Would you fire someone who made your uncomfortable?

[Anonymous]

I had a coworker who's self-assessment was exactly along the lines of yours - I'm not super organized, but I do my work, and by the time it's done, it's a solid work product. While my time management approach makes people nervous, it doesn't actually affect outcomes.

The reality is that his procrastination definitely affected the quality of his work product (if you spend one frantic morning pulling something together than you should have been steadily working on for the past week, of course it won't be as good), but because he was down-to-the-wire on everything, we didn't have the time to fix it before letting it go ahead - at that point, we were just in damage control mode. Perhaps he took the minimal edits to his work as a good sign? No one was happy with his work - neither the output nor the approach he took, but people are polite, OP. That's what I think a lot of posters here don't get - just because no one's yelling at you doesn't mean they're pleased. They are trying to tell you that they are displeased, but they are doing it politely so as to not make you feel awful. The fact that they don't want to make you feel awful is a reflection on them as good people, not a reflection on your work as good enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: just because no one's yelling at you doesn't mean they're pleased. They are trying to tell you that they are displeased, but they are doing it politely so as to not make you feel awful. The fact that they don't want to make you feel awful is a reflection on them as good people, not a reflection on your work as good enough.

This, so much this!
It's amazing how complacent people may be. In my organization the client complained about the quality of someone's work products and we placed the person on the PIP. However, this person never realized that the end was near and used the regular meetings and our attention to talk about self. Termination came as a surprise, because even though the person was told about the deficiencies of their work 2x/weekly (!), we did it nicely and did not foster a sense of urgency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: just because no one's yelling at you doesn't mean they're pleased. They are trying to tell you that they are displeased, but they are doing it politely so as to not make you feel awful. The fact that they don't want to make you feel awful is a reflection on them as good people, not a reflection on your work as good enough.

This, so much this!
It's amazing how complacent people may be. In my organization the client complained about the quality of someone's work products and we placed the person on the PIP. However, this person never realized that the end was near and used the regular meetings and our attention to talk about self. Termination came as a surprise, because even though the person was told about the deficiencies of their work 2x/weekly (!), we did it nicely and did not foster a sense of urgency.

Strongly agree. I treat even the slightest negative feedback from my boss and other managers as something to take very seriously because they don't not give strongly worded negative feedback. They're always very polite about all feedback so I know that it would be somewhat difficult to differentiate between "I need you to fix this small thing but it's really no big deal" and "you're really screwing up here but I want to give you a chance to fix it". Safest thing is to treat it as the "you're really screwing up" option.

I have seen others on my team struggle because they treat everything as the no big deal option. You shouldn't force your managers to be rude or severe with you to get their point across.

[Anonymous]

Reading this thread shows me why having number ratings is critical. At an annual performance review, rating from 1-5, if you get a 1 or 2 (fails to meet expectations/rarely meets expectations) there is no way to sugar coat it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I sympathize, OP. I used to be an admin for a Type A personality (I'm definitely Type B). I am not lazy and always got things done. BUT, boss was a SUPER micromanager and would frequently email me and then come out of his office to ask if I'd received the email. Very frustrating.

In the end, it was demoralizing and I left the job. Type A bosses are the WORSE if you aren't programmed similarly.

This is OP.

Some of the way I have been treated due to minute and petty issues is insane. I have met all deadlines and met all their project requirements. However, I don't do things THEIR way. If I don't respond to an email in 30 minutes, I am in trouble. If I say, "Let me finish x and then I will start y" I am in trouble.

Its awful. Now my boss is building a file with copies of invoices I have paid 3 days after receiving them versus within 24 hours that she demands, etc.

If you don't want to be fired, then just get specifics about what your boss expects and conform. Respond to emails within 30 minutes, pay invoices within 24 hours. As long as the boss is clear about expectations, then just conform. Look for another job, but at this point, it would take less energy for you to just do the tasks within the timeline your boss prefers.