Angry emails at work

Former Member

How do you deal with a superior at work, sitting in a different office who sends you angry emails?

Former Member

Have you reported it to your supervisor? Doesn't sound too professional to me.

Former Member

Hey Ybe7 - sounds horrible to be on the end of angry emails

Is there another superior you can talk to, or possibly someone in HR? If you have a colleague that is getting the same thing then the two of you might want to consider talking to someone else in management about it.

We have some advice on difficult bosses here: http://www.thesite.org/work-and-study/working-life/i-hate-my-boss-1351.html

One thing it says that stood out to me was:

While a good working relationship will be based on respect and encouragement, often a bad relationship is due to stress, bad communication or poor training. While it’s always possible your boss is just a grumpy control freak with no social skills, consider that they might be struggling at work as well.

If you feel able to approach your boss and say something like 'you seem really stressed, what can I do to help?' - this could be one way of bringing attention to their behaviour but also showing you're keen to ultimately work together.

This article on assertiveness could be a useful one to have a look at too: http://www.thesite.org/mental-health/body-image-and-self-esteem/assertiveness-5942.html

Let us know how things are going.

Former Member

Thanks for that. That's very helpful. If talking to another superior, is it acceptable to say that it makes you feel angry?

Former Member

HI Ybe7. I'd maybe not start with "angry", perhaps start with saying that you're finding the emails to be a working style which doesn't really work for you. Try not to be too defensive initially, it will probably make you come across more professionally that way. There are some tips in this article which may help - especially around giving clear examples etc.