I was bullied in my previous job by my manager. Now to be clear, she never said anything out of line, but the manner which she spoke to me was absolutely pathetic, borderline harassment.
So this was my team structure...
- Executive Director (my manager's manager)
- Manager (my manager)
- Me
- ED's EA
- Others
One such meeting I had with her left me feeling very depressed. I raised this with her in the next meeting and her attitude was even worse, and she was documenting everything. Now this is where you need to be careful. I wanted to clench my fist and slam it down on the meeting room table but she would have documented that too
so I was fuming but kept a lid on it. The only thing I could really do that she couldn't document was anything to do with my facial expression. I pressed my lips together then left that meeting very angry. I went to my desk dropped my things, then went to break out room and had a glass of cool water. I counted to 10, then went to the ED's EA (she sat right next to my manager) and I said to her (so my manager could hear) "Pamela can you please book a meeting for me and Brenda
right now" - and she did. My managers face turned white... she knew that was the straw the broke the camels back.
From that moment on my manager knew that I was someone who knew my rights and wasn't afraid to exercise them.
In the workplace don't just say "I know my rights", actually go and execute them. If you take the quiet approach to deal with someone by going to HR or a manager, that stings them even harder.