Bullying Advice (not sure if it would be classed as bullying)

[WYNIR0]

Not bullying, just poor and inconsistent management.

Do you have one to ones or regular appraisals? If so I'd raise it there, calmly stating that you find it inconsistent, that it makes it difficult to do your job as expected and that you'd like to discuss how to resolve the problem.

 

[joelk2]

To be fair mate it sounds like you have really just taken the easy option all of these years, instead of bettering yourself and your prospects.

It's never too late to go back and so do some learning.

i have indeed, its just been close to home and ok pay so just cruising along.

now i want to better myself its not helped the situation.

its a bit late when i couldnt afford to not work to persue training.

 

[Richdog]

i have indeed, its just been close to home and ok pay so just cruising along.

now i want to better myself its not helped the situation.

its a bit late when i couldnt afford to not work to persue training.

You can study/train after work hours, it's what many people do.

 

[joelk2]

need to take a serious look into it all. id consider a switch in roles even. but again the money side of things would suffer.

 

[Buffman]

What kind of cad? Think it's quite an open field?
I imagine there's a fair few design consultancies that will pick you up if you apply yourself right and show you're keen.

Failing that learn some of it at home and boast it on cv? (no idea of the qualifications required)

 

[Richdog]

need to take a serious look into it all. id consider a switch in roles even. but again the money side of things would suffer.

That's life mate, and sometimes you need to make short-term sacrifices to win long-term gains. There's rarely an easy option in these situations.

 

[joelk2]

What kind of cad? Think it's quite an open field?
I imagine there's a fair few design consultancies that will pick you up if you apply yourself right and show you're keen.

Failing that learn some of it at home and boast it on cv? (no idea of the qualifications required)

it is very much an open field.

ive used it as more of a jack of all trades master of none. previsou job was great and really honed on a specific way of using it where as the new job (9 years) was very much a step back.

ive managed to get some training in Revit Architecture which is the way i really want to take my career. a structural consultancy or something

That's life mate, and sometimes you need to make short-term sacrifices to win long-term gains. There's rarely an easy option in these situations.

i know this, im hard working, very open to learning new things and generally i pick up things really easily and learn quickly. often i dont even seem to get my foot in the door of places as i just dont have those pieces of paper to say i can do the job. (even though i know i can)

ill keep looking around, ive sent my cv off to a number of places.

Ive been avoiding agencies as much as possible as in all my years they've never been of any use. even though i see very rarely that companies themselves advertise even though an agency is.

 

[skyripper]

Dear Boss of my Boss,

You could make substantial cost and efficiency savings by removing my micro-managing boss. Which would allow me to actually get on with delivering and spend less time reworking things which don't need fixing. In fact if you gave me a suitable increment, I could take on his responsibilities too.

Yours,

OP

 

[swillsy]

Giving people feedback for being rubbish at writing emails and documents is a nightmare and can be a challenge.
I would suggest you just start taking more care when putting them together (think about the receiver) and eventually he will stop asking to be copied in.

 

[Slam62]

Just try and do what he wants and suck up to him. You have responsibilities way beyond your own feelings.

This way it makes life as smooth as possible for you.

I would concentrate on your family your daughter won't care what you get paid as long as you come home every night.

 

[dowie]

we have to now copy him into every email and he's told us to be more friendly and polite in our emails (which we've done) every day I come in to an email from him (not leading by example) which is saying i could have done this or that better or critisizing something ive done.

could have

Perhaps it is a bit of both, if they're purely subjective comments then maybe he is micromanaging too much but then again you do mention that he's finding things to highlight on a daily basis.

he told me to add

"if i can be of any further assistance please find my direct contact details below" to my emails.

i added this as a signature and he commented that its getting repetitve and not very personal so only use that line on the first email to the customer.

i sent my 4th email within 2 days to a customer and removed that line of text only to come into an email this morning where he said I think that email would have been a prime example to use that line on.

I guess context is important here, perhaps it would have been a good place to put that line. Certainly adding it to your sig is a bit robotic and if that 4th e-mail was the end of that bit of dialogue where you'd perhaps resolved something for the customer and/or were leaving things with them then it would have been appropriate.

I don't think this situation is bullying but I can see how it could be annoying to be criticised every day. Why not have a chat with him about it if it is bothering you, if these aren't spelling/grammatical errors then get a clearer understanding of what he wants and try to adhere to that style going forwards. Unless he's a complete jobsworth with absolutely nothing better to do I doubt he wants to be continually sending these mails either.

 

[Rroff]

I know the type - best thing you can do really is try and have a fallback, don't take it too seriously and try not to punch him in the face. These types are usually career orientated so good chance he'll move on in a year or two.

 

[SMN]

Sounds like a micro-managing moron. I'd run for the hills. I hate managers like this.

 

[joelk2]

@dowie, im not too good with grammar I must admit.

@skyripper, if only. in each others pocket to say the least.

@swillsy, not one complaint in 9 years, a spelling mistake here and there has got to be let go of surely? the other things he brought up were ridiculous as they wasnt my fault, I can only work with the information given to me.

@Slam62, i am now being so nice its sickening. im just waiting for an email saying that he thinks im being sarcastic now.

@SMN, My CV has been sent out to a number of places. I hate dealing with recruitment agencies as in my past experience all they do is waste my time. but most jobs seem to be advertised with them..

@Rroff, He's not going to move on unless pushed, he's been with the company a while and it waiting for retirement. Holding my tongue is hard (and not me)

 

[Richdog]

Then do something about it and speak to him, otherwise it's hard to sympathise if you just sit there complaining.

 

[Aedus]

Or maybe do it the opposite way around, approach said manager and say to him you're having problems with your tone of voice in emails, and ask him for 30 minutes of his time to go through proper tone of voice practises when sending an email, which will benefit you both, benefits him because he doesn't need to always be on your case, and benefits you because it gets him off your back. In fact there are tone of voice courses you can take for writing emails to customers, maybe suggest to him to get you on one.

 

[Gzero]

Are you within earshot of him?

If not, is using the phone an option? This way you can reduce the number of emails you send, ergo reducing the chances for him to criticise you. It's very hard to criticise someone's phone manners in comparison to email, whilst if the customer does enjoy working with you will leave good feedback in your closing email confirming what was discussed in the calls.

 

[MissChief]

He's not managing, he's micro-managing. Sounds like there's no trust in you or your peers if he's doing the same to them.