guy and doesn't have nearly as much on his plate. plus my boss puts so much emphasis on timeliness of reports instead of keeping customers happy and achieving results. totally TPS report oriented. his happy notes regarding a good timely monthly report are tons more effusive than when i land a $3million order. just kills me.

clutchy

punch that guy in the chubbby.

Daedalus

Lol! Classic CLM.

I would start looking beyond the conflict because I doubt whether you can resolve it to your satisfaction. Figure out what you want in the bigger picture. More autonomy, a promotion, a different job? How and where can you get what you want? In the same department, same company or elsewhere? How much power do you have? Are you fairly indipensable or at least a huge income generator? Can you easily explain the value you bring or, even better, is it well known by everyone? Does his boss have the power to give you what you want?

Nija

Maybe this is why he's been promoted over you.(This wouldn't sound nearly as bad in person, but I can't figure a way to put the emphasis in correctly, sorry)
The reports are what his manager has to go by, not that you brought in a large order, it's about meeting your "quota" more than customer satisfaction and continued business.

For example, the salesman at my job are "worshiped" whenever they bring in a large project. Doesn't matter if they give horrible instructions, or production screws up because of a salesperson. The salesman gets his numbers and basically moves on. That sounds like your boss. Whereas the (painfully) few salespeople that bring in constant work, in much smaller quantities, are not treated as well. Except they end up bring in more work overall, that ends up billing for more than the jackholes who remind me of your boss.

attgig

clm?


Cheapie, love your response. that's as far as you can get with this ahole. keep chugging away, and talk with that hr dept.