Anxious Manager

[Islandcircle4]

My manager makes more work for herself and tries to do it to me however I’m a very experienced staff member so remain reserved. She is constantly wanting to suggest ideas which generate more work; but when I check the procedure it’s not required. She trails through every report I write having to change something usually something small. She is known for being risk averse and very over reactive. When I call her, she doesn’t answer her phone and will email me something about something else. I could call her twice in a morning and get no response or returned call. I find her rude and patronising. We meet once a month for what’s supposed to be an hour but always lasts 4 hours. She asks me to send her paperwork in advance of the meeting to save time however she doesn’t read it in advance. How do I make work life more pleasant. Am I being unreasonable to keep a chronology. Don’t know who to raise my concerns with.

She must have a manager? Sounds like a nightmare. I'd keep a log too but only you know how your company works and who you can take it to.

I had a manager like this & I ended up leaving. It drove me crazy. No advice I’m afraid but I can definitely relate.

Feel for you. Unfortunately as pp said the only way to deal with this a lot of the time is to leave.

Keeping a record is an excellent idea, if only for your own sanity. But if you do escalate you need to have proof of her unreasonable behaviour, and that you've tried to resolve it with her.
Do you think others have these same issues with her? Does she have a manager? If so are they "friends"? You need to think carefully. I'm assuming you don't have a HR dept as that would be first port of call if so.

Who is her manager? Can you raise concerns with them?

Can you schedule a meeting 90 mins after your monthly meeting so she can’t run on?

Does age need to sign off your work? What’s the nature of your job?

I couldn’t work for someone like that - sounds hideous OP.

I’ve started looking for another job. I’m over qualified for the post. She is only 18 months into management so I get that she is inexperienced however think it’s time to move on now. We work a lot from home so don’t know the team that well to see if anyone else feels the same.

It’s in the social services department. She only needs to add comments to my report not amend it the way she does. It’s really unnecessary to mark it like a teacher. Very oppressive. I’m over qualified. Her boss told me that when I was interviewed. I’ve been in the files 10 years so highly experienced. Why in earth our monthly meetings take so long. God only knows how long she’s meeting with inexperienced staff.

I don't think any meetings are productive over an hour. That's probably something that can be easily addressed without specifically mentioning her. Higher up management would surely prefer effective time management and help implement this?