12/05/2005
31 Emails
When I returned from the Thanksgiving holiday, I found 31 emails in my Inbox from the Idiot Boss. This was over the course of 2 ½ days.
Almost every one of these emails required a response.
My Idiot Boss is the Supreme Micromanager. I’ve read several books on successful management skills and this woman does not possess one of these skills. In one of the books I read, one way to throw “The Micromanager” off-course is to send as many emails as possible their way. They’ll have so much email to go through it’ll rattle their cage and they won’t know how to respond.
I have the answer: STEP AWAY FROM THE EMAIL!!! EMAIL IS *NOT* THE ANSWER.
***If they are a Supreme Micromanager, they will not only respond to every one of your emails, they will send TWO for every ONE that you send***
This is not a joke and should not be tried unless your schedule is cleared for the rest of the year. If you have a job that leaves you nothing to do then by all means, go ahead and entertain yourself. However, if this is what you consider to be entertainment then you need to find a life.
But take it from me: These people take email seriously. It has become a dangerous addiction for them. What makes it worse is that there’s nothing you can do to win in this situation.
Possible courses of action:
1: If feasible, condense your responses into ONE email… although I didn’t have much success with that one personally.
2: If you can, ignore the emails as long as humanly possible and continue with your work as planned. Chances are, these individuals have clogged your Inboxes with inane questions, worthless tidbits of data, and usually repeat themselves ad nauseam. Besides, if you ignore them it will probably drive them mad – which if nothing else, may make you feel better.
3: If they call you and ask if you’ve seen their emails – and why you haven’t answered them, you should respond, “Yes I have seen the messages, and it looks like you have more to add to a growing list of topics that I already don’t care about.” Then print them all out and suggest a meeting to address them in person. If this is someone who is email-crazy, a face-to-face meeting might throw them off.
Give it a try. If you’re like me, you have nothing to lose. Then again, I hope you’re not like me with an Idiot Boss! I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.
Almost every one of these emails required a response.
My Idiot Boss is the Supreme Micromanager. I’ve read several books on successful management skills and this woman does not possess one of these skills. In one of the books I read, one way to throw “The Micromanager” off-course is to send as many emails as possible their way. They’ll have so much email to go through it’ll rattle their cage and they won’t know how to respond.
I have the answer: STEP AWAY FROM THE EMAIL!!! EMAIL IS *NOT* THE ANSWER.
***If they are a Supreme Micromanager, they will not only respond to every one of your emails, they will send TWO for every ONE that you send***
This is not a joke and should not be tried unless your schedule is cleared for the rest of the year. If you have a job that leaves you nothing to do then by all means, go ahead and entertain yourself. However, if this is what you consider to be entertainment then you need to find a life.
But take it from me: These people take email seriously. It has become a dangerous addiction for them. What makes it worse is that there’s nothing you can do to win in this situation.
Possible courses of action:
1: If feasible, condense your responses into ONE email… although I didn’t have much success with that one personally.
2: If you can, ignore the emails as long as humanly possible and continue with your work as planned. Chances are, these individuals have clogged your Inboxes with inane questions, worthless tidbits of data, and usually repeat themselves ad nauseam. Besides, if you ignore them it will probably drive them mad – which if nothing else, may make you feel better.
3: If they call you and ask if you’ve seen their emails – and why you haven’t answered them, you should respond, “Yes I have seen the messages, and it looks like you have more to add to a growing list of topics that I already don’t care about.” Then print them all out and suggest a meeting to address them in person. If this is someone who is email-crazy, a face-to-face meeting might throw them off.
Give it a try. If you’re like me, you have nothing to lose. Then again, I hope you’re not like me with an Idiot Boss! I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.
Comments:
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PostalPete says:
PiedPiper, you say your boss is uncomfortable with face-to-face interaction? I say, instead of e-mail you, you walk into her office for every little last question you have and when you leave make sure you give her a huge hug and slap on the back (that ought to make her turn every shade of red known to man) and follow up with a "Thanks Homie, that's just the answer I was looking for!"
Does she bring her lunch? Becasue someone should put a laxative in it. That ought to keep her occupied for a few hours. Maybe she'll only have time for 99 e-mails instead of 100!
Oh, and make sure she documents her BM's properly!!
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PiedPiper, you say your boss is uncomfortable with face-to-face interaction? I say, instead of e-mail you, you walk into her office for every little last question you have and when you leave make sure you give her a huge hug and slap on the back (that ought to make her turn every shade of red known to man) and follow up with a "Thanks Homie, that's just the answer I was looking for!"
Does she bring her lunch? Becasue someone should put a laxative in it. That ought to keep her occupied for a few hours. Maybe she'll only have time for 99 e-mails instead of 100!
Oh, and make sure she documents her BM's properly!!
# posted by 
: 5:37 PM
: 5:37 PM < Home>
