Issues with a new manager

[intellectsucks]

So this will be part rant, part request for advice, part sharing some insights into how to deal with a difficult work situation.
For the last year I’ve been working what has essentially been my dream job.  Had a great boss, flexible hours, good salary with great bonus potential, close to home….the works.  Unfortunately the management for the division that I work in is being downsized, and I will be reporting to a new manager, someone who I work with now but don’t currently report to.  Even more unfortunate, while I was recently out on parental leave for two months, she spent the entire time lying to my manager about my performance trying to make me look bad (timed conveniently while I wasn’t around to defend myself).  My ACTUAL performance has been stellar, and my manager did have a talk with me that basically boiled down to “I know you’re doing great, but here’s a heads up about what this person has been doing”.  UGGGH…..
I figure I have a few options going forward:
DIRECT WAR: Confront her directly about her lies.  Tell her that I will be documenting all our conversations going forward to prevent “he said/she said” BS.  Also advise her that I will be documenting all the many ways in which she is a problem employee and sending them to her manager.  Tell her that if she needs any assistance from me that is outside of my job description, she can forget it, and that I will not be coming to her for any assistance.  As tempting as it is to employ this option, it’s really not a great move in any way.  A confrontation like this is bound to get people to choose sides, and who knows which side anyone will choose?  Even if they DO choose my side, a blowup like that could plant seeds of doubt in their minds.  Sure would be fun to have that conversation though!!!
INDIRECT WAR: Don’t confront her at all.  Document the ways in which she is a problem employee and covertly send them to her boss without her knowledge.  Advise her other reports to do the same.  Smile and decline for various reasons anytime she needs help.  This seems just as risky as direct war.  My experience is that people hate underhanded machinations and this is definitely underhanded.  Also, it makes my skin crawl to do anything so phony and shady.
DIRECT PEACE: Make an active effort to become her favorite employee.  Smile and take it on the many times she pulls some of her BS.  Try to outlast her or find a promotion within or outside the company.  I don’t think I have it in me to do this, since I’m so soured from my previous experience with her and her personality in general.  I have won over a lot of managers who initially didn’t get along with me though.
SPEAK SOFTLY AND CARRY A BIG STICK: Make an active effort to improve her opinion of me, within reason.  Document our conversations but don’t tell her why; for example e-mailing her summaries of our conversations and saying it’s “so I don’t forget what we discussed”.  Document the many ways in which she is a problem employee, but keep it in a file in case she decides to escalate, at which point it will be brought up with her manager.  Don’t outright refuse to help her, but be much more discriminating in how, when and how often.  This is the option I’m currently employing.
Some things I’m doing that will apply to ALL options:
Work hard to be a model employee.  I could understand some of her complaints, even though she never confronted me directly to address them, and then exaggerated them to the point of absurdity when I wasn’t around to offer a different point of view.  I can work on those issues in a reasonable manner without any confrontation.  If someone is out to get you, then they will look for any reason, no matter how small to make you look bad.  Don’t give them one.
DOCUMENT DOCUMENT DOCUMENT!!!  Dates, times, transcripts, etc.  If I have a conversation with her about my schedule, I send an e-mail summarizing.  Later if she says something different, there is a written record.
Project a positive image to the people involved; other managers, her manager, coworkers, people from other divisions that we work with, etc.  If there is a big group of people who all think very highly of you, then the one person who is out to get you looks a little out of place.
I’m open to any additional feedback, advice etc on my situation, and please share your own experiences with difficult managers.

[AZDude]

Firing someone is difficult, especially in larger organizations. My guess is that outside of some sort of personal dislike of you, she is probably threatened by the way you act at work. I have run into this before.

Basically, you had a great relationship with the old boss, and thus your time at work was flexible, you probably had a lot of say in what projects you worked on, etc... New boss is taking over and is very old school. You need to be here at 8AM sharp and stay until 5PM, etc... Doesn't like that you take a long lunch to work out at the gym(or whatever), etc, etc, etc...

So she is trying to reign you in under her control.

The solution is exactly what you are doing. Document your own performance and what you accomplish. Document all the conversations you have. Do not be outright disrespectful but stand your ground. Continue doing good work.

Also, polish up your resume and keep an eye out for a similar job close to home, etc... Just in case.

In my experience these things rarely end well. The only time it do go well for me was when my pos manager got fired herself, otherwise it would only be a matter of time before I left and took a different job.

[intellectsucks]

Firing someone is difficult, especially in larger organizations. My guess is that outside of some sort of personal dislike of you, she is probably threatened by the way you act at work. I have run into this before.

