Work has become uncomfortable after a nasty exchange with our Office Administrator. Should I just get over it and stay or look for a new job?

Q.  Recently a colleague of mine used one of our company databases for personal reasons and racked up quite a large charge. Since this is my area, I notified the head of finance. When the Office Administrator heard what happened, he sent me a nasty email reaming me out and said that EVERYTHING that happens at our company is his business. I replied that I would copy him on everything moving forward. Needless to say, things are strained. Should I start looking for another job? I have ZERO tolerance for nastiness.

A.  When a colleague misuses a company resource, it’s natural to report it to the appropriate authority. It sounds like the person who used the company databases for their own personal research exercised bad judgement. If you were the person responsible for the company databases and their use, it would make sense to talk to your manager and the head of finance to ensure the employee was billed for their personal use of the database.

What’s unfortunate is how the office administrator let perceived power impact his comments to you by overreacting. This points to deeper issues of micromanagement. People who react in a nasty way to colleagues and attack someone who is trying to do the right thing have let power go to their head. They don’t understand or recognize that they really don’t want to know EVERYTHING that happens in an organization, just the important stuff. If they really do want to know everything, then they are micromanaging and shouldn’t be in a leadership role.

Recognize that asking you to copy the Office Administrator on everything is horrifying for both you and for that individual. The amount of time you spend ensuring that this individual is aware of needless information and the amount of time that the Office Administrator wastes reading that same junk will amount to so much wasted time. And it will likely cause both of you to be less efficient than you used to be.

Before you refresh your resume, talk to your manager. Often when someone overreacts there are other issues going on that aren’t clear to all. Perhaps the office admin has been accused of being out of the loop recently on things that they should be aware of. Let your manager help you figure out how much effort needs to go into this relationship and help you create reasonable boundaries around what that person really needs to know.

It sounds like they aren’t the type of person you can have a reasonable conversation with, but you could try, “I understand that you are frustrated that I didn’t share this information with you. I want to make sure I get you the information you really need. I’m sure you didn’t really want me to copy you on all emails, so which areas are key to let you know about?” The worst case scenario is  this micromanager will say they want you to copy them on everything. You can ask for how long. And then passively start skipping things while you try and do your job – as long as your manager knows this is your plan.

If this person is a key player within the organization, and they won’t choose to leave or be forced out, look for other job opportunities internally or externally. You could certainly discreetly ask others if they’ve had similar reactions or interactions with this person or if this was strictly directed at you. This is not the kind of person that you want to work for or report to. You will always suffer by working with someone who’s a megalomaniac.