If you work for a boss who makes life hard, you have three options. You can suffer in misery, bail out or take action. If you'd rather not put up with your boss but the economy or other reasons precludes you from finding a new job with a better boss, managing your relationship with your boss may help you keep your sanity.
Micromanager
Micromanagers worry that things might fall apart without their involvement. Those who fend off the micromanager in silence or with passive- aggressive resistance inevitably become irritated or enmeshed in nonproductive control battles.
Once you learn that the more information you supply, the less your micromanager worries and then questions you, you can change the dynamic. By improving your upward communication, you earn your manager's trust, and he responds by giving you more leeway. So brief your manager before you're asked to do so. If you drown your micromanager in information, he'll ask you fewer questions.
Compulsive workaholic
Do you work for a compulsively workaholic boss who considers you her slave, swamping you with an unrealistic workload? If you try to give a level of excellence to every project assigned, you might fail.
Your best strategy: When your boss dishes out each "over the top" assignment, ask, "Which are your priorities?" If he passes you an assignment at the end of the day, respond, "I'll take this home and see how much I can get done," or, "Ouch, I've got a commitment tonight but will come in half an hour early and start." By saying what you can do, you forestall concerns that you won't do what's asked.
Further, earn your over-assigning boss's trust by working intensely all day long. By keeping on top of the most crucial priorities and working at a steady "pedal to the metal" 65 mph, you can keep your work-centered boss in check.
incompetent, waffleR
If you work for a frustratingly indecisive supervisor and want to succeed, help her. Remind her about deadlines, offer to gather the information she needs and present her with proposed solutions. The choice is yours -- you can suffer her incompetence or work to improve the situation.
If your supervisor waffles in the face of decisions, give her both the facts and the support she needs to move forward. If she still hesitates, ask, "What's worrying you?" Once you know what leads a waffler to feel stuck, you can often show how no decision costs more than a decision.
You're never good enough
If your boss finds it easier to criticize than to praise, consider his criticism an opportunity to learn and grow. The next time he tells you, "This report isn't clear," ask, "Which sections need clarification?" By learning the standards by which he judges your work, you reduce the volume of criticism coming your way and become sharper at your game.
Strategize
No matter which boss from hell you work for, strategize.
If you don't find your boss listed above but need to manage a difficult boss more effectively, ask yourself:
• What does my boss expect of me and how can I meet and exceed those expectations?
• What creates problems between my boss and me, and what part do I play in creating or continuing these problems?
Although you may not be able to change your boss, you can strategize how to manage your boss's bad side.
Alternatively, you can bail -- in style, as "Girl quits her job on dry erase board" did on her thechive.com hoax. That posting shows a series of photos of the woman with dry erase board messages: "Happy Monday, everybody!" "I quit." "I've learned a lot these past 2 years" "And I'm going to miss all of you." "Except one." "I'm looking at you, Spencer." "Being your assistant's been a special hell."
Lynne Curry is a local management trainer, consultant and syndicated columnist. Her advice and opinion column appears Mondays. Questions for her column may be faxed to her at 258-2157 or mailed to her c/o Anchorage Daily News, P.O. Box 149001, Anchorage 99514-9001. Her e-mail is lynne@thegrowthcompany.com.
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.