AIBU Re threatened Disciplinary

[MrsMaxwell]

Manager (who will no longer be so in a few weeks as having a new manager) was asked by their manager to send an email to organise a meeting.

After 3 weeks she hadn’t done it and asked me to do it as she was about to go on leave.

I did it as it needed to be done urgently as was regarding the project I run no longer being funded.

I asked what she wanted me to say (she was vague and unspecific) so I wrote it, got a colleague to check my wording was ok (about the LA no longer funding this project and looking for a way forward) and sent it to various invitees.

Senior management (and elected members) saw it have gone ballistic. New email sent by managers manager basically saying the same thing I did but longer and more corporate.

My manager now has done my PDR with me and said that she has spoken to HR and decided not to take me to disciplinary but has written several things on it re my “attitude” being mindful or emails and communications I send (apparently it was a direct attack on a desicion that was made) and being disrespectful about senior management (we went through a restructure and everyone including me was slagging off the manager who delivered news to staff in a huge meeting that they were being made redundant and we all said how disgusting it was).

What the fuck do I do? Ignore as she will no longer bey manager? Send an email in reply to PDR outlining that the task was actually hers to do in the first place and she didn’t support me when I asked her to or go to my Union?

Well you can either deal with this in a constructive way and learn as much as you can from it, ask if you can go on any corporate language courses etc or you can deal with it in a distructive way by trying to shift all responsibility onto your manager and critise her leadership. I know which one looks better to management when it comes to promotions or even by the sounds of it potential redundancies.

I'm perplexed as to how an email that was basically scheduling a meeting could cause anyone to go ballistic. It wouldn't hurt to speak with your union representative, I suppose, but I would also reflect on whether the manager has a point.

*MrsMaxwell

I want it in writing that this was not my task*

Why on earth? What would you do with that? What is the point? Seriously, you're getting yourself worked up and making yourself look unprofessional. If you want to work there, move on and build bridges with the SLT. If you don't, start looking for a job. Don't waste your energy on fighting for something in writing that is totally pointless.

Dont sign the PDR if unhappy

She delegated it to You, therefore it was your task. You did it poorly.

I want it in writing that this was not my task*

I work in HR and never understand when people ask to have something in writing. It was delegated to you so it was your task.
The whole culture there sounds unprofessional but you have been joining in so either think about changing that or move organisations.

YANBU and I'd be seeking advice

I just think it’s impossible to say without reading the email (which I’m not expecting you to show us!) - it’s all in the wording. Was this the only email mentioned or have there been other times your communication has been brought up? Was there a particular phrase that made people react badly?

If you are sure your wording is beyond reproach then I would refuse to sign the PDR and/or add a statement as to why.

But...nothing has actually happened. Nothing formal anyway...so, you just 'got a bit of a ticking off'! So what? What's new in the corporate world?!?! I know, in your opinion, it wasn't deserved (and we can't comment on that because we have no idea on the context). Just let it go and move on! If you get this het up over every single instance of misperceived slight, you'll make yourself ill!

It's hard for me to tell whether your attitude on this thread is because of your frustration at the situation OP or whether this is your usual attitude to your work and the management there.

I can see why you might be frustrated, but once the task was delegated to you, it became your responsibility. It was presumably delegated to you because your manager believed that you had the skills necessary to undertake the task.

We have no idea of the history here but whilst as a one off your Manager's response seems a little heavy handed, it might have been justified.

I think you just need to take it on the chin and accept the constructive feedback, see how to improve and move on.

It was delegated to you - it was your task
Managers delegate- it's not for you you decide what your manager can and can't delegate

And don't slag off senior management and it won't be mentioned in your PDR

I'm guessing you're in local government, OP. The first unwritten line in all LA job descriptions is "cover your arse at all costs", and it seems you forgot that bit.

Anything to do with cuts to funding/services ALWAYS has to be couched in the most anodyne language possible and the c-word (cut) is best avoided unless it's a) part of a campaigning type document and/or b) someone else (usually central government) is doing the cutting. That's why reports etc use phrases like "the service implications of budgetary constraints", when they mean cuts and closures. I know, I not only used to write this shit but run courses for senior managers in how to write this shit, AND vet every word that ever went near a committee.

Take it on the chin, chalk it up to experience and use it to your advantage to get yourself on some courses. Next time some tit of a manager asks you to write and send out something they haven't got round to doing themselves, get a draft cleared by THEIR manager before you do it, so that your arse is not only covered but teflon-coated too, with the added bonus that your manager has passed the buck.

