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Subject:Re: FWD: Working later than the boss - Part II From:Mary Arrotti <mary_arrotti -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Fri, 6 Jul 2007 11:56:52 -0700 (PDT)
I think probably most of us has at least one bad manager story in us. Managers who dump their work on others, don't stand up for staff, take credit for the work of subordinates, keep all choice & fun projects for themselves, treat professionals like secretaries, etc., etc.
Your situation is not fair. But there's not much you can do to change your manager's behavior. Your manager might be aware that she is creating a bottleneck/expects more than she gives or she may not. Her manager may be aware of situation and accept it based on your manager's other skills & abilities or may not be aware.
But I don't imagine that it would be to your advantage to talk to your manager about how she works or to complain to anyone else. You may be able to talk about things obliquely - in terms of changing review processes, for example. And if she ever asks you to change your hours - you could ask if this is something that could be shared between all senior staff. But I wouldn't recommend that you take it any further than that.
Different managers have different views on teamwork and what's expected of them. Some may consider their advancement a reward for past work & may not understand or care about what you may consider their responsibilities. Others may focus more on meeting their manager's or company-wide deliverables and requirements than the wants and needs of their staff.
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It's important to point out that this manager does NOT put in extra
hours at home or in the office, no matter what. I'm not aware of her
daily tasks/goals but there have been at least six times where some of
her work has wound up on my desk because "she couldn't get to it." What
irritates me so is that this individual does not go above and beyond
like some of the other managers from the list seem to (ex. checking
email in the evenings or during commuting time, etc.). She goes on
vacation and comes back and checks email for one or two days when she
returns. Her attitude is if it cannot get done during business hours, it
doesn't get done. In addition, we are constantly waiting for her to
review our work, which holds us up, instead of occasionally bringing
home the work to review.
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