Shortcuts for bad managers

Got one of those fantastically classic group e-mails today laying down the gauntlet. We aren't doing enough, we aren't saying enough at the staff meetings, we don't look busy enough..so now we've been given an additional administrative burden to provide a weekly snaphot of what we did and what we plan to do. First thing on my to-do list is to ignore that e-mail.

My gripe with that kind of mass e-mail is it tends to be a group address to one or two people. People you should be talking to individually. I don't know why managers do that. If someone knows they're being called out, they are now either embarrassed or pissed, if they're doing fine but inclined to worry, you've just shortened their life a little, and if you're me, you're self-righteously indignant and have lost respect and regard for management and their bonehead arms-length dictatorial style. I don't lay claim to being good at much but I know I'm pretty good at leadership and management. I'm fierce about taking care of my people and challenging them and rewarding them. I love striving to emulate my best bosses and learning from the things they did well and things they did not so well. It's intangible but leadership matters. A lot. I hate to see it done so badly. It's like a bad makeup job. Heavy handed, garish, and distracting.

Ahem. Stepping down from the soapbox.

Dear Shortcut,

Having 'x' amount of years of experience does not mean you are actually good at what you do. It means you've been doing it for 'x' years. That's all. E-mails are not substitutions for conversations. We need to keep the boss informed, yes. But you release all of our correspondence, we do monthly metrics calls, we keep a calendar that you can see. Where is the information you need if those things can't give you a sense for what we're up to? Maybe no one waxes eloquent at the staff meeting because a: it's a waste of time, b: they don't want their colleagues to think they are an ass for going on and on about their projects, or c: all of the above plus now they resent you for wasting their time with a weekly report and yet another meaningless suspense. Instead of treating us like colleagues, you're treating us like lack of production is a result of laziness or lack of motivation. I'd like you to give us all a little more credit and I'd like you to take a little more personal responsibility as a member of the management team. Treating people like schoolchildren is quick road to having a group sink to meet your lowered expectations and busying themselves with appearance of being busy.