Gripe, gripe, gripe

[Rusti]

This probably belongs on LJ, but since I can’t reach it at work, you guys get to hear the whining! (because I really want to gripe at someone besides my coworker beside me).

We have this lady, henceforth to be known as Her Majesty the Queen, who joined us a couple of years ago now, but has lately gotten a bit big for her britches. As in, I’m not sure how she gets her ego out the door. She’s from an agency background, but to listen to her talk she’s never suffered a failure and only knows success.

Now, most of this I could reasonably forgive if it was easy to get away from her. That is to say, if she stayed in her own corner and did the in house marketing design (and the occasional client ad, as requested) and didn’t meddle in our affairs over here in client ad design, or, more affectionately known at this paper as ‘Creative’. We build most of the advertising for local businesses running in our publications. As a qualifier, we in Creative often have Very Little Time to create something. We’re working at what’s considered break-neck speed to meet a deadline for reasons I’ll leave out for now. Let’s just leave it that sometimes we have to finish an ad in about 15 minutes. But about a year or so ago, give or take, she started piddling in what we do, worrying about how well we did it, and so on.

Within the past six or seven months things seem to have taken another turn for the ugly and passive aggressive with little snide remarks here and there. Her increasing insistence that she art direct what she can (mostly our spec ads that we build for reps to sell to clients). This has also included a remark about how my coworker who is also Supervisor With No Power maybe once being a good designer but she isn’t any more. Mind, none of this is said directly to us, but she’s only about 20 feet away behind a chest high cubicle wall, and she doesn’t whisper.

But this morning took the cake. This morning made me want to go and ask her just what on earth would make her say something like that. She was speaking to an ad rep, working on an ad for a local business and the ad rep was trying to tell her what changes the client would like to have made. And this comes out of her mouth, paraphrased: If she doesn’t want to accept my art direction and expertise, she can send the ad over to them (creative) if she doesn’t want any thought put into it.

I am so boggled I am still tempted to go over to her desk and ask her to explain herself. This woman has been offered a supervisory position over us and she says this?

I don’t even know how to react now. Getting angry isn’t worth it, but I’m really not sure I should just let it go. I don’t have a way out yet, though I’m looking because this place has become poisonous, so I don’t want to stir too much poo, but I won’t be content to work for this woman after hearing that. I can’t pay a visit to the man in the position she was offered, he’s on vacation, and I can’t speak to the publisher, because she’s his pet. My only real recourse is a corporate hotline but I haven’t decided if I want to call it yet.

[Amy]

Ugh, I hate people like that, and there always seems to be one wherever you work/are. It’s so hard to get away from.

Yeah, I’d give her a piece of my mind honestly. I guess I’m confrontational, but I don’t like to take things lying down. She sounds like a complete busy body who doesn’t know when to mind her own business or keep her big mouth shut.

Ugh, I’m mad just thinking about it. D)

[Rusti]

I don’t really want to give her a piece of my mind (a piece of my mind is worth too much to waste on her), but I would like to hear her defense, if she’s even got one. To add to the irritation, she’s one of those people who will smile and laugh to your face and be all sunshine and happy until you turn your back.

So I would expect some attempt to brush it off like she didn’t ‘mean it like that’ and she just meant this or this.

[dragonmedley]

If she’s like most office bullies, confronting her very loudly and publicly might do it, might being the key word.

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[Rusti]

Oh, I’ve already done it once, to her and the sales assistant. She kept ending up with the ads I’d been working on for the assistant without anybody saying anything to me about wanting a second set of eyes on it (which is fine). Turn around and she’s got it. So I finally told them both that I would like to know if something I’ve been working on is being handed to someone else.

So far so good, they’re telling me when and why things I’ve started end up with her. I may draw the line with the insults shortly too. Even if they’re not spoken directly to me.

[briteblades]

The best thing for you to handle this, in my opinion, would be to approach her and say, “Hi Your Majesty. I overheard you saying something along the lines of the Creative department not putting any thought into our work…what did you mean by that?”
Saying this puts her on the spot AND lets her clarify herself if she needs to. It’s not confrontational, won’t cause office drama, but lets her know that -you- know and that it is unacceptable.

[Rusti]

Oh, well this is nice, she’s been made our supervisor officially now.

I did confront her about her comment yesterday and when she gave her reasoning defending it I told her to try not to say things like that because first of all it isn’t true and second of all it’s incredibly frustrating to hear.

I’m not sure if she’s ever been in a supervisory position, and I don’t know about anybody else, but hearing that kind of bullhockey from my supervisor doesn’t produce the kind of mad that makes me work harder. It produces the kind of mad that makes me want to drop all my work on her desk and walk out the door.

[Author]

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