Bullying in the workplace and micro-management may seem a strange topic to talk about here. But today I was asked today if I would attend “A Round Table”, a discussion on the behaviour of somebody in the workplace. There would only be three of us on this round table. It got me thinking about my previous job. I was the operations manager in a small division of Chubb Fire. The company within Chubb Fire was called Emtech. I loved working for Emtech when I first started. I worked for a lady called Emma who set the company up, and we worked out of her dining room and later a purpose-built office. The ethos of myPA comes from Emtech. Emma sold the company to Chubb Fire as she wanted to concentrate on other projects.
When I first joined Emtech, I asked Emma if she ever sold the company; to tell me so that I could decide if I would stay or look for another job. She made the promise that she would do so.
The Promise
I worked for Emtech for about six years when I noticed that a few odd things were going on in the office. For example, paperwork was disappearing and then reappearing mysteriously. We were going through reams of paper, and printers were running out of ink. The office always appeared to have been opened than unusual. Small tiny things that you could put down to being tired or forgetfully.
In April, I picked up the phone to call Emma as I was worried about her. Emma would pass out for no reason. I picked up the phone and called her mobile number, and something inside me told me to put the phone down. For the first time, I knew I had to put the phone down. It later transpired that the moment I picked up the phone to call her, she signed the contract with Chubb Fire to sell the company without my knowledge.
There had been someone else in the office in the mornings and the evenings. It was the housekeeper, Emma’s husband, and Emma. They were photocopying various documents, making sure that the paperwork and contracts and client contact details were all in order and ready for the sale. They were doing due diligence.
Emma told me two days before the sale that she would never sell the business. It was her baby, and she would protect it as much as she could. Oh, what a fool I was!
The Betrayal
On Sunday at 2:00 pm, I got a call from Emma, and she asked me to come to the office; as a matter of urgency. The office was a barn next to her home. She needed to talk to me. Being worried about her, so I went to the office. I found her in the garden drinking a glass of Pimm’s, and she invited me over. We sat down on the grass; she gave me a glass of Pimm’s. Her opening line to me was, “your job is safe for a year”. She then proceeded to tell me she’d sold the company to Chubb Fire.
I asked her why she hadn’t told me and reminded her of her promise. She replied that if I found out beforehand, she would have to give a large amount of money back to Chubb Fire. I was upset at this, and Emma then replied, “I don’t know why you’re crying. It doesn’t affect you”.
On Monday, I arrived at the office to find three representatives from Chubb Fire already there. They told us that our jobs were safe, they now owned Emtech, and if they needed any information, they would ask. Our new manager will appear in a few days as he is on holiday.
The start of being bulled in the workplace
The manager arrived, and it was a complete and utter disaster from start to finish. I’ve never experienced bullying in the workplace until I’ve met this person. I had never understood how insidious bullying could be, how it starts with such a brief comment, and how it can chip away at your confidence without you even knowing. The following two years with Chubb Fire were pure hell. The reason I’m saying this is that this line manager liked to have round tables. His idea was that we’d all sit around together and discuss issues in an open and frank manner. What this meant, I discovered over time, was that he would get his way. The staff and my manager would team up together and pick on me.
Bullying in the workplace and micro-management an Example
A prime example of this is that this line manager wanted me to micromanage staff. As far as he was concerned, they were not completing their tasks promptly. His idea was that I would go round to each staff member and ask what they were doing. At lunchtime, I would then go back to each member of staff and ask what they had done and what they plan to do in the afternoon. Before going home, I would then go around to each staff member to ask what they did and what they planned to do the next day. I had resisted doing this for three months. I was worn down and agreed to do it.
Within a week, all members of staff requested an open round table with the manager. The members of staff then brought up this micromanagement and said that I was treating them like children. They resented it. The staff resented me. Everyone hated micromanagement. At this open round table, my line manager looked at me and said, “Julie, why are you doing that? We’re all adults here and should be treated like adults”. Flabbergasted was an understatement. I said I was doing what you asked me to do. However, he decided not to hear that comment, as did everyone else.
The set up – Bullying in the Workplace
At the end of the meeting, I requested a quiet word with him in our meeting room and asked what he was playing at. He replied that he needed the staff to buck up their ideas and work harder to finish the work. I repeated my question and asked why he had set me up with the staff and didn’t back me up during our meeting. He answered that it doesn’t matter how we got to this resolution; the staff have agreed to do the backlog of work. They understand the urgency for getting work up to date and billed.
For the first time in my life, I complained to HR about this and a few other bullying tactics this line manager used. I will never do this type of round table again. This style of roundtables is rude, soul-destroying.
What I have learned about Bullying in the workplace and micro-management
I will not do a roundtable to get staff “to buy into” a project or manipulate them
Its exhausting to be bullied
You should never set anybody up at work to get a result
Writing My Memoirs – 31 Day Challenge – Video and Blog Posts
I have worked for several organisations, some were enormous, and others were tiny. My preference it to work for small organisations. I like that you get to do various jobs and experience all areas of a business. The best job I ever had was working for a company called Emtech. We specialised in fire prevention and running risk assessments for multi-tenanted buildings, mainly in London. We worked out of the owner (Emma) dining room. On the odd occasion, she had a dinner party. We had to pack the office away and turn it back into a dining room. It also meant we went home early.
