I’m finding it hard to connect with my manager and it is stressing me out.
I started a new job around 3 weeks ago, and it is very much a “dream job” for me. I’ve felt extremely comfortable in my new role, I’m really good at it already, and I like my coworkers a lot. My manager, for the first couple of days, was really awesome and spent time getting to know me. She is extremely hands-off and told me that I am welcome to ask questions when needed. This is definitely a red flag, but because I am coming with a lot fo experience, the questions are quite minimal. For some reason, as the days have gone by, I’ve felt like it has been really hard to reach her to ask questions about the role, but it has also been really odd trying to speak to her and get to know her. In the past two weeks, I’ve felt myself feeling really uncomfortable asking her questions. When I speak to her, sometimes she will seem like she is not listening and pick up her phone and text like she is distracted. This definitely comes across as rude or that what I have to say is not important. Yesterday, we were alone in one area in an office space with multiple other people, and I was making conversation as we were waiting for something. She seemed extremely disengaged, didn’t answer something I asked because she was on her phone, and then said “I’m going to go in the other room and talk to _____”. There was no effort made to help me connect with that person or bring me into the convo (as I am new), but I also understand why she might not have done that. I feel like part of this might be that she doesn’t know how to interact with me, and I’m quieter than usual because I am new and in a new environment.
There are a few more instances that are relatively similar to the last anecdote, but I’ll leave them out for now.
I am looking for advice on how to remedy this situation. I really like the job and I want to try and find a way to connect with this manager (even if I don’t necessarily love how she interacts with me) because it’s important to feeling comfortable at this job. How would you go about this?
TLDR: I am looking for advice on how to remedy this situation. I really like the job and I want to try and find a way to connect with this manager (even if I don’t necessarily love how she interacts with me) because it’s important to feeling comfortable at this job. How would you go about this?
Comments
Try saying, “I want to make sure I’m meeting expectations. How can we improve communication?” If it’s affecting you, address it.