Zena's Things Of Interest: Dealing with an Unorganized Boss II

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Dealing with an Unorganized Boss II

via Productivity501 by Mark Shead on 10/16/08

Bosses who contradict themselves.

This can be a really annoying type of person to work for. In mild forms, it just seems like they are slightly confused. In really bad situations, these bosses seem totally deranged and malicious. If you have a boss who will tell you to drop everything and work on X and then come back and ask why you aren't working on Y, you are dealing with one of these bosses.

In most cases, these types of people aren't outright malicious; they just have a very short memory, no clear goals, and are very unorganized. You can usually improve the situation by putting their statements in writing. For example, if your boss comes in and asks you to drop everything and work on X, write it on your whiteboard while they are there watching. For bigger items, you might follow up with a memo or email.

In some cases, you might want to draft their instructions and get
them to sign off on it. Obviously, this is only worth while if it is
something substantial, but having a plan or procedure that your boss
has signed off on can be a powerful tool for you. Keep in mind that
this doesn't mean your boss can't ever change something. You just
want to make sure that when they make a change, they realize they are
making a change.

Generally, you don't want to be heavy handed
about pointing out that your boss is contradicting him/herself. Don't
beat them over the head with what they said previously, but just
casually mention their previous position or directions as part of
clarifying what that are saying currently. For example, if your boss
gives you one procedure on Monday and comes in Tuesday with a different
procedure, saying something like "OK, so does this replace the process
(pulling out your notes or summary email you wrote) you gave me
yesterday or is this a one time process?" This isn't confrontational
and asks a legitimate question that will help gently point out to your
boss that they are contradicting themselves.

In some cases you may
need a little more leverage to help encourage your boss to stick with
their decisions. You can do this by making your bosse's decisions
public. This only works on decisions that impact more than just
yourself. It isn't going to help you to broadcast every task your boss
asks you to do. However, things that impact more than just one or two
people are perfect for this treatment. You follow the same type of
procedure as above to write a summary of your bosse's directions. Once
your boss has agreed with them, distribute them to other people that
they impact. Better yet ask your boss to distribute them. You might
email your boss with your summary and say something like "This is the
new policy as I understand it. It might be helpful if you sent it out
to the whole team so we are all on the same page. Please edit or
modify anything that I may not have gotten right."

Your boss
gets to look organized (for once) by actually putting something in
writing and it makes it much more difficult to change their mind
because "everyone" knows what they said. If nothing else, it makes it
much more difficult for them to forget.

If your boss is truly
deranged and malicious, none of these techniques will work, but you may
be able to use them as a litmus test to see if there is hope or if you
should consider moving on to a less erratic work environment.

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