Do you feel your boss doesn’t handle issues as he should? Does he or she brush off real problem situations and only concentrate on trivial details? Does your boss not listen to your ideas and only put forth his own? How about imposing impossible deadlines or expectations – sound familiar? Do your emails and phone calls go unreturned?

When dealing with their problem managers, people’s first instincts are to hang them. They do this by not offering ideas or support, or by simply not alerting their manager to problems happening around them. This is not the best solution. When you deliberately set out to sabotage people by not offering what you know, the only person you are hurting is you. Thinking that your manager should have the good sense to know what is happening in the office or the implications of creating new policies in the department, so you’re not going to tell them, only makes you look bad in the end. And looking poorly at your job is not the way to advance at any company, no matter what you feel your manager has done, or not done, to get to his or her position. Remember that your job is to do your job. A part of any job is giving the good advice you have to offer, and alerting people to problems as you see them occur. Don’t hang yourself because you think someone else is clueless and you want to set out to prove it.

If you are having problems with your manager, try talking to them. Let them know you’re having trouble and set up a meeting for a time to talk. You could just walk into their office or call them on the phone asking for some of their time, but if they tell you they don’t have time at that moment, odds are it will just fuel your fire as you’ll feel resentful that they don’t have time for you. Be realistic, they have a job to do also. Set up an appointment.

Prior to your meeting, create a list of things you’d like to see addressed, but keep it simple. State the problem, an example of when the issue occurred, and how you’d like to see your manager handle the situation differently. Once you begin your list, if you find yourself writing a book, limit your items to the most important two or three. The last thing you want to do is go into this meeting with pages of grievances that will put your manager on the defense.

During the meeting, do your best to leave your emotions at the door. You’re going into this meeting to help repair your working relationship with your superior, not make things worse by yelling or spewing inappropriate ranting. Keep your tone professional, remain respectful, and keep the conversation on track with the list you created prior to the meeting.

If you feel you are not able to speak to your manager, and your company has a human resources department dedicated to helping its employees (and not the company), meet with your representative and ask for help. They may be able to help guide you with advice and taking the best approach. They may even be able to tell you if others have come in asking for help with your manager as well. At the least, they should be able to act as a mediator making sure that both sides are seeing the others point. Ask them to sit in the meeting with you and your manager if you’re not comfortable tackling this problem on your own.

If meeting with your manager makes you want to cringe, or laugh out loud at the absurdity of it, you may need to try another approach. Are there others in your department that report to your manager as well? If you trust that your conversation will be confidential, and you respect their opinion, give them a call. Ask if they’ve encountered the same problems you have. If they have, ask them how they handled it. If not, ask them what they’ve done differently - and be open to the fact that the problem may be you. One thing to keep in mind about speaking to a coworker: if they are the resident complainer, they won’t be any help. You’ll just leave the conversation more frustrated then when it started.

Does your company promote open communication with senior managers? You can always try speaking to your manager’s manager. Have you worked with them before? Do you feel they could help? If so, set up an appointment with them. Who knows, you might not be the first person speaking to them about this problem. You’ll need to follow the same approach as setting up a meeting with your manager: create a clear description of the problem, speak in a calm professional voice, and leave your ranting out of the conversation.

Still not satisfied? Ok, so you’re looking for an approach that is under the radar – no human resources, no coworkers, and no upper management. Basically you’re looking for help from someone that has nothing to do with your position and won’t leak information to your manager. You can try two things:

One, speak to someone in a management position either at your company, but outside your department, or a friend that is a manager also. Ask them how they handle their employees and ask how they like their employees to handle them. Knowing how other managers like to be treated, and like to be fed information, could help you adjust your style. As mentioned before, keep an open mind that the problem just may be you.

Two, speak to friends, family, and acquaintances outside your company. Unless you own your own business or work for yourself, everyone reports to someone. Many people are unhappy with their jobs, and for some, the reason is directly related to their manager. You should have no problem asking others what they’ve done to handle their own manager dilemmas.

When all else fails, you may want to consider updating your resume and exploring other job opportunities. If you’re a bright individual dedicated to getting the job done, there are certainly other jobs out there for you.

 

6/06/07