Employee feels micromanaged if I give her tasks with deadlines

[calmama]

I manage a person who is generally difficult. She objects to… well everything and undermines me at every chance she gets.

When she first started working for me we sat down together and established a work plan to get our job done and keep us on track to meet deadlines. We agreed I would assign daily tasks and we would meet weekly to discuss progress on projects along with anything new we had to take on, along with any business changes, leave, etc.

Weeks down the line she exploded at me for colour coding priorities, saying the urgent (red) tasks were ‘very unfriendly and freaking her out’. I took the red out.

A few weeks later she exploded at me for ‘micromanaging and bullying her’ by sending her daily priorities, despite this being agreed upon from the very start. I asked for an alternative way of progressing projects. She had none.

Today she exploded at me for setting deadlines because they ‘stress her out’. Again, I asked her for an alternative way of doing things and she had none.

I’m at a loss. She’s doing honestly the bare minimum and can’t seem to cope. I’m having to pick up her slack because otherwise my team looks bad, yet I’m still copping the brunt of her rage and there’s no end in sight.

AIBU to throw my hands in the air and take a long vacation?

It’s not only inappropriate for a manager to ask about a disability/health condition, it’s illegal. If an employee declares a condition that qualifies as a disability under the Equality Act 2010 then the employer has a duty to provide reasonable adjustment for that employee to be able to do the job without the disability putting them at a disadvantage. If they choose not to declare there’s not much the employer can do if they can’t do the job.

You need to set Key Performance Indicators, get them.agreed with her and HR. Then check weekly in progress against them. She will rather shape up or ship out. But HR needs to be involved right now. It's shit. I've been there.

Get rid. I don't understand why you are trying to appease her.

She sounds like an absolute nightmare. She is clearly out of her depth in the job if she can’t do the basic tasks asked of her. I cannot understand how asking a person to do a specific series of tasks and then checking they have been done correctly is considered micro managing! How exactly should OP make sure the job has been done?? Far too much leeway given for ‘hurt feelings’ now IMHO.

I agree with others that you need to involve HR and/or your line manager now - you've tried different approaches and these haven't worked.

this depends entirely on the job

I think I used to manage the same person as OP. She claimed she was under undue pressure because I asked her questions/assigned work etc while other people could hear (open plan office, all on pods of 6 desks and I spoke to all 20 of my team at side of desk or in stand up huddles) she literally got HR to agree I had to organise a private 121 meeting in a room if I wanted to speak to her at all, about anything. Saying 'good morning' publicly was about the limit. Mercifully she left shortly afterwards.
Note - this only came up after she missed targets a few times in a row due to chatting constantly, non-stop, all day, endlessly.

Also feel like I have managed this person, down to the being offended by anything they didn't want to hear.

Please involve your line manager etc, and document, document, document. This won't get any better.

Are you a team of 2 or are there more people? , if there are a few is this how you give out the daily workload , is she junior to you?
If it is then she hasn't got anything to complain about.
If it just you two and you are senior how can she object? like you said how would she know what needs to be done otherwise.
If work comes in daily or weekly to you you need to pass on jobs that are within her capabilities otherwise she will sit there twiddling her thumbs and doing nothing. Someone has to give out the schedule.

Why are you reassuring her and allowing her a fresh start every time? Put her on a support plan (ie has that targets/deadlines etc) then if she doesn’t step up, there are consequences, eventually she will be managed out.

I had a similar type from what you say, aggressive, defensive, difficult and didn’t hit basics, lost student coursework which was part of the GCSE grade, lied when I asked for it/supported her.

I wonder whether the OP is in that appalling situation where she has been given the job of managing someone but isn’t senior enough to put her on a PIP / sack her. The OP’s boss will make sympathetic noises but really, as long as the stuff gets done, isn’t all that interested. I’ve been there.

I think most people like to just get on with their jobs and not get daily reminders as yes it is stressful! On the other hand if she's the sort who does need a kick up the bum I can understand you may feel the need. Can a compromise be reached, say targets given at beginning of week and then a get together midweek? It's nice to feel trusted and having someone on your back all the time would make anyone feel like being micromanaged.

