Nag, Nag, Nag

[chevygirl55]

How long do you keep reminding bossie of phone calls, to do's, etc?  I have a list that is getting longer and longer.  Some of the stuff on here is over 2 months old.  It is not something that can be delegated.  Those I take care of or delegate to other management staff.  I send dated lists via e-mail with no response.  I give hard copies.  I leave voice mails with no response.  I verbally remind him on the few occasions he happens to pop into the office to which his response is "I don't have time right now."  I have even asked which of these can I eliminate from my list.  No response.  

I hate being a nag and that is what I have become.  There is never any closure at the end of the day because I can't mark anything off.  

I am sure I am not the only one with this problem.

chevygirl55

[countrigal]

I think this is where the CYA comes into play.  Continue with what you are doing, sending dated e-mails with the lists, etc. so that when it comes back to bite bossie in the butt, you can stand tall with documentation that you attempted several times to get him to address these items.  Otherwise, there doesn't seem to be a lot that you can do unless you hog-tie him when he comes to the office and can then force him to deal with them.  I know, what a dream, huh?  Just keep hanging in there, and document over and over for yourself.

CountriGal
Peer Moderator

[gee4]

I find this too chevy - they want you to be pro-active, practically chase them round the office until they do the task in hand, yet when you act upon this, you get strange looks, they go into meeting after meeting and yet they still want to know why you haven't told them this is done or if you phoned such in such.  I am beginning to think the roles should be reversed eg. we should be the managers and they should do something else!

At 10am morning I got an email from a manager who needed copies of minutes for a meeting at 10.30.  I printed the copies, and left them on his desk, replying to his email, Done.  I must have left my desk for a short time, and when I returned my colleague beside me had been asked to pass on the message that the minutes needed printed, to which I replied it's already done.  Had he checked with me, No course not!  At 10.45 (the meeting was running late), the manager in question came over to tell me he had emailed me earlier in the morning and could I print his minutes.  I just turned round, looked at him and said I actioned that over half an hour ago and they're on your desk!  D'uh!

G

[Katie G]

"...they want you to be pro-active, practically chase them round the office until they do the task in hand, yet when you act upon this, you get strange looks..." -Gee

I think some people in positions like that like to use "proactive" as a catchall phrase that translates into "a way I can blame someone else" as in "it didn't get done because someone else wasn't PROACTIVE in getting me to do it".  

This, my esteemed friends and colleagues, is.....(natural!) fertilizer.

The fact is, they still have a responsiblity to do their duties, just as you have a responsibility to do yours.

Sadly, as CG explained it so well, the only thing you can do is protect yourself by documenting EVERYTHING.  (Which ultimately leads to less productivity, but that's another post.)

[oops]

I'm really lucky, my boss is a friendly kind old man. When I remind him to make a phone call or any other things he always says:'what would I do without you!
When he is not in the office and I phone him, he always calls me back and says: DONE!
He always carries a small notebook (he's not too keen on new technologies) where he writes everything he has to do, at the end of the day he always shows it to me so that I can eliminate things from my list.
On the other hand, his son is always putting things off, even urgent phone calls. And when there's an angry customer he always says his secretary didn't tell him. The problem is that he will be my boss when his father retires.

[gee4]

Didface, I do all this and yet still am made to feel I shouldn't have interfered or reminded my boss about something.  They also don't like to be told they have to do things even though they asked you to remind them - you just can't win.  Rules are changed daily even though they are set from the beginning.  It's sometimes just too difficult to try and keep up but I do my best.

G

[chevygirl55]

Thanks for all your great advice!  One question, how long do you keep reminding them?  I do keep a dated log of calls but do I give him reminders on calls that are 2 months old?  I go through and eliminate the ones that are too late to do anything about.  (Meetings that are already passed, etc.)  But until he gives me the "I took care of that" or "just forget that one", I keep them on my list.  

What do you think?

chevygirl55

[countrigal]

I would think you'd want to keep them on the list, simply - again - as a CYA.  This way if someone corners him 2+ months after the fact and wants to know why he didn't do X, Y or Z, you will still show it on your list of things you've been reminding him of and keep him from coming back to say that you didn't tell him or remind him or whatever.  As far as verbally telling him, I'd focus first on the newest ones and then work backwards, but ensure that these are always on the written reminders or list that you give him.  This way, if he does handle something, it may come closer to being done timely.

CountriGal
Peer Moderator

[chevygirl55]

Thanks!  That's a good idea.  Newest first but everything always on the list.

Chevygirl55