the meet

There I was , in a supposed fact gathering meet with my lead and manager about the job I do and it turned out to be more of a this is how it's gonna be done meeting.

I was very frustrated with the changes because they are going to cause a lot of pain and anxiety for my particular position.

every response from me came out as snide and sarcastic and the manager got so pissed off he threatened me with termination. I almost ALMOST told him to buck off. he is one of those gung ho , everything is possible super motivated walmart greeter, the world might end tomorrow with a mistake .don't screw up and we'll all be out of a job kind of people.

This guy thinks we are working at mcdonalds and can all be replaced with temporary workers.
Perhaps he is right and with the LEAN program of simplification it's almost a reality.
I suppose this gives the company an upper hand a big upper hand . just hire temps ........

I work hard and fast and do a lot , know a lot and carry the load( 21 years of service). Yet they want to make it over complicated . They talk a good line about giving help but if it costs anything they aren't willing to JUSTIFY IT..

they always have an out. They say it without writing it down that way they can deny it later . I always ask for what changes they want in writing and it totally gets under their skin.

POST A COMMENTBonusOnus(02/17/2009)
Dude,
If managers won't put things in writing, that's a red flag. That means that they are trying to set you up for failure or they will try to deny things in the future.

Ask, no demand, that they put their requests to you in writing (email would be fine). Tell them that you are seeing too many changes and want things to be clear and thus want it in writing.

Any manager/lead who refuses to put things in writing/email is someone trying to hide things.

HaveADamnNiceDay(02/17/2009)
My boss seems to have a similar problem. I've sent her emails asking her questions and she responds with "Don't waste time with email! Just ask me instead!" I can't remember stuff she says because she fires off at 40 rounds a second. I have to have it in writing. Otherwise, I forget stuff, and I don't have any reference material. She doesn't seem to understand this very well. I'll have to just TELL her.
She claims also that she doesn't "know how to be in email". What the hell???

CK(02/17/2009)
Doesn't know how to use e-mail?!? Your boss isn't McCain is it? Does he have a Selectric typewriter? Has a rotory phone? And drive a Studebaker? Or is he still riding a horse and buggy?

BonusOnus(02/17/2009)
That John McCain. Doesn't use email because he has injuries from being tortured by the North Vietnamese while being a POW for many years and these injuries prevent him from typing. Shows you how stupid he is.

Bookwoman(02/17/2009)
Bonus, I'm with you.

I have to ask how old your boss is, HAD. If she's in her late 40s, early 50s, she came to email and the whole computer thing late in her business, probably, and it's not second nature. I started using computers and a version of email when I was 18, fresh into the Navy, and when I came out, NO one had email, alot of businesses I temped in didn't even have computers. It's crazy when I think about it now. I found a lot of the people I worked with in a variety of industries were very leery of computers, almost afraid of them. I've always felt lucky to have had the job I did in the Navy, which relied heavily on very high tech (for back then) computers, as it provided experience for me which I wouldn't have gotten otherwise. I really do think the amount of time a person has spent in their business life, using computers and email, and what age they came to it, has a tremendous impact on their comfort level. Hard to believe, but email is a relatively young phenomenon.

BonusOnus(02/17/2009)
Technology changes. Some older people don't embrace it.

How many of us have grandparents who can't program a VCR?

How many of our children will even know what a VCR is now that they are obsolete?

HaveADamnNiceDay(02/18/2009)
I get the impression she's in her 50's. She has a daughter close to my age. She considers herself a technopath/phile (not sure what the right word is for this). Yet, she doesn't use outlook. Outlook isn't hard to use, and it isn't hard to learn. It's a memory pig, but it's still a fairly user-friendly program. She corresponds with her clients in email, so I don't know what the problem is. She's also told me on a few occasions that I need a client list, and then forgets to give it to me. When I ask for it, she tells me "later". It makes me feel like she's trying to trap me with my weaknesses, one of which is a poor short-term memory--and THAT'S WHY I WRITE STUFF DOWN--SO I DON'T FORGET ANYTHING.
I'm still searching for a new place to plant my bottom.

SouthernProgrammer(02/18/2009)
If you can't get things in writing then you can be sure it will come back to haunt you.

I once worked on a project where the Project Manager made requests which I was SURE was different than what the customer wanted so I told him he needed to send me the information in an email.

Weeks later, the customer was not happy with the system and the Project Manager sent me an email with the boss on CC asking why was the customer not happy.

I simply replied back with his OWN EMAIL (CC'ing the boss) showing the changes he had asked for.

The project manager left the company shortly after that.

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