This Week's episode: Make A Decision!

My work is hysterical! Our "manager" (I can't bring myself to type the description without quote marks)'s managing skills are so non-existent it's truly unbelievable that she was ever employed.

She went on some management training recently (only 5.5 months after she started the job!!!!!) and we all waited expectantly, desperately hoping that we'd see a difference when she was next in the office.

Reader, I am sorry to report that all our wishful thinking was nothing more than that! If anything, her skills seem to have got worse!

Last Wednesday we had another long, arduously excrutiating team meeting, where once again nothing was decided as she does not seem capable of making decisions. We spent another 2.5 hours trying, in the politest way possible, to explain that we needed some direction from her. Yet she simply applied her single, completely useless method of asking us all what we thought about each agenda item, scribbling copious scribbles in her book (she must have filled about 10 books since she started the job), mumbling "okay then" and trying to move on to the next item without actioning anything. As minute taker, I constantly had to keep reminding her "...erm, so what's the action on that last item?"

To give credit where it's due, when pressed for the 10th time, she did actually come up with a decision about one of the items, but her suggestion was so incredulous, lacking in any structure, thought process or realistic planning and most alarmingly, with no consideration for the safety of the poor service users, that she eventually had to agree that it would not be feasible! Oh heavens! It was so painful!

We had been promised a 'team development' opportunity when one member of staff returned from leave. This was 2 months ago and not only has nothing happened yet, but there are no firm plans in place to make it happen before the end of the year. Although some 'team development' time will not solve all the team's problems it will at least help us all to understand each other's roles (i.e. help the "manager" to understand our roles and our expectations of her role - managing would be nice, thank you, please!) and we could perhaps start working together instead of, as is the current situation, the team working on it's own with no management support or understanding.

When I suggested that we have a mini development day without a facilitator (as she has not managed to get hold of one thus far) before Christmas, just to get things rolling, so we wouldn't have to start the new year in exactly the same position, the "manager" made her 2nd decision ever and vetoed this without explaining why!

.......and so on and so on