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RE: Question on Working With a New Documentation Supervisor - PleaseHelp
Subject:RE: Question on Working With a New Documentation Supervisor - PleaseHelp From:"Condo, Candis" <ccondo -at- c-cor -dot- com> To:"Anthony" <italian_scribbles -at- yahoo -dot- com>, <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Fri, 3 Nov 2006 09:22:42 -0800
First, for your own piece of mind, document your interactions with this
guy. Don't expect that you will remember what happens -- you won't. Send
yourself emails at home and start a file. This sounds paranoid but you
may find it useful down the road.
Second, talk to your former manager. Ask him for his "honest" opinion of
your work. I am sure that you will find that he has a high regard for
you and your work. Document that too.
Now for your new manager: you are off to a good start in that you
offered to help him understand something he does NOT understand but
NEEDS to understand. You might even suggest that you both go have lunch.
Yup, skip that lunch at your desk and go out with him. Sometimes just
getting off the premises changes the whole relationship.
Third, update your resume. You will feel better. You are prepared for
anything.
I assume that the company is so small that you do NOT have an HR
department. If you do have an HR department, can you talk to the HR
representative? I once was told that HR exists so that companies can do
whatever they want. I want to believe that's not true.
Keep us posted and good luck,
Candis L. Condo
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+ccondo=c-cor -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+ccondo=c-cor -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf
Of Anthony
Sent: Thursday, November 02, 2006 10:50 PM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Question on Working With a New Documentation Supervisor -
PleaseHelp
Hello Everyone,
Recently I was transferred from the best boss I have
ever worked with to the Director of Marketing who just
joined the company. The change was made by our CEO so
that all of the creative types would be in the same
department. The CEO told me he had no issues with my
work, but just wanted to have more collaboration with
the new Director. This was not good news to me as my
former boss had a very hands off approach that worked
well with my personality and work style.
My job entails many types of technical documentation
primarily, but I also assist in the marketing arena.
About 20% of my work falls into the "technical
marketing" arena with white papers, specification
sheets, etc. Further, my marketing work has always
taken the lowest point on the totem poll as far as
priority goes per our CEO. Our Director of Marketing
is strictly a marketing guy with no background in
technical documentation.
My entire company uses a very flat organizational
chart as we are not that large and things such as
meticulous time tracking and other such micro level
styles of management do not exist in the company.
Everyone is too busy working to worry about such
things.
Well, my new boss seems to be the type who likes to
micromanage people although he has yet to try it on me
directly since I started reporting to him a couple of
weeks ago.
He also seems to be the distrustful type and has at
least once asked my former boss about my work schedule
and putting in a full day instead of asking me
directly about it. The simple answer was that I work
through lunch and eat at my desk almost everyday and
work a straight 8 hours rather than 9 with a one hour
lunch. Then earlier today he asked me a simple
question about the distribution of hours on my
electronic time report in which they are essentially
two categories I list my weekly hours on. One
category is for tracking work to be billed with a
specific client and another serves as a "catch all"
category listed as "Commercial/Marketing Work." His
question was whether or not I was doing marketing work
for someone else. I answered his question and felt as
if he had no idea what he was looking at. So I asked
him if anyone had shown him the time tracking system.
He said no one had. So I smiled and offered to go
over it with him. He agreed to come get me when he
had a moment as he was in the middle of something...he
never came.
He behaves as if he does not know how to manage people
and it is starting to worry me. I have built a superb
reputation at my company and fear this man may hurt
this with the way he conducts himself. I've never had
to work for or deal with someone with such a
micromanagement personality combined with an inability
to manage. Quite frankly I think he is scared of me
as he has a very meek personality and I have been
described as having a very commanding and forceful
presence.
How should I approach him and this situation to make
the best of it?
I've never worked with someone like this in my life.
Thank you for the input.
- Anthony
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