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This is a brief one, a bit of venting and I hope most of y'all don't deal with this too often. I use MT to help me be a better manager and communicator. I take the blame when it is mine or I could have done better, and this is killing me politically. I am the only person in the company, it seems, who will say, "oh hey, my bad!" and then move on. Two and a half years and I have literally have never heard an equivalent sentiment from anyone here. 

Unclear emails that I try to clarify are met with "you mis-read my email" rather than, "sorry I was unclear". I on the other hand have sent many many emails with the latter phrase in them. This appears to have had the net effect of NO improvement in overall communications, but a negative impact on my reputation as a good/smart/effective employee. 

Thanks for listening, and any tips you have about any of this are welcome. I honestly don't think I can make it much longer in an organization like this.

SeaGal2015's picture

I don't have a lot to offer, but wanted you to know I feel your pain. Part of my struggle has been that only one other manager and myself listen to anything like MT, and try to actually structure meetings, O3s, feedback, etc. according to any kind of model. It's rough when you feel like you're the only one trying; alas, some good advice I got elsewhere on here was to "only focus on what you can control, and let go of other people's behavior." This has actually been helping me a lot in my current situation.

So long as, at the end of the day, i can say to myself that I did my best and stuck to what I believe is right - the rest really doesn't matter. I am not responsible for their behavior, nor for their reactions to my behavior (in your case, for example, saying, "oh hey - my bad!" is what you believe is right; who cares if they aren't capable of taking accountability for their own actions, and see that act as weak?) Just because they see this as weak doesn't mean they're right. It's their choice to behave this way; it's your right to disagree, but you cannot make them "see the light." You have to accept them as they are, and ask yourself if you can continue to work in that environment and still maintain your sense of integrity.

Good luck!

SDGabriel's picture

My first thought when reading your post was: have you considered writing less email and calling people instead? I understand this is not what you are actually asking, but maybe it could improve your overall communication.

Regards, Susan