Message #59665

[msmarieh]

It's always interesting to me to read the various perspectives that people bring to the table. There are several thoughts that ran through my head as I read your posting and the follow up replies.

The first is that I don't see anywhere in your original topic that they said you are not to talk to people. Nowhere in your summary of their comments did I see any indication that you needed to reduce your interaction with other people. Just because they are loners it doesn't mean they want you to be a loner. And if they do want you to advise them of things going on in the office, that doesn't mean they want you to run and tell them that Susie Q. is having an affair with the milkman. Keeping your boss aware of what is going on does not make you any less of a team player.

Secondly, you gave the reason fairly clearly in your post that they appear to have concerns about. The last individual did not give them as much information as they desired. Therefore they are asking you for regular feedback. At this point they don't know you and they don't know how well they can trust you or your judgment. They want to be kept abreast of things that occur or could possibly "blow up" in the office. This is perfectly reasonable to request.

I am at a complete loss to understand why you would think they were taking advantage of you??? Can you expand on what you were thinking with this?

Truthfully, I do think you are being somewhat paranoid. However, that doesn't mean that they aren't happy with you or that you are unwise to watch your back during this probationary period. It does mean, though that you need to step back and remove your emotions from this conversation to focus on what they are actually asking for and how you can provide it.

The bottom line is that it seems to me that they have been quite clear in what they desire: More Communication.

You just need to determine the most effective method of accomplishing their desired end result.

Ask them if they would like a daily email summarizing what you were working on, what progress you have made on their requests, issues you are facing etc. It doesn't have to be a long drawn out production, it can be a short summary of each item. As countrigal mentioned, most bosses would strongly prefer to not be blindsided by office situations that may arise, so notifying them of significant events in the office can be helpful. I always considered this to be a part of my job - keeping my boss aware of potential problems before they became problems. My bosses have always appreciated this. I did not however report "gossip" unless it was significant to the business (i.e. rumors of a corporate sale for instance).

Alternatively, you can drop them a quick email as you complete tasks - fyi bossie, I finished the xyz project you requested.

They have opened up a dialog with you and provided you with input on how you can do your job more effectively for their purposes. This is valuable feedback and you need to do what you can to not take it personally, but instead think about how you can meet their needs.

It's likely that over time, as they get to know you better, see that you are doing the things they have asked you to do, less prolific updates will be needed. Perhaps you can settle on a once a week update report.

I highly doubt that your two week induction has any relevance to this matter whatsoever.

My boss and I had a similar conversation after I started. While my first inclination was to jump to the conclusion that he was micromanaging and didn't trust that I had done what he requested, I stepped back mentally and instead observed. I discovered that it was actually a doublecheck for himself because he couldn't remember if he has asked me to do certain things or not and he couldn't remember if he had promised followup on certain things or not. It was not (contrary to my first impressions) "all about me". It was actually about him and how he worked. These comments aren't always meant to be "personal".

Marie