Deeply offended by manager?

[avenueaspirr]

She’s my new manager but we’ve both been in the business roughly the same amount of time (5 years) and we do know each other.

Our first meeting she asked why my productivity had slipped - I advised of the reasons (new systems that don’t work basically and we physically run out of work so I do admin tasks that don’t count towards recordable productivity)

Then before I knew it a week later she’d booked me in to screen share with a colleague to literally sit there and watch them work. I was so offended for the following reasons.

• I gave legitimate reasons and I wasn’t questioned further
• I’ve been doing this job for 5 years so the fact she wants me to watch someone else do it was insulting
• That she discussed my performance with another colleague who is the same level as me

I would expect a manager to discuss something like this as well OP. The fact she hasn’t actually explained the purpose of the screen sharing and what you’re supposed to get out of it seems to me like a poor bit of management.

I’m not referring to you clearing the workload by yourself. You’ve said that there’s no work left, which had led people to believe that you’ve completed it all. But since it’s a shared pot of work, your colleagues may be picking up the work and then there’s none left for you. That’s no indication of your productivity.

If the productivity being down is not something you can resolves yourself, how does watching someone else work help to increase your productivity? That's the bit that doesn't make sense.

I think there must be something you are doing wrong and that's why she wanted you to see how someone else does it. What did you learn from watching them?

To me you sound pretty confrontational and hard work to manage. Have you tried asking why you have been told to screen share or what you are expected to get out of it? Have you explained the system issues and the time it takes to report?
Management is a two way street and it is very difficult when a report is reluctant to engage and acts as if she has nothing to learn, we can all learn from each other.

How am I doing it wrong? You click a button hmm it brings up data, sometimes it works and other times it’s an error.
When this started happening you surely raised it with the system manager / IT department / whoever is responsible for the software? What did they say?

I would personally be worried if you’re completing all your work despite the system being slow that there isn’t enough work for your role and it may be at risk for redundancy soon. Look for a new job.

At my organisation it's absolutely routine for one person to shadow another person's work every so often. It's recognised that everyone, no matter how senior they are and how long they've been doing the job, can benefit from this. Even the new starter can sometimes teach the old hands something.

So maybe stop considering that shadowing a colleague is some sort of punishment?

Is this the attitude you have at work too? You may not have to worry about trying to leave soon if it is.

YANBU, OP. I'd be offended too. Could you have a chat with your manager and ask her to explain the reasons for this decision? I would be very calm about it but let her know that you expect her to manage you with openness and honesty. I'd consider bringing someone else into the meeting with you, so that there's a record of what's been said. If your manager is decent then she'll understand how you feel and explain herself. If not, then... you've got a problem.

@avenueaspirr she definitely has the right to feel my reasons are not legitimate, however I feel she should convey this to me. She accepted what I said in the meeting and nothing further was said until I was told I would need to sit there for an hour an ld watch someone.

That seems like a very odd way to conduct a performance review. After asking you for your explanation of your performance, your manager should communicate a response to that. Then clearly communicate her specific concerns about your performance and the steps she would like you to take in order to improve with a timeframe. Usually a follow up performance review to check progress.

What your manager has done seems very unprofessional to me. I don’t work in your industry though, so I could be wrong.

To me you sound pretty confrontational and hard work to manage.

I imagine the OP is just a bit annoyed at the pile-on of posters telling her she must be crap at her job, when the situation as outlined sounds more like the manager being a bit crap at hers.

Hi OP I don't think anyone on here can really understand what it is you do, and what the exact issue is.

However, it sounds like your new manager thinks other colleagues are more productive and efficient that you are. You need to work through with her (a) if that is true and (b) if it is, why is it the case - someone has mentioned it could be your wifi connection etc. Once you know if it is true and why, you can resolve things.

i think anyone would be annoyed when told their productivity was slipping and when asked to do extra training after 5 years. yanbu for that.

However at work you just have to suck it up. And sometimes, once the emotions have passed, you have to look closer to see if you could indeed improve. Never easy.

i can see why it is annoying that the manager didnt tell you about the training. However, I can now think of times when I was subtly and carefully managed to improve my performance or to take me off a job i was cocking up. No one told me that was what was happening-- if i had realise i would have been furious! They just steered me carefully. That was a few years ago and now i think it was pretty clever of them cos i would have been annoyed. i am quite prideful about work and hate being managed. So maybe that is what your manager was (clumsily) trying to do.

