I got in to work this morning and found the following email from Boss#1
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John, I can't seem to find our October 2006 report. Did we do one? Just a reminder we need the November as well. Thanks!
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I was a little irked by this because I used to have a boss back in Australia who required us all to have Diaries, and at the end of the day, after we'd left work, he'd come around to our work stations and write us little notes telling us what he wanted us to do the next day, and he wasn't always polite about it. We had an altercation in writing where he accused me of screwing up and lying to cover my ass, but the computer inventory system (which he'd personally hired me to install) saved me that day and provided me with evidence to back me up. I left my old boss a note in my diary that the next time he wanted to call me a liar he do so to my face, and I never got any nasty notes after that. Ever since then I'm very edgy when I receive missives from supervisors.
So my reply was as follows, amended slightly to once again cover my ass.
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Boss#1, exactly which report are you after?
I've attached the three reports I prepared for the month of October.
Report1 is located on the server in folder1
Report2 is also located on the server in folder2
& Report3 is located in folder3
November's Report1 was emailed to you & Boss#2 on November 30 with the subject line BigBossDoc. Because you'd requested we use the format provided by Big Boss I revised the document you sent me, hence the name BigBossDoc, but it's essentially November Report1 (which I've just now saved in folder1 under that name).
I'll be working on Report2 and Report3 this week and they will be ready for the Meeting next Tuesday, Dec. 12.
As far as I'm aware these are all of the monthly reports I'm responsible for preparing and we're completely up-to-date with them, or will be by the end of the week.
Thanks,
John.
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As Boss#1 had cc'd Boss#2, I sent my reply to both Boss#1 & Boss#2
I think I contained myself fairly well, but that's my opinion. What does everyone else think? And how would you have handled this situation? Pertinent information is that work on Report2 and Report3 could not begin until this week, because we need month-end figures from November.
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4 comments:
I think you did just fine. To the point and without childish name calling. lol
Just out of curiosity, how many bosses do you have? I've got 4. Each one more sinister than the last and like you, I can send them the same report twice and still hear about how boss x didn't get email y that I sent last week.
It's times like that when I go home, pop in the DVD of Office Space and laugh myself to sleep.
Office Space is possibly one of the best movies ever made for us cubicle dwellers.
I had two immediate supervisors, Boss#1 & Boss#2, but I was also answerable to their boss, who is not the Big Boss mentioned in my story. Big Boss is my bosses' boss's boss :D
Now recently a Boss#3 was employed, and while she doesn't directly supervise me she's still in our unit. She's also on the same level as Boss#1 & #2, reports to the same boss, and if she asked me to do something I'd have to do it.
As a follow up to my story, neither Boss #1 not #2 responded to my email, so I have no clue which report Boss #1 was looking for, but the two reports I told him would be finished by the end of the week are already sitting in his Inbox.
Yeahhhhhh
The bosses natural ability to blow off things that are important in your work day is really quite amazing. Yet, if you look closely, many times you can see a vein start to pop out of their head when the smallest part of their world gets thrown out of balance. Like when they want to order a pizza and have to sit on hold.
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