Basically, you had a great relationship with the old boss, and thus your time at work was flexible, you probably had a lot of say in what projects you worked on, etc... New boss is taking over and is very old school. You need to be here at 8AM sharp and stay until 5PM, etc... Doesn't like that you take a long lunch to work out at the gym(or whatever), etc, etc, etc...

So she is trying to reign you in under her control.

The solution is exactly what you are doing. Document your own performance and what you accomplish. Document all the conversations you have. Do not be outright disrespectful but stand your ground. Continue doing good work.

Also, polish up your resume and keep an eye out for a similar job close to home, etc... Just in case.

In my experience these things rarely end well. The only time it do go well for me was when my pos manager got fired herself, otherwise it would only be a matter of time before I left and took a different job.

You hit the nail right on the head regarding the situation. My experience is also that it doesn't end well, but usually for the manager. They don't have as much knowledge in the field as their team, so they make up for it by being super nitpicky and micromanagey. That causes lots of problems and tension and they burn out. It's usually just a waiting game.

[SKL-HOU]

If she is such a problem employee like you suggest, why is she the one selected to be the person you report to and not the other way around? Did I misunderstand this?
I would highly suggest the last option, if you must pick one.

[Mr Chin Stubble]

Yeah like what are you going to document that your new boss doesn't like her direct report coming in at 11:00 ?

[Laura33]

So this will be part rant, part request for advice, part sharing some insights into how to deal with a difficult work situation.
For the last year I’ve been working what has essentially been my dream job.  Had a great boss, flexible hours, good salary with great bonus potential, close to home….the works.  Unfortunately the management for the division that I work in is being downsized, and I will be reporting to a new manager, someone who I work with now but don’t currently report to.  Even more unfortunate, while I was recently out on parental leave for two months, she spent the entire time lying to my manager about my performance trying to make me look bad (timed conveniently while I wasn’t around to defend myself).  My ACTUAL performance has been stellar, and my manager did have a talk with me that basically boiled down to “I know you’re doing great, but here’s a heads up about what this person has been doing”.  UGGGH…..
I figure I have a few options going forward:
DIRECT WAR: Confront her directly about her lies.  Tell her that I will be documenting all our conversations going forward to prevent “he said/she said” BS.  Also advise her that I will be documenting all the many ways in which she is a problem employee and sending them to her manager.  Tell her that if she needs any assistance from me that is outside of my job description, she can forget it, and that I will not be coming to her for any assistance.  As tempting as it is to employ this option, it’s really not a great move in any way.  A confrontation like this is bound to get people to choose sides, and who knows which side anyone will choose? Even if they DO choose my side, a blowup like that could plant seeds of doubt in their minds.  Sure would be fun to have that conversation though!!!
INDIRECT WAR: Don’t confront her at all.  Document the ways in which she is a problem employee and covertly send them to her boss without her knowledge.  Advise her other reports to do the same.  Smile and decline for various reasons anytime she needs help.  This seems just as risky as direct war.  My experience is that people hate underhanded machinations and this is definitely underhanded.  Also, it makes my skin crawl to do anything so phony and shady.
DIRECT PEACE: Make an active effort to become her favorite employee.  Smile and take it on the many times she pulls some of her BS.  Try to outlast her or find a promotion within or outside the company.  I don’t think I have it in me to do this, since I’m so soured from my previous experience with her and her personality in general.  I have won over a lot of managers who initially didn’t get along with me though.
SPEAK SOFTLY AND CARRY A BIG STICK: Make an active effort to improve her opinion of me, within reason.  Document our conversations but don’t tell her why; for example e-mailing her summaries of our conversations and saying it’s “so I don’t forget what we discussed”.  Document the many ways in which she is a problem employee, but keep it in a file in case she decides to escalate, at which point it will be brought up with her manager.  Don’t outright refuse to help her, but be much more discriminating in how, when and how often.  This is the option I’m currently employing.
Some things I’m doing that will apply to ALL options:
Work hard to be a model employee.  I could understand some of her complaints, even though she never confronted me directly to address them, and then exaggerated them to the point of absurdity when I wasn’t around to offer a different point of view.  I can work on those issues in a reasonable manner without any confrontation.  If someone is out to get you, then they will look for any reason, no matter how small to make you look bad.  Don’t give them one.
DOCUMENT DOCUMENT DOCUMENT!!!  Dates, times, transcripts, etc.  If I have a conversation with her about my schedule, I send an e-mail summarizing.  Later if she says something different, there is a written record.
Project a positive image to the people involved; other managers, her manager, coworkers, people from other divisions that we work with, etc.  If there is a big group of people who all think very highly of you, then the one person who is out to get you looks a little out of place.
I’m open to any additional feedback, advice etc on my situation, and please share your own experiences with difficult managers.

