Fern Helpline
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I'm a slightly rusty job search/careers advisor for anyone who wants help along those lines.
Also if anyone needs regional economic data for business changes or new plans, or general immigration information for anyone with staff or family in a pickle.
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Right place for this then? I'm struggling to figure out how to deal with this one (not exactly major)....
So my boss - really nice guy, always means well and does fight my corner if it's required. But...I can't have a conversation with him about anything without getting one sentence in and then hearing a 5 minute (at least) personal anecdote from him on a same/similar topic. We have a weekly one-to-one and I've given up. There is no point me trying to raise anything anymore as I don't get a chance to say my piece AND I get regaled with a monologue about an experience I have no interest in.
I don't really know what to do about it - if I say something then I'm sure that would just make him completely shut down in future due to being so self conscious about it - or am I projecting?
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@Catogrande said in Fern Helpline:
@Bones You've just described being married. Sucks that you get the same shit at work though. Thoughts and prayers.
Annnnnd there goes any future plans for a proposal.
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@Bones said in Fern Helpline:
Right place for this then? I'm struggling to figure out how to deal with this one (not exactly major)....
So my boss - really nice guy, always means well and does fight my corner if it's required. But...I can't have a conversation with him about anything without getting one sentence in and then hearing a 5 minute (at least) personal anecdote from him on a same/similar topic. We have a weekly one-to-one and I've given up. There is no point me trying to raise anything anymore as I don't get a chance to say my piece AND I get regaled with a monologue about an experience I have no interest in.
I don't really know what to do about it - if I say something then I'm sure that would just make him completely shut down in future due to being so self conscious about it - or am I projecting?
On the way to work, grab a stick. At the beginning of the meeting hold up the stick and explain the purpose of the stick is to denote who may talk. Tell him to nod if he understands. If he says yes, hit him with the stick.
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@antipodean hate it when my eyes are all blurry after waking up and "st" looks like "d".
Anyway, thanks. We're getting along great now.
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@Bones said in Fern Helpline:
Right place for this then? I'm struggling to figure out how to deal with this one (not exactly major)....
So my boss - really nice guy, always means well and does fight my corner if it's required. But...I can't have a conversation with him about anything without getting one sentence in and then hearing a 5 minute (at least) personal anecdote from him on a same/similar topic. We have a weekly one-to-one and I've given up. There is no point me trying to raise anything anymore as I don't get a chance to say my piece AND I get regaled with a monologue about an experience I have no interest in.
I don't really know what to do about it - if I say something then I'm sure that would just make him completely shut down in future due to being so self conscious about it - or am I projecting?
The main thing for me is, how important are the thing(s) you're trying to raise with the boss? Are they just regular staff complaints/ideas , or are they material issues?
I'd say you have to prioritise, push the things that matter to the point of being offensive, but let the rest of the things go.
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@Bones said in Fern Helpline:
@antipodean hate it when my eyes are all blurry after waking up and "st" looks like "d".
Anyway, thanks. We're getting along great now.
I hate it when you wake up and s, t, and d are all together...
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@Bones I have nothing to add but sympathy. I went on a date with a guy like that and it was honestly terrible. Like seriously, he did not shut up. What made it more irritating, is he would start with a question, you might say one word, then he would interrupt and tell yet another boring as fuck anecdote. I could have said 'green bucket' and he would have been all 'ohhhh, lemme tell you about the time...'
That you haven't yet stabbed said supervisor in the eye with a pencil shows you have great patience. Well done.
One other thing...if you always listen to him and don't change the subject or grasp back the conversation, he may well believe you are interested in his tales. You need to break him of the habit with you. Get him back on topic. Do something to break his train of thought. Shuffle a file or stretch or neaten a pile of papers or something.