Please just listen to me

Post date: 2021-06-16 14:28:12

Is this a conversation I can/should have with my boss?

I started a new job 7 months ago that has been the source of a lot of frustration. I may or may not be here too much longer (I have a second interview coming up for another job).

A big part of my frustration is one of my managers, Ellen. Ellen is anxious and has a lot on her plate, and is sort of a classic micromanager who needs to be involved in everything down to the last detail and will constantly check up on little things but also isn't very good at sharing the big picture. I think that she means well.

One of the things that most frustrates me is that I feel like she doesn't listen to me when I say things. As an example, today we had this exchange:

Ellen: "Ambulance ambiance, have you sent out the emails to x group making sure they know about the application that was released yesterday?"
Me: "I haven't gotten to them yet but I'll send them out by the end of the week."
Ellen: "I'd like them to go out sooner because the deadline is 2 weeks away"
Me: "oh... okay, but the application deadline is July 23rd, right?"
Ellen: "The deadline is only 2 weeks away and I want them to have time to complete it"
Me: "okay, I just want to clarify though that we're talking about x application, we put the deadline as July 23"
Ellen: *blinks at me looking irritated* "can you send the emails tomorrow"
Me, probably sounding frustrated: "okay, will do"

This kind of thing happens *all the time* and it's really getting me down. I'm considering bringing up the above example in a check in on Thursday, outlining that:
- it feels disrespectful when she doesn't take the time to listen to the words coming out of my mouth
- often when I try to clarify to get important information she acts like I don't understand what she's saying-- but I'm just trying to get a full picture so that I can do my job better and more independently and take things off her plate
- it concerns me that she seems worried that I can't prioritize the projects that I'm working on, is there something that has made her concerned? If not, it would be helpful to me if she could allow me a little more space to decide what is urgent in my workload across projects since she is not my only manager. (I have been working in similar roles for 7 or 8 years, I'm not entry level).

Is this an okay approach? Is there another approach that would be better? Should I just skip the whole conversation? I'm just really frustrated, and I've never had this issue with any other boss. Ellen is in her late 60s, while I am in my early 30s, which I think may be part of the issue. She also has a reputation as a micromanager I think, though I'm not sure to what extent.

Please click Here to read the full story.