To ask for advice on dealing with bullying boss?

[oolajoola]

Started a new job about 6 weeks ago. I'm enjoying the job, and the hours fit in well with my commitments, but from what I've seen so far my boss is a bully. I've come across a few bullies in the past and she behaves in the same way that they do. I know that sounds a bit silly but I've picked up on things that she says/does and they're similar to how bullies behave. I also know that the department has quite a high turnover of staff.

It's just things like her being nice one day and not nice the next, blaming me for mistakes that she's done, shouting me down if I try to speak up for myself and not listening to anything from anyone else's point of view. She will also do things that I think she does to let others know that SHE is the boss, such as contact me at home on my day off to ask me to make a phone call that she could easily make during the time it took her to email/phone me.

I know I need to put some boundaries down from the start with her, has anyone got any tips on this? I am quite good at rising above nasty behaviour in general but could do with putting a few boundaries in place.

A tactic that's worked for me is to email them after meetings to confirm anything that's said. I guess it is like an electronic version of the notebook idea.

After any meeting or discussion, email along the lines of:

Hi Lizzie, just to clarify after our meeting today, I will have the xyz report ready for Friday, and will start on the Jefferson case first thing on Monday. We also decided not to get back to Bill about his proposal.

Then, if they try to go back on what they've said, you can use this email and their reply as 'evidence' for what was agreed.

Plus, keep your own personal notes of all incidents!

You really do need to talk to the boss. Keep a log. Ask others to talk or email the boss also. If you all make a stand together, you will most likely get better results.