I know I'm pointing out the obvious and I know that's not at all helpful. But this lady is probably not the only problem manager you'll ever have. Even if your preferred boss does come back after three months, she will leave at some point. Or you will. Or there'll be a re-org. Or you'll go work for another company. At some point, the skill of speaking up for yourself is going to come in handy, even if it does scare you poopless right now. Not saying you have to do anything in particular. Just sayin. Sucks, doesn't it? *shrug*
Just re-read your post, P. Not sure why, but all along, when you said three months away and possibly not coming back, I was thinking maternity leave. Oy. Now who's biased? lol After re-reading, it sounds like your preferred boss is on a special assignment that may be made permanent. If that's true, is there any chance you might be able to follow her and work with her in her new role, whatever that is? And to expand a little on what I said sort of as a throwaway yesterday, (rhetorical) are there any crises du jour where you work? You know. The kind of thing with a "tiger team" or "task force?" Tiger teams can be really, really good for building career visibility outside your regular work group, IME. They tend to have members from different areas, often including managers that are outside your direct line of report. If you can network or even read internal newsletters or reports to find one of those, that might be a great way to start working around your micromanager while building rapport with other managers who might be able to help you network your way to a situation you like better.
I email the sending party and ask them to take me off their email list, that I do not wish to receive such correspondence. Then I delete the email. I almost never get them, now.
Wow, that would be considered the height of unprofessionalism in my industry. Have never received such stuff from colleagues...
The company policy where I am doesn't specifically ban them. It says something like, "electronic media may be used for personal business as long as the use does not constitute a conflict of interest" with my company and "as long as it does not interfere with getting your work done." IOW big fat loopholes exist. So all you need is to have one person get a "cute" email from her Mom and send it to two friends and you're off to the races. *sigh* I'll never forget the time someone (I assume) accidentally replied all to the entire company mailing list with one of those things. I'm not sure which was the worst -- the original email or all the angry reply alls which asked people to stop sending them. Aaargh.
I'm not aware of any policies or rules here about it. My take is that it's just cultural. The bottom line here is pretty serious - there are people's lives literally at stake as an outcome of our actions, and the work is intense. I know that sending out a chain email would instantly harm my credibility, regardless of there being a policy. Not the thing to do if one has one's eye on a promotion, in these parts.
Yeah. I think it's cultural as well. When I worked in R&D, I never, ever got one of those emails, unless it was from my mother (whom I convinced to cut it out already.) Now I work in a softer discipline and the dadburned emails are rampant.
I can imagine it would offer a political nuance that would need to be respected if one's own boss were sending those out, lolz.
Still don't like this new DF. As soon as I log in I can't read the posts; the writing gets banded horizontally . And right now I can't actually tell what thread I'm in :-/
Lol. Yes, you're right. Almost 14 years in; I'm not changing things now. I'd switch jobs, sections, divisions, and departments...but I'm a lifer. And proud of it, actually.
I understand that. Not surprised to hear it. Just make sure nobody comes along and moves your cheese.
quite so, so DF takes up the Microsoft Windows motto "If it aint broke, fix it with something "better""
What!?!? You didn't "bite?" Who Moved My Cheese was an allegory that was super popular in the business world around the time you started working where you are now, P. For some reason, the author likened the typical worker to a rat in a maze. Can't imagine why. He suggested that we all get cmfortable in our little work mazes, scurrying along the same paths to get our rewards (cheese could be money, prestige, security, job satisfaction, etc.) But sometimes organizational change comes along and shakes everything up, and the cheese we're used to finding is no longer where it used to be. Given my own experience (which is not the same as yours and may not be typical,) I would be careful about expecting any job situation to be lifelong.
