My boss has no interest in what I do, what I produce, how busy I am.
I have emailed her numerous times asking for additional work and have received no reply. I find work to do, email her asking if I can go ahead and do it, and only occasionally get a ‘Sure, go ahead’ back. I’ve told her that I need more guidance in my job, I need a mentor, and she agrees, but nothing is done.
The last straw happened this morning. I had a file on my desk to look after, that upon review, was going to turn in to a major project once I started it, and would need outside help if I was to complete it. I put together an email to her explaining what this undertaking would encompass, my reasons why I thought this, and asking for advice on which direction I should go. That was on March 19.
This morning I was forwarded an email from her that she received from a different department. This other department had been receiving calls from the group that is requesting information regarding the file I mentioned above. They want to know if we are going to provide the information or not.
She obviously didn’t read my email from the 19th. I have a feeling she does this often, as I rarely get a response from her unless I verbally get confirmation (if I’m able to catch her in the office).
I don’t want to burn my bridges here, but do I just sit here, wasting my day, playing on the internet, until I get a new job? I fantasize about just quitting all the time, but we can’t afford that right now.
So what would happen if you just did what you ‘think’ needs to happen without her approval?
I used to have a boss like what you described and that is how I dealt with it. Actually for me it solved the problem. I figured it was better to ask forgiveness then get permission. I trusted my instincts and figured this is what needed to be done and didn’t wait around for approval.
Worst that can happen is that you get reprimanded, doubt you would be fired for actually doing your job right? This project you described, if you just started doing it and maybe send her updates, etc. Then you can claim you sent her updates and if she had an issue she should have stopped you.
That is how I handled a boss like that–and in fact my current boss (he really isn’t my boss per se, but for the purposes of this post he is) is similar. I just update him on what I am doing. If I waited for him to make a damn decision nothing would ever get done.
The only problem I see is with budget. For instance, in the case of this project, if I go ahead with my proposal, I need about $20K for a consultant. I don’t have that kind of authority.
Another thought I had is that she might not be a 'email" person? Another partner here at my office is like that, anything longer then 3 lines–he isn’t reading it. People are all different and you really have to learn how to manage upwards as well as downwards. Another partner here has to have everything detailed out and then he still will look and find that one flaw or error.
The guy who doesn’t read anything–is 100% fine with me just stopping in and discussing it. We do it quickly and he moves on. He isn’t the type who wants to hear the problems, etc. So I just tell him what I want/need to do and that I need his approval for the fee, etc and it is done. You run the risk that there is no paper trail I suppose–but then again you can always follow up with an email saying this is confirming our conversation, yadda yadda and then if it comes back to bite you, you have proof you discussed it.
In my experience (limited though it is), some people I’ve worked with are just bad at email. Have you tried arranging meetings with her or trying to transfer as much information to her as possible in person? If someone gets a lot of email or just hates dealing with it, it might be hard to get their attention that way.
Yeah, I’d say that email is pretty clearly not working for you. Are you in the same building? Same city? If you are, try scheduling regular 1-on-1 meetings with her – every two weeks, or whatever will work best for you. Or just drop by.
You might also back up every email you send with a voicemail – I need to do that with one of the more senior (status-wise) people around here. If I just send an email, I never get a response. However, if I send the email and then call him or leave a voicemail summarizing what my email said and asking him to read it, he responds within a day – by voice, because that’s what he prefers. When I can get away with it, I skip email altogether with him; I just use it when there are other people who also need to be in the loop or if there’s an attachment he needs to sign off on.
The benefit of voice or, better yet, face-to-face communication is that it doesn’t leave your boss the option of being unresponsive.
I think others are right, that less reliance on email is probably better.
When you do need to rely on email, make it clear what you need from her. An email with the subject “Approval for $20K for contractor on XYZ project?” with the details therein for her to read as much as she needs to is better than an email entitled “XYZ Project” with the part about the contractor at the bottom. Work emails to busy people should be kind of like journalism, with an action-oriented headline and dribbling down to the details.
Also, for some people, if you have 5 questions, you should send five e-mails, each asking one question. Rather than one e-mail with all five questions. It sounds like you are being more of a pest, but they are more likely to read each question and send you and answer.
Beyond that, you need to be consulting someone else higher up. Not her direct boss, but some one you ‘happen to meet’ at the works cafeteria / watercooler / whatever.
I think you are being “set up”. That means (of course) that your boss is building a case against you-this is a classic way to get somebody fired. In your case, she is going to call you in, and confront you. Your defense will be the emails-you need to keep them all, as proof of your diligence. I would schedule a meeting with your boss, and bring the emails. The proof will be if she has no record of them.
I had a similar situation years ago-I was given a task, and the boss kept changing his requests. I sent him weekly progress reports, and covered myselfthis caused him no end of annoyance (as I had proof that I had delivered on everything I had committed to do). I knew I wasn’t going to win, so I started loking for another job-and left before this SOB could stick t to me.