That sounds like something that should take less than a day. The caterers would take longer, but one should have a list of ones to contact, along with the other two tasks finished by the end of day one. The caterers would be sending them each an email, asking for a quote, so it would be a waiting game while one does other jobs needing to be done. She is given a week to do these?

No wonder she is getting ticked off. She is barely working and wants to keep the grift going and the best defense is always a good offense. Attack you before you can call her on the carpet and they cry victim if you bring it to HR.

gosh @calmama that sounds a nightmare. Does this person complete a daily / weekly timesheet?

I’m Business Analyst - what you’re describing is the norm for me and pretty much most other people who work on projects. It’s done in a team setting though where we each have a slot in a daily stand up to give updates on where we are with tasks required to move along work in projects. The project manager captures actions and sends out a team wide email with them after meetings.

This level of accountability isn’t generally for people who are used to not pulling their weight in a project focused environment . People who don’t do their jobs are found out pretty quick.

Id start with documenting her tasks and when they due and then track the deadlines she misses. Document her behaviour toward you. Definitely involve HR. When you have enough put her on a PIP.

hopefully she will leave on her own accord.

I feel like I used to work in a similar type role. You need to let someone know she is not doing tasks. She doesn't seem to have accountability and whilst deadlines can be stressful, this is more about managing workload. I used to use an Urgent and important grid for tasks. This way all the tasks she is using as an excuse can be not urgent or important.

Oh no I couldn't deal with a manager Tregaron me like I need to be directed all of the time. Give her more responsibility to manage her own stuff. I think the attitude of "she's not going to change & just can't do it"is really unhelpful too, because you're not allowing change to happen. You're being too prescriptive about what's you want & how she can work, I'm sorry but she probably does feel micromanaged

You need to let her have her rant and then explain that this is unacceptable behaviour very calmly. Write it all down. Give clear examples. It’s not a personal thing but professional behaviour is expected and so is being accountable for team tasks.

She’s sounds like a lazy entitled crazy. Can she not be fired? She’s obviously not doing the job she’s being paid for!!

I worked with a lovely portfolio manager who wouldn’t accept anything written in red. He said it was bad luck. I used green when marking up emails or documents for him. However, for this lady to say it “triggers her” is weird. The exploding is also completely unprofessional.

Can someone else manage her? I’d say something to HR and then if her next manager has the same issue HR can manage it.

Sorry but YABU. Daily reminders with red status … this is really stressful and very parent/child. I manage people and would not dream of treating them like this: I’m not surprised she’s pushing back.
You need objectives and can set time bound tasks surely she knows / reports on the status. Why don’t you ask her to report on the tasks you’ve assigned or collaborate and agree priorities and explain why they are so important. Have you been on management training courses? Perhaps ask if there’s budget to go on one about how to manage people ?

How do you suggest getting an employee to do what they're supposed to do then. Asking a subordinate to do work on time is what management is all about!

You haven’t RTFT have you?

OP she need her employment with you terminated. Her time management is dreadful, she is combative, her writing is of poor standard, she takes no accountability & she lies to you.

Dismiss her & recruit again

OP - you need to have a formal conversation with her and outline what you expect from her and what she can expect from you.

Acknowledge that she clearly has a preferred communication/direction style and point out that you have made moves to accommodate this preference, such as scrapping the colour coding. However, also point out that a preference is exactly that - a preference. She might not like your style of management, but all that she has a right to expect is clear and courteous communication of the tasks expected of her.

Raise the issue of the uncompleted tasks again. Ask if there was something you could have done to make it clearer that you were wanted these tasks to be completed within X timeframe, because she seems to have misunderstood this; for example, deciding not to make the social media post because she didn’t see the need for it. Had she somehow misconstrued it as you wanting her input on whether it was a good idea, rather than you simply asking her to do it?

On the point of clear and courteous communication, make it clear that she has been failing on the courteous part and this cannot continue. You are happy to listen to her concerns, but this does NOT mean yelling if she disagrees with your decision. You are the manager and ultimately you make the decisions.

I know you’re worried about her “going nuclear”, but that might be a good thing. She could show her true colours to a wider audience, which would help your case.