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Between a rock and a hard place


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Today I was confronted via email from my boss on an email that had taken on a life of its own. Each time prior to his involvement I responded point blank to minimize the backlash. The co worker who was persistently antagonizing the matter finally had to be halted. So I briefly re-iterated and copied my boss on how it had previously been resolved. My boss takes it upon himself to 'side" with the other employee without getting the full blow out of the previous emails telling me that my "terse" comments are not welcomed and that I need to explain myself.

I work in an environment with the motto: You never have to explain yourself or your decisions (unless we say so!). 99.9% of the time I own up to any of the actions or decisions in the company that I made. I cannot say that is true for the other staff. they love shifting errors to the make themselves look good.

I responded to my boss in a professional manner that validated his view point without pointing fingers . the problem that I need to address at this point is that I am constantly being placed between a rock and a hard place when it comes to standing up for responsible business decisions. I was asked in the past to keep the emails professionals, and I did and have. Yet Now I get chastised because I came off as terse when relaying factual data. Some days you can't win for losing. Any thoughts how to address this with my boss?

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I had to look up 'Terse' .. Brief and to the point. Neatly concise.

 

I don't see how he can argue with what he calls 'terse'. Sounds professional to me.

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In situations at work I've learned the best approach is: Do what's right and keep your resume polished.

 

You can always get another job, so don't walk around in fear at work. Focus mainly on networking and gaining experience so that you can easily move up or on if/when you need to.

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Thanks Upward-

 

So tomorrow when he recaps things ( and he will), How do I address this to him that my so called Terseness ( which in his definition is being abrupt and unfriendly) was really about staying brief and factual ?

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Sorry this happened to you Tayla. Coworkers like that are what makes the day long and sometimes hard to deal with. I know exactly the type too as I have worked with blame-shifters before and they are slippery critters.

 

Tomorrow when your boss recaps, just recap yourself, and explain again that your email was brief and factual. No drawn out explanation in your own defense is even necessary, and if done (based on my experience having done so), will only make you look defensive. So, stick to the facts ma'am and hold your ground. Good luck tomorrow Tayla. Sounds like a toxic workplace. :(

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thanks Writergal, appreciate the perspective and walking that path.

 

You breathed life into me that so long as I stay focused and maintain facts in briefness things will settle. thanks for your supportive words!

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Thanks Upward-

 

So tomorrow when he recaps things ( and he will), How do I address this to him that my so called Terseness ( which in his definition is being abrupt and unfriendly) was really about staying brief and factual ?

 

Perhaps you could say: I was only trying to handle the situation in a professional manner.

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thanks Writergal, appreciate the perspective and walking that path.

 

You breathed life into me that so long as I stay focused and maintain facts in briefness things will settle. thanks for your supportive words!

 

I've had to deal with some real doozies in my time believe me and those kind of people are a nightmare to have as coworkers. They do everything they can to sabotage anyone they don't like, for whatever arbitrary reason they concoct. It's why I detest office work so much.

 

I hope your meeting goes well tomorrow. Just smile, stay calm, stick to the facts and don't let your boss antagonize you to react emotionally about the situation.

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Tayla,

 

The best advice I've heard in a long time was, "the only real job security is a damn good skill set."

 

Jobs, even careers are not as final as we make them. As someone already said you can always get another one.

 

The way you describe your work environment is very similar to the military. I have reasoned that the only thing I can do is wait it out and work on my skill set and prepare to disembark when my contract is up.

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I agree that are other jobs out there, but in this economy it's not so easy just to "go and get another job". Do the best you can to smooth things over. Is there a human resources department in which you can speak to someone about these issues?

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I agree that are other jobs out there, but in this economy it's not so easy just to "go and get another job". Do the best you can to smooth things over. Is there a human resources department in which you can speak to someone about these issues?

 

thanks pink for responding. How true that its not that easy to find another job that fits the skills and current payscale. The small business I work for has a HR department. One lady. And she has a spectacular record of siding with management. Sadly the boss doesn't smooth things over...he logs it for the yearly review and uses it to his advantage. I just plug along most days doing the best I can given the environment .

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thanks pink for responding. How true that its not that easy to find another job that fits the skills and current payscale. The small business I work for has a HR department. One lady. And she has a spectacular record of siding with management. Sadly the boss doesn't smooth things over...he logs it for the yearly review and uses it to his advantage. I just plug along most days doing the best I can given the environment .

 

Yikes. Sorry to hear that. Having worked for small businesses myself, I totally understand. Just keep that resume polished and if you really don't like working there, it might be best to start looking elsewhere. In the meantime, just do your best to stay professional and try not take it personally. Sounds like it's them with the issue, not you.

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Say something like, I'm truly not trying to nitpick, but I was told to keep it professional and now that I am, it's coming off as terse. Please tell me what I need to do differently.

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