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| Member |
I work in a civil engineering field. My supervisor has become very annoying in the past year, in the form of micro-management and general nosyness. Depending on the circumstances, I secretly call him "Chicken Little" or "The Artful Dodger". He overreacts and exaggerates minor crises (hence "Chicken Little"), or shirks off work that really should be done by him (he is a registered architect) (hence "The Artful Dodger"). Our work area is a "cube farm"; the only real offices are for supervisors. He is paranoid if any other supervisors come into our area and talk to any employees, and immediately comes over to quiz someone after the other manager has left. I have caught him eavesdropping to telephone calls (including mine) several times. He also will look "over your shoulder" at anything on your computer screen; I recently had to talk to my health insurance company regarding a claim, had it pulled up on my computer; he came in my cubical, and started reading my claim and asking what was wrong with me. He has done that to other employees as well. The man is in his 70's, is already drawing 2 pensions from other jobs, and won't retire. If he sees me at the printer collecting any print jobs, he asks for a copy of whatever it is. I have been neck-deep in engineering calculations and he'll come in to BS and get huffy if I don't reciprocate. I am trying to figure him out, but I don't know if I should tell HR and just suck it up. Anyway, rant off. | ||
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| Purveyor of Fine Avatars  |
Sounds like he's treating it as a way to socialize rather than actually perform a job. "I'm yet another resource-consuming kid in an overpopulated planet raised to an alarming extent by Hollywood and Madison Avenue, poised with my cynical and alienated peers to take over the world when you're old and weak!" - Calvin, "Calvin & Hobbes" | |||
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A Grateful American |
Broad brush warning.... It sounds like "compensation" and "projection". He is not fulfilling his potential, and his responsibilities, so he is "looking" to deflect and redirect focus away from his lack, to another area. When people are doing what they should be doing, or "minding their own business", they are engaged to near their maximum workload/capability and "task saturated", and don't have the frivolous time to spend looking into every/any one else's "business". When people are engaged in such micromanagement, it can almost alway be followed back to their dereliction of duties, or jealousy of another's (subordinates) ability that threatens them (real or imagined). People who are good at fixing what is broke, and enhancing that which needs/can be enhanced, while being able to leave what works, the hell alone, and not breaking what does work for the mindset that "activity equals accomplishment", or what we used to refer to as the "Peter Principle". We see a very similar parallel in government and politics, where those who rise to position of control, are often the most inept people, because the most effective do not/cannot suffer to work with, or "become" what it takes to be in the same arena. And those most effective and capable people endure and continue in the "trenches" to "endeavorer to persevere", until they take your horse and made him surrender...and have him pullin' a wagon up in Kansas.... (yeah, I work in the Civil Engineering world, with "your" boss...) Illegitimi non carborundum. (yeah, I know it's not technically proper) "the meaning of life, is to give life meaning" ✡ Ani Yehudi אני יהודי Le'olam lo shuv לעולם לא שוב! | |||
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Shaman |
At my job, if he micromanaged me, I'd get up and tell him, it's all yours buddy, lemme know when you're finished. I had a supervisor/manager piss off one of his subordinates to the point he wants to quit. Same said supervisor tried to tell me what I was supposed to be doing and I did quit. But after tense negotiations and them having to hear my grievances, I stayed. I will tell him Monday he's about to lose a key skilled worker.  He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. | |||
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| Member |
You got some good advice here. He is in his 70s anything can happen at that age. Your spelling gave away your profession. LOL I am sure you have heard the phrase: " All my life I wanted to be an engineer now I are one." | |||
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| Member |
I agree with this. As I read your Original post OP, I immediately thought that your boss has no skill or at least no confidence in himself, hence none in anybody else. I had a boss who was not capable of anything, to the point that they had to delegate all their duties. NRA Life Endowment member Tri-State Gun collectors Life Member | |||
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| Unapologetic Old School Curmudgeon  |
Sounds like he has nothing better to do, nothing to add to the team, and is a shitty manager. Poking into your medical issues is a major no-no. I despise being micro managed. I try not to do it to my guys. (A couple of them are members here, maybe they will disagree with me) Don't weep for the stupid, or you will be crying all day | |||
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Member |
I've gotta say: I love my boss. He gives me stuff to do, and then goes away and lets me get it done. God bless America. | |||
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| Member |
I should add that this supervisor is not like this every day, but enough to be annoying. We had another employee leave recently, and he stated the same issues were contributors to his departure, even to the "guilty" party. I joked with the leaving employee that he would now be the blame for everything that went wrong as time went on, as has happened when others have left. | |||
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Member |
A well timed Fart might do the trick.  Place your clothes and weapons where you can find them in the dark. “If in winning a race, you lose the respect of your fellow competitors, then you have won nothing” - Paul Elvstrom "The Great Dane" 1928 - 2016 | |||
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Member |
Wouldn’t he be violating HIPAA or other regs sticking his nose in your healthcare info/issues? | |||
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Member |
Give him something to do. Managers have to turn in reports. Manny have employees that do their job perfectly .... They still have to turn in reports. | |||
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| Member |
Yep, I found out that being nosy regarding someone's health "stuff" is a big HIPAA violation. I'll light him up if it happens again. In fact, he may eventually self-implode with other employees because of his behavior. Overall, he's a nice guy, but not a good supervisor IMHO. As far as reports go, his reports are a summary of our portions of it. He really pissed off another guy recently by inferring that the guy should "massage" some data to meet a standard. WTF? Never, ever tell an engineer to change his numbers, especially if you're not an engineer yourself. | |||
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