Probably not yours.  Managers fundamentally hate employees who can't bother to try to get along -- it's like dealing with little kids, where in the end you really don't care *who* started it, you just want them to STFU and get on with it.  I would also be leery because presumably they picked this person to be the new manager for a reason, so the new bosses may be more aligned philosophically with her than you.

I think you have the right idea:  keep your head down, do your work, be a model employee, keep your cool, be respectful, and document, document, document.

[ShortInSeattle]

If you're working for a manager who openly lies about your performance I believe your best option is to look for another position, leave, and make sure that the company knows why you left in an attempt to protect the next guy. Unless you can transfer to an internal position with a different manager in short order.

In the end, your performance is only stellar in a practical sense if your manager agrees it is stellar. So this new manager's opinion is going to be what matters, moving forward. Her expectations may differ from those of your other boss, and it's her right to set those expectations. Just because your old boss thought you were the bees knees, she's not required to think the same thing. Therefore if you want to stay, your best bet is probably figuring out what she wants and delivering it with a good attitude. No games.

Sure, you can document everything in an attempt to protect yourself the next time she lowers the boom, but how often do employees win out against unreasonable management?  There probably isn't a whole lot of benefit in documenting her sins, unless they put the company at legal risk, in which case you shouldn't sit on them anyway. If you're written up for something and your response is "Hey, but Manager sucks even harder..." you'll be seen as deflecting from the real issue, or making excuses.

You *can* fight management, but your odds of success are poor.

Here a revised set of options to consider:

A: Find out what stellar performance looks like to her, and seek to deliver that performance.
B: Find a different job, working for someone you can trust.
C: Spend your days furiously documenting everything, feeling defensive, and being passive-aggressive.

Yeah, I think option C kinda sucks. A or B is where it's at. :)

I'm sorry you find yourself in this situation. Your previous boss sounds cool.

SIS

[Chrissy]

Start applying to other jobs.  Meanwhile...

WHY was she badmouthing your performance to your soon-to-be former manager?  This is the person who actually knows your performance and, yet, is soon to not give a crap about it.  What's her game here?  Was she hoping to get your fired upon your return?  She doesn't sound like a strategic thinker.

From your current manager, get as much in writing as you can about your working conditions (schedule, flexible schedule permission) and performance.  When she tries to "lay down the law", present her with your current situation and ask with innocent eyes if she's trying to alter your compensation package (which is backed up with stellar past performance), because you're certainly open to negotiation!  That changes the conversation from "Do it this way or you're insubordinate!" to "Wait, did I just open up salary talks?"

Hopefully, it'll seem like too much trouble to get into it with you, and she'll back off, OR you can ask for more money in exchange for working conditions.

[intellectsucks]

Thanks for the responses guys.  Some clarifications:
They didn’t create a new management position that I could have taken, it’s more like they took an existing manager and gave her a bunch of new employees.  I loathe management work anyway, so I would have had no desire to take on that job.
Regarding scheduling issues, the previous manager understood that I was given certain metrics to meet and as long as I was meeting them, I was open to manage my own schedule.  If I worked until 7 or 8 one night, it was fine for me to come in at 9:30 or 10 the next day, same thing on the weeks when I would work Saturdays.  Basically under him, I had to make sure that I had a full time schedule and hit my metrics, otherwise he didn’t care when I was working (this flexibility in schedule was a big part of what made me take the job a year ago).  I am able to (and have been) regularize my schedule to better fit the new managers preference, but the nature of what I do is not something that lends itself to being clocked in on a regular 9-5 schedule.
In regards to looking for a new job, I’m keeping that as a pretty last ditch effort.  This job is pretty damn close to my ideal job; if I ended my career doing what I’m doing now, I would have no regrets.  It’s possible I will find something similar that is close to home, but unlikely.  I’d almost certainly have to make a big sacrifice in salary, working conditions or commute if I switched.
I’m also not seriously considering a job change because in the last six years of my career I’ve had between 10-12 different managers.  There were three that I didn’t click with, and it was just a matter of keeping my head down, making sure that I was meeting the metrics that were in my job description and waiting them out til they quit, were fired or transferred.  Of those three managers, two were very similar to the new manager in personality and work habits.  I strongly suspect that in a year, there will be a new manager.  If not, then I’ll re-evaluate.