I’m after some perspective because I’m feeling quite undermined at work and I’m not sure how to deal with it.
I’m in a senior role managing a very large contract (over £4m a year). When I started, my manager was on maternity leave so I basically had no manager for months. I had to pick everything up on my own, including dealing with two quite difficult people on the supplier side. It wasn’t easy but I managed it.
When my manager came back from mat leave, things were fine at first. She’s nice enough and when she formally reviewed me for my probation (which had been extended purely because she wasn’t around to assess me), she rated me highly across the board. So performance-wise, everything was positive.
But recently she’s started doing things that make me feel really micromanaged, such as:
rewriting my emails,
getting involved in issues I’m perfectly capable of handling,
and even letting the supplier draft communications which she then asks me to send out under my name.
For context, I’m paid around £70k — this is not a junior role — and I’ve managed big contracts before. So it feels quite embarrassing and undermining, especially when the supplier sees her stepping in over the top of me.
I don’t know if this is her trying to re-establish control after being away, or if she just doesn’t realise how it’s coming across. But it’s starting to knock my confidence and make me dread interactions that I used to handle fine.
Has anyone dealt with something like this?
How do I raise it without sounding defensive or stroppy?
And how do I set some boundaries without damaging the working relationship?
Its a great organisation they are paying for me to do some qualifications for the next year . There are not many jobs in my field and hardly any with the great pay, holiday and pension that comes with this role so really want it to work.