OP as part of your PDR request training in corporate communication since this has been flagged. This should be offered as learning and 'development' for you. You want to ensure you are able to handle sensitive communications in future.

I don't see how they can refuse this training for you. And it will be beneficial.

I don't understand why people side with the bosses so much.

I wonder if their sensitivity is due to the fact they know they may have a mutiny on their hands over their poor handling of the redundancies, and want to put the fear of God into you by making disciplinary threats over trivialities.

If the letter/email required such sensitive, specific wording that getting it wrong may result in potential disciplinary action, then either someone higher up or with requisite training needed to do it or OP needed to have been briefed.

It isn't ok for managers to just delegate potentially inflamatory tasksm badly, and then threated disciplinary action when it doesn't go exactly how they wanted.

It is also the case that going ballistic over the 'tone' of communications is quite a common form of bullying in dysfunctional workplaces. Partly as it means you can set people up to fail by either not specifying expectations or being vauge about them, and then by making an accusation 'the tone wasn't correct' which is very difficult to disprove. It is after all, a triviality, and they are hoping if you fight it you will look petty and unprofessional.

OP, has anyone the email/letter was actually meant for complained about tone?

It was delegated to you - it was your task
Managers delegate- it's not for you you decide what your manager can and can't delegate

In a local authority setting, that's not quite true. A manager should never delegate a task to a someone if that task is above their pay grade or not in their job description, and unless they are confident that that person has the necessary competencies to do it properly or they have put in place a precautionary measure, like getting a draft cleared by someone more senior in their absence.

When the council is cutting a service, they are "making savings" in any written material, unless they are having a dig at another body, then it can be "cutting".

she was wrong to delegate, but she did, and then she neglected to check your work. it reflects badly on her ultimately.

i would just keep calm and professional. don't let this get to you. she looks unprofessional.

Obviously I have no idea what happened here, but I’ve had similar happen to me: unacceptable work delegated, queried verbally, told to do it anyway with no guidance as they were busy (also tried mabager’ manager, told off for not resolving with manager and sent away), then shafted in a performance review for not doing the right thing.

Of course there are things it’s inappropriate to delegate and it’s not only the manager who can see that. In my workplace there are a variety of tasks normally completed by managers that should not be delegated - sometimes they do but they either then need to heavily support the delegated person or are managing badly. That’s not necessarily the case here, but again in my workplace if you want someone else to send an email for you wh n you’ve been asked by your manager to send it, then you do one of the following: a) ask them to draft and send to you to proof and send b) ask them to send it to you before sending for review c) issue appropriate instructions about the content of the email or d) don’t complain about how it’s written.

What I took from this experience was that you need to get the entire thing (including your asking for further instructions, in fact in particular this) in writing, so no one can do you over later.

Sorry I haven't read the full thread. But how does an email organising a meeting get to this?

Hi, we need to organise a meeting to discuss X project, this is the date/these are the following dates/can you let me know what dates you have available. Thanks

Why does it go into funding cuts etc? If it was a meeting date. Confused?

Or did you reveal stuff that is not yet common knowledge?

So people think it’s acceptable to delegate any work?! Clearly the email/meeting invite needed to be worded in a way that required a certain level of experience, yet OP’s manager delegated it down and then didn’t review it. The manager is definitely at fault here.

There are certain tasks that I do not delegate at work and others I have voiced my concerns over being given because I feel they need expertise I don’t have.

Aurora, she delegated sending an email. The OP has become very defensive and frustrated, even through the course of this thread, so it is easy to imagine this came through in her email.

What is she going to do with a written statement that said 'we asked your manager to do this but she didn't' - put it in a frame and hang it on the wall? Look at it and feel smug that she was right when getting up everyday and going to work there...

Clearly the OP is frustrated at the culture there and she should move on.

Ooh i sounds like your colleague threw you under the bus there. Let this be a lesson, don't do other people 'favours' in the workplace.

This is why I never, ever put myself up for anything at work that I can avoid. You get no thanks and a load of crap. Keep your head down and pray for retirement.

I think you need to put it on record exactly what the background to the email was. Cover your own back for the future. Because the buck should not stop with you in this context, so don't be the fall guy.

I must be missing something here. This reads like it was a development comment on a review, is that correct?

If so you just add your comments that you don't agree because of xyz.

You move on and forget about it.