Improving rapport with boss may hinge on following up with e-mail
Q. During meetings at the beginning of last year, my boss stated that project due dates would be readjusted and changes would be documented during our weekly reviews. During my yearly review he used the initial goal dates in the online system. When I brought this up, he refused to change his review comments. For this year, he's put in unrealistic due dates that require 120 percent full-time effort, and said he won't ding us hard for any dates that have to be pushed out.
The difference in performance affects our pay increase and makes it difficult to be motivated even if you come very close to doing the impossible.
My question is if he doesn't want to listen to the comments, what would be another way to get consensus without having to go to his boss?
- Framingham
A. Since talking to your manager hasn't worked, and you're unwilling to take the issue to his boss, I suggest you consider changing the dynamic of the situation. When an employee is having trouble communicating with a manager, one way to keep information clear between all parties is to get decisions confirmed in writing, especially when something as important as performance evaluations and pay increases hangs in the balance.
Simply asking your manager to put the date changes in writing probably won't work because he's already shown reluctance to document the changes in your weekly reviews and because, in essence, you're asking him to take on one more task.
Instead, be sure to take notes during all your meetings with him. Then, send him an e-mail or an internal communication reiterating the salient points of the meeting and asking him to acknowledge your e-mail or sign off on the communication. If at the end of the year he doesn't follow through on his revised expectations, you have documentation with dates and decisions to remind him of the changes. Then, if you have to go to his boss, that documentation will be very important in clearing up the situation. Without it, it's just your word against your boss's. And that's not a good situation for you.
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