I’m in a professional role and my company decided we needed two managers at the level above me where previously there was only one. Additional manager was an external hire and was supposed to line manage me. Quite quickly it became apparent that the manager role wasn’t what new person thought it was going to be, she told me she didn’t think someone of her level should be doing the work and passed a lot of it down to me. She prefers to be working on process change, changing the computer system etc. Eventually, new manager didn’t have time to review half my work and this had to be passed back to old manager. So now I am in a situation where I report to two line managers, one for each half of my work.
The problem is this setup just doesn’t work. It’s quite clear that new manager doesn’t like sharing the manager role and is constantly trying to score points against old manager or overrule her. It’s difficult to describe but for example, old manager will tell me one thing and I think we are all sorted and then new manager will say “oh I think you should be doing x,y,z” she’s constantly harassing me about the part of my role she is no longer responsible for! She is making changes to the system we are using which will affect what we are working on, but she doesn’t tell anyone what her plans are so as to undermine the other manager. She tells me to work on her stuff first because her deadline is first and then it turns out that’s a lie and her deadline is actually last. Just all petty nonsense really.
The thing is, this is actually causing me quite a bit of stress. I am working from home now but when we were in the office the whole thing caused a horrible atmosphere. I don’t want to be ‘picking sides’ or caught in the middle of games. I just want to get on with my work. I have been with the company for 10 years and been promoted several times but I’m looking at jobs elsewhere because of this.
The person who line manages these people is quite friendly with them both, she has known new manager for a long time outside of work.
What do I do? Leave? Go to HR? I am not normally someone who makes a fuss but I can’t go on like this ☹️