I had the best job ever – before bullied at work
Three of us worked at Emtech, the owner Emma, and a part-timer who was a friend of Emma’s from childhood and myself. It was indeed a family business. I had just returned from backpacking around southeast Asia and Australia, so I lived in Dorset with my family. Emtech was in Gloucestershire. As a result, I would lodge with Emma in the Yellow Room for the first four months. In fact, during my interview, I ended up answering the phone for a client and organising a Fire Drill. We both liked the same music and had that blaring on the CD player.
A fantastic groom would come into the office for cups of tea when it was cold, and she needed to warm up. One of the additional tasks was to feed the horses if the groom had a day off and Emma visited a client in London. As you can see, it was very much a lifestyle job. I loved it.
Financial rewards were massive
I received my biggest bonus from Emtech. I had an appraisal (which we didn’t do). The first appraisal was after 12 months of service. We sat on the Cotswold stone wall in her garden drinking gin and tonic. She said she was happy with my work and what I was doing and gave me a £2000 pay rise. The second appraisal followed a similar process. Again, she said she was happy with my work and asked if I wanted a pay rise and bonus. Naturally, I said yes, that would be nice. I had a £2,000 pay rise and a £10,000 bonus.
Working for a small company has its issues. The most critical issue was what would happen if Emma sold the company. She had told me she never would, as it was her baby. Emma started the company at 18. We had an agreement that if she ever sold the company, she would tell me. It would not mean I would leave, but it would give me options.
I was summoned
You can understand my surprise when I was summoned to her home one Sunday as she had something urgent to discuss with me. Emma had been sick for some time, and I thought it was something to do with that. I drove to work at 2 pm and I found her sitting on the front lawn drinking Pimm’s. I joined her, and the first thing she said was that “your job is safe for a year”. She then told me she had sold the company to Chubb Fire, and they took ownership of the company on Friday.
I was devastated. Not that Emma had sold the company. It was probably the best decision, as she was looking to move into a different business. We had an agreement that she would tell me if she was going to sell the company. In the previous weeks, I had noticed that something was going on in the office. Paper was going missing. Items in the office had been moved, and the paperwork was out of order. In hindsight, she was preparing for the sale of the company.
I still find it challenging to comprehend that Emma lied so badly to me about the sale of the company. Indeed, only three days before the sale, I asked her if she would ever sell the company, and she told me it was her baby and she would never sell it.
I was asked to attend the office at 8 am the next day to help her tell the other staff members and assure them that nothing would change for about a year. 2002 was the start me being bullied at work and three years of hell working for Emtech and Chubb Fire.
What I learned about writing my memoirs and being bullied at work
When it comes to money, people will lie and betray you.
I know how much I was worth in 2002.
A company is just that, and everyone is expendable, whether we like it. We are not unique or invaluable when it comes to money and business.
Writing My Memoirs – 31 Day Challenge – Video and Blog Posts
Setting your prices has to be one of the most stressful decisions a business owner will ever have to make. The price you want to charge and the price someone will pay for it are two very different concepts. As a business owner, you want to buy in, make or provide services at as little cost to you as possible. You want to sell that item to as many people as possible at the highest price and make a massive profit margin.
The way to work out your profit on a product is as follows.
Cost of goods – Selling Price = Profit
£12.50 – £25.00 = £12.50
Then, of course, out of your profit, you have expenses that have to be covered. The list of costs can be considerable; however, here are a few, VAT, salaries, rent, utilities for the business, marketing.
Setting your prices to match your corporate salary
When I left the corporate world, I wanted to keep the same standard of living, the same income, and charged accordingly. However, this would not work for my clients, so I had to adjust my prices. I have met other people who offer the same services, and they tell me my prices are far too low. However, I am still in business, and they are employed by someone else. Running a business is hard, but you have to get the finances right or you wont have a business.
Setting your prices is good unless you employ a twat
I remember a lady working for a few years ago. Let’s call her Judas. I asked Judas to provide bookkeeping services to one of my clients. After three months of working for the client under the umbrella of my company and seeing the invoice to my client, she spoke to the client and said she would work for them at the price she charged me. The result being, my company lost out on valuable revenue. When she spoke to me, she told me what she had done. Her only response was that she didn’t want to ‘take advantage of the client off’. She is happy with the price she gets for them, and everyone should be satisfied. Except, of course, I was out of a client and no longer had that income.
The Judas Tree
Judas had not understood that I had spent my money getting this company as one of my clients. On average, it takes two months to get a new client and can cost up to £1000. This spend is on marketing, meeting and understanding their needs, setting out contracts and terms of payment. (Very similar to what an employment agency does). She could not understand why I was so angry.
