I think my line manager is jealous of me. I'm upset and hurt.

[Dog Woman]

I work in a firm of chartered accountants. As well as helping to run the general office and doing typing I have another role. Two days a week I am responsible for marketing tasks. I haven't got the best of relationships with my line manager, for some reason unbeknown to me she is aloof towards me but I make no difference with her and just think it is the way she is. I suspect she is jealous of me professionally. I have been working hard on a marketing project for the last 9 months that she has been involved in overseeing as a member of our marketing committee, of which I am also a member. The project has come to an end and she, with three other partners had a debriefing meeting with the marketing consultant who has been advising us. The chair of the committee briefed me beforehand and said it wasn't necessary for me to attend but there would be a short committee meeting afterwards that I was to attend and he asked me to prepare a report and some other paperwork. I know my involvement in the project and future work for me was discussed amongst the rest of the committee though I know from the chairman they are pleased with my work. After the meeting my line manager's attitude changed again and she has become more aloof towards me. which is why I think my line manager is jealous. She had a snipe at me about a leaflet I had produced and made a tiny criticism about it but said nothing positive.

 

 

Something happened today which has upset and angered me. I was reprimanded for the typing piling up from last Thursday. On Friday I was on holiday for a court case for which my line manager granted a days holiday as I was a witness but she demanded to know what I had been doing yesterday. Part of the morning I spent finishing a report for a partners meeting held yesterday afternoon that I had been asked to produce for that meeting by the Chair of the Marketing Committee. The rest of the time I tried to catch up on the backlog of typing. Another typist was in the office but she spent most of the day talking about her holiday and drinking coffee. She did do some work but we were all astounded in the office as to how little she had done. My line manager said nothing to her and nothing to the other typist in the office today about the backlog of typing which I thought we all had to share. I didn't want to cause a scene in front of the others but another colleague beat me and approached my line manager and defended me by saying she needed to come into the general office more often and observe the others and that it seemed I was being made a scapegoat of. Apparently the typist who was in the office with me is not expected to do the typing but to do other administrative tasks. I wasn't aware of that but I have no supervisory authority over the other members of staff in the office though I am one of the longest serving and the only full time member. I am not sure whether to have a quiet word with my line manager or just treat it that she was a shot across the bows for everyone in the office. I'm also not sure how to deal with her apparent jealousy of me. Any advice would be appreciate and I apologise for the long post but I just needed to get this off my chest.

[Tayla]

Most times when your instincts are correct,its best to lay the ground work towards a win win situation. Consider ahead of time how you will broach this with her. usually a "May I have a private conversation on a matter of concern?" Gets the ball rolling. If she asks what it pertains to, tell her its the tasks and it will be addressed when time permits. She may well astound you to relay that she is getting hit from all sides and the pressure maybe getting to her. Try to give some benefit of the doubt in her "aloofness". I had a boss like you describe and she absolutely detested my work ethics, reason being: she felt I deliberately tried to outshine the others instead of being a team player. Go figure, being an over achiever can back fire! so I learned to support my associates, guide them, and now there is a slight bit of regard. She is still discriminating in her ways, yet that is on her. Usually when we are trying our best, they have little room to complain, and more room to pile on more workloads. There in lays the crux. Sorry that this is happening....Gosh knows you sound like an attentive employee.

[anika99]

I think you should request a meeting with her to go over what your expected duties are and how work should be prioritized. If she agrees that the tasks you have been working on are of greater priority than the usual typing asks her how she expect you to handle that and if you can delegate some work to other people when you are busy with high priority tasks.

 

 

You mentioned a few times that she is jealous of you but you haven't given any compelling reasons to convince me that this is the case. Why would she be jealous of you? If she has been the one overseeing the project you have been working on, it's in her best interest for you do to a great job on that project.