Employee records her manager during their 1 on 1 meeting: 'Is this normal now? Is she building a case against me?'

Advertisement
  • Woman in a teal t-shirt sitting beside woman in suit jacket
  • My employee was recording our 1 on 1, and I don't know how to feel.

    First year as a manager and something happened in my last 1:1 that I am still processing.
  • Halfway through the meeting I glanced at her phone and noticed she had real-time meeting assistant running.
  • Person holding black android smartphone
  • Full transcript about everything we said. I did not say anything in the moment because I was not sure how to react.
  • Is this normal now? Is she building a case against me? Am I supposed to be offended or is this just how some people manage their work?
  • I am not hiding anything and nothing I said was out of line. And I think nothing is going wrong.
  • But there is something about being recorded without a heads up that felt off. If she had just said hey do you mind if I record this so I can take better notes I probably would have said yes.
  • The silent part is what bugs me. The thing that makes this harder is she is a decent employee and I have no real reason to suspect bad intent.
  • Maybe she genuinely just wanted to keep track of action items. But my gut still says something about this was not right.
  • Person writing bucket list on book
  • Other managers has this happened to you? Is this something I should bring up or just let it go?
  • futureballermaybe What's the employee like? My colleague did this to me a while ago, it turned out they had ADHD and hadn't felt comfortable disclosing it but struggled with retaining information in lengthy meetings. They had started covertly recording this to have notes. Not saying ideal btw but it could be for less nefarious reasons.
  • TheDrummingApe Do you have a policy that prohibits recording and what are the recording laws in your state? I am an ops manager and report directly to the site manager but I dont trust the guy at all. My company has no written policy on recording and I live in a state with only one party consent is needed when recording conversations. I record every interaction with him to cover my a . It's possible this person doesnt trust you.
  • Sopwith Turtle What's your company policy on this? Ours is that everyone in a meeting has to consent to be recorded. I would look up company policy (and state law, for that matter) and then definitely bring it up. I've had to remind a fellow manager of this because she was recording all her meetings so she could transcribe them later.
  • zeelbeno Only probably have said yes? Recording without asking is potentially a bit off... but most of the time I would put it down to naivety over social etiquette than anything else. I would simply say "I don't mind you recording our meetings, but in future please make sure to check with the other people in the room to ensure everyone is happy with it" Doesn't need to be blown out of proportion like you're considering.
  • gringogidget I record every 1:1 for receipts. I have been burnt way too many times as a manager and as an employee. I use it for my own reference, though.
  • bluecrystalcreative I often do this to one of my clients. I have been working for that company for coming up on 15 years and often while the manager is driving (they do lots of interstate work). I will get a phone call sometimes an hour and a half long where they will verbal me on 6-8 separate tasks that need to be done in a particular fashion. I found it when I was taking notes. I was concentrating on taking notes and wasn't absorbing everything that was being said because I was writing down th
  • mtgsecuritynerd If I could go back in time and record my manager more I would have. He made a lot of promises that never came through. I'm also adhd, and I would do so nebulously as we're expected to remember everything.
  • Complex_Technology83 Look how quickly management squirms with just the slightest shift in power.
  • RMAutosport I am someone who would record my 1:1 calls with managers. Two reasons.... 1. Sometimes I could take things the wrong way the first time listening to it in real time and I want to be sure I'm not making it big deal. 2. To cover my a when a former manager of mine would throw out wild accusations of me, then would backtrack and say I was lying when i brought it to HR.

Tags

Scroll Down For The Next Article