At any rate, you say you are intending to leave, so be annoyed about it for a few days then just let it go. You dont want to be there anyway.

To me you sound pretty confrontational and hard work to manage

no need for personal attacks, can we we keep it constructive please?

It is very frustrating with system errors. It sounds like some IT input would help. Sometimes it is weak WiFi signal if working from home, and it gives this message. I've had things like that. Trying a different computer might identify things. It's not fair on you having a system which keeps doing this, and of all things, IT glitches are so frustrating.

With interpersonal things, I think it's best to bide your time. If she's going into her role by being picky or direct, then other people will experience that, and she might, over time, decide to try a less abrasive approach.

Just be objective. But I think trying a different computer or connection will be the key to why it's indicating an error.

@avenueaspirr Do you have a Human Resources department?

@Aquamarine1029

She’s my new manager but we’ve both been in the business roughly the same amount of time (5 years) and we do know each other.

There must be a reason she's a manager and you're not, yes?

Passive aggressive horribleness.

I never said I cleared the work queue though? Can you confirm where I said that as I’m confused?
It sounds like your colleagues are clearing the work load and you are blaming system errors for your slower pace. Presumably they are also experiencing the same issues but still getting through more work than you.
If there isnt much work, then it's possible that your workplace is looking at saving some money.(redundancies) I would be looking for work that counts towards productivity in your shoes, not wasting my time on admin tasks that no one will notice.

@UserAtLarge

At my organisation it's absolutely routine for one person to shadow another person's work every so often. It's recognised that everyone, no matter how senior they are and how long they've been doing the job, can benefit from this. Even the new starter can sometimes teach the old hands something.

So maybe stop considering that shadowing a colleague is some sort of punishment?

I agree I don’t see the offer of shadowing as a punishment. Just a learning event. Sometimes we don’t know what we don’t know. I don’t see this as a performance management situation.

Just one adult telling another adult that something doesn’t work for them. That one of them would try to find a solution is helpful not offensive. Sounds like peer to peer learning to me. Someone in the team is finding a way around this and any manager worth their salt would ensure that learning is shared.

Do managers need to consult and reassure colleagues all the time in case a bit of help is taken the wrong way.

It sounds very frustrating that you are getting so many system errors, perhaps she is not aware of the scale of the problem and staff are being blamed for performance, rather than addressing the software problems.
Can you take screenshots of the system errors when they occur and what you did afterwards over a week and e-mail them to her with an explanation so that she can see the scale of the problem?

@Fightingfirewithfire

So as a supervisor the following things stand out Your manager has highlighted your productivity has slipped. This is either against your previous productivity and/or against other colleagues productivity.

You were asked why and blamed a new system and running out of work. As a supervisor I would expect this to reflect in everyones work. I.e system causing everyone issues and also everyone run out of work.

If it was not I would also have booked you in with a team member who isn't having a down turn on productivity to watch and learn how they navigate the new system. Although I would have ideally spoken to you first to advise that is what would be happening.

I wouldnt have told your colleagues you were struggling, rather collaboration on best practices, however I bet your bottom dollar the team could already see your level of productivity.

Length of service between you and colleagues means nothing, I've had team members in roles for a year work smarter and more efficient than those who have done it for years and years (usually as the ones who have do r it for years are often, but not all, resistant to change and new systems)

That sounds how it would work in most places. Mentoring/peer observation etc. All par for the course if someone is clearly not working up to the standard that others are.

You’re totally right that she should have discussed it with you and got you on board with the concept, it’s bad management technique and people skills from her and I would feel offended too!

What you haven't explained OP is why the system error is only seeming to affect your productivity? What are your colleagues doing that you're not, are they also experiencing the same error message and why isn't it slowing them down?

This is illogical op. You say your productivity has dropped due to new systems. However clearly others are not having the same issues and work with the same systems, yet you don’t want to watch and learn from them. She’s trying to ensure yoire trained to do the job as you’ve told her the issue is the systems. If it’s only you having these issues then the issue is you.

Shaming people never gets the best work out of them. She has not managed you well.