Dealing with an over picky boss

[Foodorder]

I've worked for 35 years, my work is generally thought to be of a decent standard. I get really good feedback and take any criticism as a chance to improve

I have a new, senior position, which is mostly going well, but 6 times a year I have to prepare papers for board. The content of the papers is easy for me and I haven't had any criticism about that, but goodness it's impossible to get anything right re the layout, formatting, punctuation and turn of phrase.

E.g. I've always anonymised these kinds of papers so I've used job titles not names when referring to individuals. He wants the names in. I understand people may have a preference but does it matter that much, its very clear who is meant?

One document I've copied exactly from the one he approved for the last meeting and he's changed the punctuation in it. Some of the punctuation "corrections" are, in my view, a matter of opinion. E.g. he likes an Oxford comma, I don't.

It's honestly taken me all week to get to a place where I think he might approve the damn papers (100+ pages) writing the content only took a few hours!

He's even asked me to change the style of bullet point used.

Will I get used to his needs and things will improve.....? Please?

I don’t think he sounds unreasonable about including names in addition to job titles. It allows people to reference previous Board papers and reflect where responsibilities have changed in their updates.

I find lots of people don’t proof read their work before submission which means there are lots of small typos / errors, which all add up to a poor overall impression.

Does your organisation use a Style Guide?

Who are you to him? I mean if you are the project manager for example, then I would challenge back. If you are his EA, then you need to adjust to his style.

He's chair of the board, I'm a director, but it's only a small organisation so it's not quite as grand as it sounds. His day job is very senior indeed in a very prestigious corporate with lots of minions.

This is a tricky one. I used to have a job where good written communication was critical so I wrote a style guide.

Even with that, people would do what they thought was correct rather than what the style guide said and it used to infuriate me! I freely admit that I’m really, really picky about the same kind of stuff your boss appears to be so I can see it’s awkward.

The names thing is not a battle worth fighting, imho - if he wants them in I’d just add them.

The way to think about it is that all the meeting notes etc. should look like they were written by the same person - in this case the Board Chair.

It’s very common in my sector and as the Board Chair you use his style guide. He likes the Oxford comma, you don’t - tough it’s his decision so don’t fight it.
He likes names, so include them, he likes a specific style of bullet - now you know etc. To you it’s petty to the Board Chair it’s important.

This. You say it's a new job you'll get the hang of it

Re punctuation etc - do you have a style guide? That would help. Oxford commas are very unusual in the UK.

If you don't, you could ask an editor/proofreader to create one (do you usually have your annual reports externally proofread?).

This would annoy but but try and see it as a learning opportunity to improve.
He’s very senior with an eye for detail, so I’d advise you to go along with it tbh (pick your arguments!)