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?

Definitely micromanaging her with a daily to do list. This'd really annoy me. Set her tasks with clear deadlines and monitor her performance. If she's not achieving then it'll be time for a discussion and new plan.

This is why we have so many incompetents in our workforce! How has she been allowed to stay this long?? She should be out on her ear.

She doesn't do the job
She reacts aggressively to you, her manager.

Get rid!

In that case performance improvement plan or whatever you call them. And tell her sooner rather than later so she has time to consider her next move. I'd meet with her today if you can letting her know that her performance is poor (and list specifics) and that you intend to put her on a plan in the new year if things don't improve between now and Christmas.

Hi OP, does she have less than 2 years service at the company?

It’s draining working with someone who uses rage as a manipulation tactic.

I don’t see anything wrong with the way you are working tbh but I’ve been accused of micromanaging many times! Personally I love working to lists and urgent task lists to help me prioritise. Especially with people who aren’t actually working on their own initiative…

Since when is RED triggering? RAG rating is a normal method of prioritising. I can’t believe people are saying to use pink.

I’m glad I work for myself now…

She needs micromanaged out the door.

Get rid. She sounds incompetent and a nightmare

I could get those 3 things done in an hour or two, tops. She's taking the piss.

Talk to HR about putting her on a performance improvement plan, then Manage her out. I’m assuming she’s an admin?

Get rid. Honestly, she's not doing the job she's there to do. I'd get her on a performance plan and expect daily targets.

I’d expect that work to be done in less that half a day!!

Red is known to be an aggressive colour.

even in the 90s we weren't allowed to write with a red pen because it was known to trigger the worst in people.

To be honest she sounds like royally pain in the frigging arse to work with,

headwork !

Bloody hell 😳 I would really struggle to put up this one too,

by the sounds of this, i couldnt be a manager with someone like that,

she is going to bring the team morale down to such an extent sooner or later,

with her prima Donna outbursts like that,

Talk to HR and your manager. Someone who is incapable of doing a job needs to be managed out or found a job that they can do.

Is she still within her probationary period?

I get where she's coming from, but if she's still not completing basic tasks and not helping to progress the team and shift the workload, then what value is she adding to the business?

I would put her on an improvement plan, and if no improvement within the set time period then I would look to let her go.

No way,get rid of her. She's lazy and of no use.

The only thing that jumped out at me was a subordinate "exploding" at their manager. Which seems inappropriate at best and actionable at worst.

You need to talk to your boss/manager and ask for support. Tell them that if it continues you will be putting in a complaint about her unprofessional behaviour towards you - which is what exploding at people is. It could be classed as bullying. Your boss also needs to be aware of how little work she does. Does he want you to give her enough rope that she hangs herself but stuff is fucked up, or does he want you to micromanage her (as she needs it) and step in/take over?

Call her bluff, in writing.

Dear X,
I understand that you would prefer to work in the following way:

• no daily task list
• no colour-coding of priorities
• no reminding of deadlines

Given that, I am willing to trial a new system. Key projects and priorities will be shared via (Planner/excel tracker/trello board) and as a team we will have a 10-minute stand up meeting on Tuesdays and Thursdays to review progress on the key projects. Beyond those meetings, I am trusting your judgement and expertise to achieve the daily tasks that maintain progress towards project completion (e.g. social media post, booking venues, etc.). If you are unsure how we should prioritise those tasks day-to-day, we can discuss in the stand-up meetings, or in our fortnightly 1-2-1 meetings.

We will review this arrangement in 3 weeks to see if this way of working is a productive way forward for us both.

Then when she fails to do anything about that, go to HR and get her on a performance management plan.

Why are you asking me if somebody should be able to do three tasks in a week? That is quite a change to the original post which was that she said she was being micromanaged and wasn’t happy about it. But yes somebody should be able to do three tasks in a week, but this was not what your post was about.

Back to the original complaint. I still don’t see why you need to set daily tasks or do your colour coordinated tasks, have you really got nothing else to do yourself? And if you are expecting somebody to be working on something she should be “privy” to whatever it is, can you imagine going to work being asked to do things and not knowing the context? How patronised that would make you feel?

Urgent means urgent regardless of the colour used. It's just a convention. I know it is objected to in some circles - in education we haven't marked in red for years. But here, the essence is that indicating the most urgent jobs causes a semi breakdown for this employee. I doubt pink would make a difference. It sounds much more like an excuse for not getting the tasks done. And if she did them in a timely fashion, they wouldn't become urgent anyway. And if tasks come in that happen to be urgent from the off, then that's part of her role and she should be competent to manage that.

I still don’t see why you need to set daily tasks or do your colour coordinated tasks, have you really got nothing else to do yourself? And if you are expecting somebody to be working on something she should be “privy” to whatever it is, can you imagine going to work being asked to do things and not knowing the context? How patronised that would make you feel?

I agree with this. Imagine calling a venue without information of what the events for, how many people will be attending, duration of the event etc etc.

@Fairylightgirl

Oh didims how 🤔 can people be so easily triggered offended by allmost anything even the colour red ink,

How do easily triggered and offended by allmost anything ones cope with the reality of life not allways going their way 100 per cent of the time or life not being like a good party most of the time?

I had a friend who i have distanced to such an extent i haven't had anything to do with for a year,
as she was the type who was easily offended , and triggered by allmost anything she was hypo senistive,
but very blunt sharp with her tongue to friends anybody really,

i had to tread on eggs shells 🐚 when i was with her,
and yet it's strangely intriguing, the easily offended ones attitudes only works in their favour and only one way,
their way mostly or constantly.

dashboards/tasks are a very normal part of working these days.
together with time keeping/billing tools they can help with performance reviews.

tbh you need to involve hr before the employee raises a harrassment claim.