Tyrant PM - Quit or not?

[Bee]

There are difficult people everywhere and I'm one of them sometimes but you just have to calibrate your approach for different people.

Take the moral high ground - organise a coffee or even a beer and see if you can talk it through.

Look at this as a learning experience.

I'm a PM but can remember a very difficult (but very talented) developer I had in the team once - took him out for a beer and he ended up blubbing like a baby - the long and short of it was that he was actually quite a vulnerable person and struggled with plans, deadlines and the day to day project stuff.

I gave him a very complex workstream and left him to his own devices and he came up trumps and delivered it on time and with every aspect fully tested.

Don't spend work time snarling at each other - try and work it out and in the meantime see what else is on the market!

Exactly this.

[MrMarkyMark]

There are difficult people everywhere and I'm one of them sometimes but you just have to calibrate your approach for different people.

Take the moral high ground - organise a coffee or even a beer and see if you can talk it through.

Look at this as a learning experience.

I'm a PM but can remember a very difficult (but very talented) developer I had in the team once - took him out for a beer and he ended up blubbing like a baby - the long and short of it was that he was actually quite a vulnerable person and struggled with plans, deadlines and the day to day project stuff.

I gave him a very complex workstream and left him to his own devices and he came up trumps and delivered it on time and with every aspect fully tested.

Don't spend work time snarling at each other - try and work it out and in the meantime see what else is on the market!

In "reality" you should have got him fired the next day though, right?

No one likes a blubber

[SueEllen]

In "reality" you should have got him fired the next day though, right?

No one likes a blubber

He should have been fired for being disorganised.

[m0n1k3r]

Bottom line is I have a right tyrant of a PM and I keep getting the sharp end of her tongue.

I'm not asked to carry out tasks, I feel like I'm being ordered around & she's constantly checking up on me.

If there is a clause against supervision, direction or control in your contract, then you can claim breach of contract and leave in order to protect your business interests (such as IR35).

Personally, I would have none of it. She comes across as a person who is better suited to manage a group of children at a nursery than a team of professionals.

[washed up contractor]

Bottom line is I have a right tyrant of a PM and I keep getting the sharp end of her tongue.

I'm not asked to carry out tasks, I feel like I'm being ordered around & she's constantly checking up on me.

Been biting my tongue for a few weeks now but this is coming to a head (just had a mouthful from her at 7.30 am as soon as I walked through the door) & I feel I'm just going to give her a piece of my mind and walk.

As I contractor, I'm guessing I have 2 options - one is to tough it out the other is to walk. No inbetweens.

How do you deal with this sort of thing? Any of you ever just walked out? I guess it puts payment of your most recent invoice in jeopardy?

Haha, the PM sounds like heather who I once had the displeasure to work with. Eventually told her to fornicate away from me and left. You either take it or put a stop to it one way or another.

If you dont want to tackle it head on then terminate your contract and look for a new one. However, that is not likely to be a good move in this market.

Alternatively, you ask for a polite word in private as I did and tell the person that you consider you are not being offered professional respect and that you'll leave if things do not improve. Which is what I did. Life is too short for you to be treated like tulip at work.

[fatJock]

Exactly this.

+1

[northernladyuk]

Haha, the PM sounds like heather who I once had the displeasure to work with. Eventually told her to fornicate away from me and left. You either take it or put a stop to it one way or another.

If you dont want to tackle it head on then terminate your contract and look for a new one. However, that is not likely to be a good move in this market.

Alternatively, you ask for a polite word in private as I did and tell the person that you consider you are not being offered professional respect and that you'll leave if things do not improve. Which is what I did. Life is too short for you to be treated like tulip at work.

Worth recording that conservation in case she says something that gives you leverage.

[fatJock]

I've just replaced a PM called Heather. Hopefully not related .....

[BlasterBates]

The best way to deal with anyone difficult is simply not to let them bother you, then bide your time and leave. I always find when you get on the wrong side of someone first of all it makes you angry and then when you realise they're a difficult plonker it becomes more like a nuisance than a real problem. Once I've noted them as a twerp I'm not bothered by their antics. Just enjoy the moments where the project goes wrong and she's flapping around like a headless chicken, also take delight in giving her bad news and enjoy the spectacle of her temper tantrums, perhaps noting when she breaks a record in how much of a twerp she is.

I remember one difficult developer, once it was clear he was difficult I looked forward to ringing him up to see if I could make him lose his patience.

[DallasDad]

If there is a clause against supervision, direction or control in your contract, then you can claim breach of contract and leave in order to protect your business interests (such as IR35).

Personally, I would have none of it. She comes across as a person who is better suited to manage a group of children at a nursery than a team of professionals.

+1 my thoughts exactly, if outside IR35 go now because this behaviour could risk bringing you inside.