As you can tell, it irks to this day whenever I think about it. Besides that, I see her once a month working for someone else.
What I learnt about writing my memoirs
Sometimes people can let you down, and you have to let it go
Setting prices is not as easy as people think
Never employ a Judas
Writing My Memoirs – 31 Day Challenge – Video and Blog Posts
Forgetting my challenge seems a ridiculous statement to make, but this happened today. I had such a busy day with some client work and then watched a few teaching videos on editing a video. It just slipped my mind that I had not uploaded this blog and video. I had some narrative written about networking but have had to amend that to cover my forgetting my challenge. I wrote the article on the correct day. The video had been created on the right day, albeit at 5.30 pm when I was at home. Putting the two together didn’t happen until the next day.
I got the critical client work completed
I did all the billable work expected of me, and my clients are happy with the work sent to them. Keeping my clients happy is an essential part of my job. Making sure my clients are delighted. The 31-day challenge is an example to everyone that writing your memoirs is not as difficult as people think.
Networking could be an excuse for forgetting my challenge.
I am a member of BNI; this is a networking group for businesses that meets every week. The primary goal for BNI is that each member of the chapter helps other members get business. In effect, the chapter members become our sales teams when talking to their clients. The commitment for BNI is that you have to bring a contribution each week. There are three types of contribution:
An offer of a referral to provide a quote for yourself or one of your clients
A testimonial for one member that you have worked with or for one of your clients
A testimonial for BNI and what they have helped you achieve
What is BNI?
BNI is an American organisation that is successful the world over. Some chapters have over 200 members (in India). In the UK, we have an average of about 25-40 people per chapter. I think this is a good number, as the primary goal of networking is to create lasting relationships with people. As the phrase goes, people by people and if you can recommend them all the better.
During Covid, meetings are online, so we now have the opportunity to visit chapters worldwide. I am not sure how many people have taken up this offer. I have taken part in other chapters from the comfort of my office.
BNI is strict, and there is a set formula followed every week. The same script read the same people deliver the leadership. Each week, every member gives a small presentation about their business (60 seconds, or 30 in larger chapters). BNI is one of the most formal networking meetings you will ever attend, but it has a wealth of experience. There are online business training courses and help and support. If you are a small business, BNI is undoubtedly worth visiting. BNI is not a 90-minute membership. Most relationship building takes place outside of the meeting during the week.
Interruptions when working from home are very different from those the workplace. Interruptions are distracting, costly and annoying. On average, one person interrupting you can take 10 minutes away from your productivity. It may seem that the interruption is only for a few minutes, but by the time you have stopped what you are doing. Interrupted your thought process to understand what it is the person is asking of you. Answer the question correctly. Then go back and pick up your thought process takes about 10 minutes.
Not to mention your attitude to the interruptions. Suppose you are deeply engrossed in your task. In that case, it is difficult to tell your facial features to be pleasant, smile and be accommodating. (Resting Bitch face comes to mind). Then you must explain to the person who has interrupted you-you are deeply engrossed in a task. Once you have been interrupted, your mind then focuses some of its attention on the question or purpose of the original interruption. Now you have two trains of thought, your task at hand and that of the question asked of you. It’s called attention residue.
In an office, there are strategies you can put in place.
Tell people you are unavailable during certain times of the day
Only open emails at set times
Create boundaries you and your colleagues’ respect
Turn your phone off
Interruptions working from Home.
All brilliant strategies, but what if you are working from Home? How do you deal with those interruptions? With Covid-19, many of us have changed our working style and moved our office to the dining room table or the spare room. We have had to manage family commitments and our bosses’ constant demands.
The strategies we had for interruptions in the office are no longer valid at Home. It is difficult to tell your loved ones you are unavailable for a chat from 9 am to 5 pm. They can physically see you. Not only that, but they can also reach out their hands and touch you. To them, you are there, in person. As a result, able to be spoken to and answer the question. Interrupted, able to answer just one question, for example, what are we having for dinner. To your family and friends, being in lockdown means you are constantly accessible.
Interruptions when working from home
How have I coped with these interruptions? Not well to start with, a plan was needed to deal with interruptions. My home office, entitled ‘The Studio’, is the converted garage. Suddenly I am available with my family and friends who want to speak to me. When in the office, they respected my time and rarely called or popped in. When working from home, suddenly, the rules seem to have been thrown out of the window. So new rules had to be set in place.
The new rules are:
Work starts at 9 am, and I will finish at 5-6 pm depending on the tasks at hand
I will take a break in the morning at 10.30 for 15 minutes and will talk and discuss whatever is needed
Lunch will be at 1 pm for 30 minutes, and again, I will chat and discuss whatever.
I will take a break at 3.15 for 15 minutes
Work will finish at 5-6 pm depending on the task
What I learnt about writing my memoirs
I needed to set new boundaries when working from home
Just because someone is at home, it doesn’t mean they are not working
Another person’s break is not my break
Writing My Memoirs – 31 Day Challenge – Video and Blog Posts
Recent Comments