Dear Employee,
I’m just checking in to see if you finished that project I asked you to finish by this Friday. It’s now Monday afternoon and I still haven’t heard anything from you but didn’t want to breathe down your neck because I figured you would let me know when it was done. As you know, this project is pretty important.
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Dear Boss,
Oh yeah. I finished that last week.
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Why Your Torture Plan Will Surely Backfire
Your boss probably has 3x what you have on your plate. They may seem like they are picking their noses and watching youtube on a daily basis, but in addition to their own nose picking, they are responsible for everyone else’s nose picking who they manage or oversee. When your boss has to follow up with you it gives the impression that you aren’t on top of your workload, which in turn triggers micromanaging behavior.
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Maybe Try this Instead?
Throw your boss a bone here and there and type a simple sentence that says, “project completed!” It’s a nice thing to do in this world of overwhelm and ultimately reduces unnecessary contempt.
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Nicole Lipkin, Psy.D., MBA is a business psychologist and the CEO of Equilibria Leadership Consulting. She is a speaker, consultant, and coach and has shared her expertise on NPR, NBC, Forbes, Entrepreneur, CBS, Fox Business News, and other media outlets. She is the author of “What Keeps Leaders Up At Night” and the co-author of “Y in the Workplace: Managing the “Me First” Generation.” Check out the award winning book trailer for What Keeps Leaders Up At Night.