I think everybody decamped to fb or twitter or both, Suzi. DW's almost as dead as LJ.

Huh. My DW readinglist is far busier than my LJ flist. I still post pretty extensively in both places, although they're both mostly blocked at work, so I can't comment as much.

Juliebird, she sounds awful. But you need to have a list of hard examples, documented. Get as many as you can. And see if there's anyone else on the staff who will go in with you, because otherwise it looks like "a personality conflict" rather than actual misbehavior on her part.

Management will do anything they can to avoid counseling or interfering with a lower-level manager. Absent clear evidence of misbehavior, they won't even care if you all decamp en masse (and they know you won't, in this economy).

The way the situation was phrased to me from the Director of Development was a whispered "Members of the board are going to want to talk to you, find out how you're liking things, how you think things are going. If you think they're wonderful, tell them that, if you have anything to say about X, Y, or Z, tell them that too."

Then I found out that the boss had gone to the board and told them that we were all happy as clams since my personal Director quit, that so and so hadn't smiled in months, but now she was, when in fact we've been hysterical with stress and I spent all day today and yesterday trying not to cry.

Hot L Baltimore

Weird- The student theatre group is opening that here tonight.

Back from the dentist after 2 hours of root canal-y fun, with a temporary crown. He cracked up when I told him I hoped ibuprofen would do the trick for any lingering soreness rather than his prescription pain meds.

I guess he doesn't run into many people who don't want drugs, but in comparison to oxycodone the Advil kicks in quicker, doesn't wear off as fast, and doesn't leave me feeling like my head's been replaced by a balloon. All these are pluses.

Juliebird, I would stress only items which hurt the comapany--such as gossiping about board members, bad judgment on grants, lack of morale hurting productivity. You don't want the issue to be about her personality or your feelings but about her performance. Not to be The Man, but it doesn't really matter if she is nice or supportive to her staff or not, if you guys can work together and the job gets done. Work SHOULD be a pleasant place in an ideal world, but it isn't required to be. If, however, her management impedes the job getting done, THEN they are going to want to listen.

Julie, my department has been in similar situations with managers before, including my own current one. As much as you can, document, and get corroboration, and above all keep your cool. Unfortunately my experience is that nothing much will happen until something legally actionable occurs, and enough people are willing to talk about it to a lawyer. Unless your higher-ups are looking for a reason to can her, and in that case you want to be extra-careful to seem level-headed and an excellent employee.

A woman once quit our department after less than a month, by going to lunch and leaving a Post-It on her monitor that read, "I have never been treated so badly anywhere before" and she never came back. She's a legend.

Or, what Scrappy said.

Juliebird, she sounds awful. But you need to have a list of hard examples, documented. Get as many as you can. And see if there's anyone else on the staff who will go in with you, because otherwise it looks like "a personality conflict" rather than actual misbehavior on her part.

Yeah, this. And if there are already concerns, you should be able to communicate your displeasure without really saying anything. Can you talk up the quit person, or at least the need for that role? You really want to say as many positive things as possible -- not positive toward the horrible person, but positive in general.

If the higher-ups think the boss is doing a good job, you really don't want to come off as difficult, or a whiner.

If, however, her management impedes the job getting done, THEN they are going to want to listen.

What Scrappy Said.

A woman once quit our department after less than a month, by going to lunch and leaving a Post-It on her monitor that read, "I have never been treated so badly anywhere before" and she never came back. She's a legend.

That's kind of awesome.

Consuela is totally right here, Juliebird.

What does not effect the bottom line, limit productivity or otherwise damage the organization's efforts, is generally of no interest...even though it sounds like you are being asked to squeal.

Being a difficult/unlikable/ineffective boss is unlikely to garner much interest among the brass.

It sucks, but it's true.

Taking absolutely every bit of personal hurt/disgust out of your comments is crucial to your concerns being taken seriously.

I know that is hard to do when you know you are right about how wrong someone else is. This woman being a jerk may actually be what the organization wants. I hate to say it, but I've seen it many, many times.