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I'd really love to know how many of her staffers went to her after the receipt of the email and said "well what are we supposed to do then?"
I don't think the email went over too well with the newer employees. Not saying you supposed to ask 6 questions a day but I don't think the email was necessary
A good manager will want you to try to resolve the issue yourself first instead of running to them for every little thing; however, she should not make it sound like you would be bothering her if you need help. A good manager would have her staff trained properly so it wouldn't be an issue.
I don't think the email went over too well with the newer employees. Not saying you supposed to ask 6 questions a day but I don't think the email was necessary
Everything looks different from the other person's perspective.
It sounds like the manager thought it was necessary.
I mentioned it on another thread, but it bears repeating. My old boss' mantra was "If I have to do your job, I don't need you."
This is exactly that. Do what you can up to the limit of your expertise, then try for an answer. THEN go to the boss with your problem and solution to ensure that it's right. Rather than bringing problems for her to do your work.
Anyone that has a legitimate issue with this email is clearly part of the problem.
Paragraph 1: of course it is. Executive coach, and my former GM, added the following for me, I'll call it part 1a: "...for me to advance, I had to hire others whose jobs I could not do. That's called delegation. I cannot, and will not, do your job and you need to be respectful of my time: you are empowered, and must be sufficiently creative, to find your own solutions. I can, and will, coach on leadership but you were hired based on your skill set and my reasonable expectation you can handle day-to-day issues in your group or team. If it later blows up, you'll explain to me why, and your thought process, and if those track well I've got your back. If they don't, you'll get the sharp end of it. That is how professionals and executives operate".
Paragraph 3: we don't have a sufficiently clear picture from OP what the email said, only how s/he interpreted it and the "hidden meaning" (whatever). I personally would probably handle such a situation individually and circumspectly, in 1:1s, and sell it to each employee as an opportunity to learn. With the understanding there would be errors along the way, but that I firmly believed that each person could rise to the occasion via the challenge of strategic thinking and continuous improvement. If I perceived, over time, that errors were up and reporting down, and/or that I'd inadvertently inculcated a culture of fear, I'd figure a way to walk it back to baseline. Individually, or collectively for the team.
To me, that's a little more-positive than, I quote: "...too many staff members are just asking for assistance and not trying to resolve the problem first."
When I got my current job a group of us went through training together. I was surprised when some of them didn't taken detailed notes in the training class. I thought, "I wonder if they already know this material or if they have phenomenal memories or something."
Nope. They were just too lazy/stupid to take notes and have spent the past year asking the same questions over and over again that were covered in detail during the training process. Meanwhile, they complain non-stop about the lack of training.
I think if you come to your supervisor and say "Hey I have an issue figuring out how to do X. I looked at A, B and C and talked to Jane about previous projects and can't seem to come with a solution" Your manager would be fine.
However if you are coming to your manager and say "Hey, how do I do X?"...then there is a problem.
Your boss's job is to effectively manage their department not do your job for you. Your job is to effectively manage your responsibilities; which includes thoughtful analysis of your tasks. Be glad she is challenging you to learn and grow.
At a young age, I received a rather large raise and promotion to Director. My boss told me: "while everyone else brings me problems, you always bring me solutions." He said "I can always rely on you to get things done. I can give you a project and know full well you can't get it to point D, but you will get it to point C and off my desk for a while. And you know what, most people can't even get it to point B without bothering me."
I made it my policy to learn my job and my boss's job. I always rifled through his stuff looking for more interesting things to tackle. It served me well. Admittedly (and luckily), I had a boss who gave me a wide latitude to learn and grow as a professional.
People should also try to resolve interpersonal problems first, before running to HR. I've seen too many times that a person will go whining to HR about a conflict with someone, but they never addressed it with that person first. Shouldn't you talk to the person you're having a problem with first?
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