The Student Room Group

How would deal with this

Do you think a manager / boss emailing you saying "this is the second time I've had to remind you" is a little patronising and like speaking to a child?

I should provide context - basically, my boss is extremely impatient (by his own admission) and barely tolerates mistakes. So he's someone who just doesn't understand that once he's told you to do something, it's simply unacceptable to make a mistake. This is reference to two tasks that I simply forgot to do once. Wasn't deliberate obviously, I just forgot as I was busy doing other things as well. I can understand him writing like this after the 7/8th time or you're making the same mistake like every week! I think anyone would be justified in getting annoyed then, but this is literally just being reminded twice.

To add further context, none of these two tasks are particularly important or vital - uploading a few documents onto a CRM which can be done anytime and then the other, was using the correct slide format version and I simply forgot to use the right one. Furthermore, these are new tasks in my role, I haven't done them before so it's also simply getting into the habit of doing something different. He can't seem to understand that being the perfectionist he is.

So yeah, in the grand scheme of things not exactly earth shattering but he reacts like you've insulted his mother.

To his credit he can be complimentary of me at the same time and does acknowledge the good work I've done at times but he's far more animated and outspoken whenever I make even the most minor mistake. I've been wanting to leave this job for a long time now as I can't keep being treated like a child and also to work with someone who is constantly micro managing, stressing out over every mistake, sees his job as the be all and end all.
Original post by shorttermnomad
Do you think a manager / boss emailing you saying "this is the second time I've had to remind you" is a little patronising and like speaking to a child?

I should provide context - basically, my boss is extremely impatient (by his own admission) and barely tolerates mistakes. So he's someone who just doesn't understand that once he's told you to do something, it's simply unacceptable to make a mistake. This is reference to two tasks that I simply forgot to do once. Wasn't deliberate obviously, I just forgot as I was busy doing other things as well. I can understand him writing like this after the 7/8th time or you're making the same mistake like every week! I think anyone would be justified in getting annoyed then, but this is literally just being reminded twice.

To add further context, none of these two tasks are particularly important or vital - uploading a few documents onto a CRM which can be done anytime and then the other, was using the correct slide format version and I simply forgot to use the right one. Furthermore, these are new tasks in my role, I haven't done them before so it's also simply getting into the habit of doing something different. He can't seem to understand that being the perfectionist he is.

So yeah, in the grand scheme of things not exactly earth shattering but he reacts like you've insulted his mother.

To his credit he can be complimentary of me at the same time and does acknowledge the good work I've done at times but he's far more animated and outspoken whenever I make even the most minor mistake. I've been wanting to leave this job for a long time now as I can't keep being treated like a child and also to work with someone who is constantly micro managing, stressing out over every mistake, sees his job as the be all and end all.

There's nothing to read into his email except the statement of fact. You aren't obliged to work there, and from the sounds of it you won't be much longer. You have different standards of work to your boss which would be fine if it wasn't in the workplace, but it is, and the company have promoted him not you.
Reply 2
"So he's someone who just doesn't understand that once he's told you to do something, it's simply unacceptable to make a mistake. This is reference to two tasks that I simply forgot to do once."

Do you understand that once you've been told to do something, it's unacceptable to forget to do them? Having to remind you once isn't great for you, but twice is poor.
The tone of the message isn’t great if it’s a trivial error, but not all managers are laid back about such things. If you’re not happy anyway I would just be looking for other work in any case rather than stressing myself over if I was being chastised or not.

To answer the Q, I’d probably flip it back as “Thanks for the feedback, this is a new part of the task for me so am still getting used to it being part of the workflow. I’ll keep an eye out in future.”
Reply 4
It is quite an annoying parental style. This said you certainly won’t get on with all of your managers and it’s generally up to the employee to adapt the most, unless the manager is totally outrageous. You could try talking to them about how your both feeling, but personally I would roll with the punches and update your cv

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