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Where I work, I
have no privacy at all, thanks to the way my boss set up my almost-cube. I don't even have half of a cube
(only 1/4th), and the way my computer is
situated, she can see me from her cube (she sits
directly behind me, but has walls). To
give you a little history, the three secretaries who did my
job before I was hired left because
my boss is so nosy. The secretary I replaced told me that she caught the boss reading her email that she had accidentally left open on her
computer (email isn't monitored here by
the office administrator).
My boss looks to see what I am doing every chance she gets. I have done nothing to warrant this behavior, either. I went to the building manager to ask for some walls, but so far nothing has been done about it. Even the building manager knows that my boss is a nosy person. I do my work, and I do it right and on time. I was also assigned the duty of developing and maintaining our department's website (which my boss does not want to put in my job description, of course), and in order to do this, I need a modicum of privacy. My boss doesn't seem to mind that I have none, and doesn't care if it hinders me getting work done due to constant interruptions.
To try and solve the monitoring problem, I took a CD, and placed it strategically at my desk so that I could see when she is looking at me from behind. This works to a point, but my question is, should I just get out? She has done many other rude and backstabbing things to me in the past, and this is just a constant annoyance to me. Any suggestions?
Signed,
Monitored At My Monitor
Dear
Monitored:
The American Management Association in 1997 reported that 27% of firms monitor email, and many employees are not even told that this is being done. Your situation is a bit different--you know you are being watched and watched frequently. Your situation is not unlike the Japanese work situation in which the boss sits at the head of the table and workers, elbow to elbow, work around the same table. Only you have partitions, inadequate though they be.
Have you tried a private meeting with her in which you lay out the rules about how you want to be treated? However, from what you tell us, I don't think an assertive confrontation with your boss will change her. You might try the broken record technique of kindly, even with increasingly passion, saying, "Leave me alone to do my job....(repeated for emphasis) LEAVE ME ALONE TO DO MY JOB.... LEAVE ME ALONE TO DO MY JOB. I'LL CALL YOU WHEN I NEED YOU. DON'T CALL ME." After such an assertion, possibly repeated over several days, I think your nosy boss will get the point, or will help you seek a transfer. Surely there are other jobs available in your university setting. You might tell her that you will seek a transfer if she will give you a good recommendation. You sound to me like an employee many bosses would like to have.
Do let us know what you do and what works or does not.
WEGO for what works. Others can learn from you.
Bill Gorden
Workplace Doctors