the names have been changed to protect the idiots

[gailsedotes]

Dear Professor X,

I have just had F*ckwit ring me at 3pm (when he knows I leave the house to pick my children up from school) to say that he has major problems on the Minimovie and it needs rewriting. This was all to be signed off last week. Work has been completed and disks burnt. Any major changes made now would rightly be billable. F*ckwit did not even look at it until today. I cannot begin to tell you how much this has upset me (shaking and in tears) or how much pressure this has put me under.

· First the “F*ckwit Self Promotional Tour” where he claims credit for all of the IP for the project and promotes himself first and foremost

· No funding has been approached or applied for despite promises and everything he has claimed and reported

· Six months of content sitting on his desk untouched and unedited. To this day we have no real exact figure for what he has edited and what he has not despite his lists.

· The questionable material, which he has also told me, he browsed on the work laptop. The man is a teacher and the site is aimed at minors – the complete stupidity of that one act alone is unbelievable.

· His constant prevarications and out right lies.

· His arrogance.

· His actions are no longer being positive but a provable negative drain project funds.

I am aware that writing this is enough to get me dismissed. But, I can’t continue to work with someone who is this irresponsible, unprofessional and incompetent. I know you don’t feel that this is your responsibility to deal with – but I have nowhere to turn to. F*ckwit is my boss until you tell him he’s not and I can’t continue to both my job and his and be treated like this. I can’t speak to him and feel any kind of respect, especially after the questionable material. Be professional? You should not be demanding this from me.


[Poll #295532]

Comments

[angua.livejournal.com]

Take deep breaths (and a large glass of gin).

Sit on the mail for a couple of hours, calm down, potter around and do something entirely different. Then come back and re-read it and phrase it in a slightly calmer tone.

Then send it.

[gailsedotes.livejournal.com]

you know how i took that nearly full bottle of tequila home with me? well it's empty now and i am ever so slighlty hung over...

[bellinghwoman.livejournal.com]

I agree with angua that you should go and do something completely different for a couple of hours but when you come back, here's a few suggestions. The bits in bold are the bits I think should be left in, the bits on italic I think should be left out because they either weaken your argument or appear to be potentially unprovable, and if you're going to make accusations in writing, you'd better be damn sure you have cast iron evidence...

I have just had F*ckwit ring me at 3pm
(when he knows I leave the house to pick my children up from school)
to say that he has major problems on the Minimovie and it needs rewriting. This was all to be signed off last week. Work has been completed and disks burnt. Any major changes made now would rightly be billable. (Note: if you have any idea of what the cost would be, put it in)
I cannot begin to tell you how much this has upset me (shaking and in tears) or how much pressure this has put me under.

I wish to bring to your attention the following points:

. F*ckwit did not review the work until after the (known) deadline had passed.

· First the “F*ckwit Self Promotional Tour” where he claims credit for all of the IP for the project and promotes himself first and foremost (Note: Unfortunately, bosses taking credit for work done entirely by their staff is far from abnormal)

· No funding has been approached or applied for, despite claims and reports to the contrary.
despite promises and everything he has claimed and reported

· There are six months of content sitting on his desk untouched and unedited. To this day we have no real exact figure for what he has edited and what he has not despite his lists.

· The questionable material, which, according to F*ckwit himself, he has also told me, he browsed on the work laptop.
The man is a teacher and the site is aimed at minors – the complete stupidity of that one act alone is unbelievable. (Note: let the Professor draw his own conclusions...)

· His constant prevarications and out right lies.

· His arrogance.

· His actions are no longer being positive but a provable negative drain project funds.

I am aware that writing this is enough to get me dismissed. But,
I can’t continue to work with someone who is this irresponsible, unprofessional and incompetent. I know you don’t feel that this is your responsibility to deal with – but I have nowhere to turn to.
While this may lie outside you direct area of responsibility, I feel compelled to write to you, as, under the circumstances, I have no-one else to whom I can turn. F*ckwit is my boss until you tell him he is not, and the environment in which I am being required to work has become untenable. If you are unable to help, I would appreciate your advice as to the next steps I should take to resolve the situation.
- and I can’t continue to do both my job and his under and be treated like this. I can’t speak to him and feel any kind of respect, especially after the questionable material. Be professional? You should not be demanding this from me.

Letters like this always need to be as objective, factual and unemotional as possible (sorry, statement of the bleedin' obvious!) - if you decide to go into writing, I hope the above helps.

Whatever you decide to do, I hope the situation gets resolved to your satisfaction.

[icemachine.livejournal.com]

Am in absolute agreement. The unemotional approach is the best. Walking away, getting some air, returning to the message and editing the tone is a good thing. But definitely get the message across. An unemotional, factual, even slightly detached message does a far better of conveying the situation than anything else. And you'll feel better about reading it back to yourself later on.

Wish I'd remembered that last night, actually.