Ever felt like having a conversation with your boss is like rubbing a cheese grater on your skin? With every word, your boss thrashes your last piece of patience. Before you turn in your two weeks' notice, do yourself a favor and figure out exactly what about your boss is driving you nuts. Here's a list of the top five most annoying bosses, and how to cope with their quirks.
Newly promoted
After the last piece of confetti falls and the congratulatory handshakes have finished, you're left with a new boss who is ill-equipped to deal with the stresses of management. It's often said that family pets get the brunt of stress-fueled abuse, but whoever said that hasn't met your boss. They're stressed and trying to find their bearings, but while they do that they're letting you have it at every opportunity. This often takes the shape of snide remarks ("Oh, yeah, I'm glad I don't have to do that anymore") or unnecessary exercising of power ("Hey, can you do me a favor and count every penny in the store six times for accuracy?").
The best thing you can do is give it some time. It stinks, but nine times out of ten they'll turn the corner and find a place where they can manage effectively - and not be such a jerk while they do it.
The best friend
"Hey, you want to come over to my house to hang out every night for the next six months, and all day on the weekends?" Yeah, sure. That would be awesome, if it wasn't such a terrible idea. This boss has a really fuzzy line in their brain between work life and social life, and it puts you in a super awkward place. They take everything personally (like when you can't do them a favor because you're in the hospital with appendicitis), and they try to pull the (sometimes non-existent) friend card at every possible moment.
Try to draw some clear boundaries. Make sure they know you like to keep your work relationships separate from your personal life, and don't waver from that position.
They’re your ex
If you knocked the dust off your grandmother's recipe box and looked up the ingredients for terrible pie, it would involve one part "you," one part "your ex," and one part "oh crap, they're your boss now." Trust that this is as equally painful and awkward for them as it is for you. They've got the normal stress of a promotion, plus they've got the HR concerns of supervising someone who may or may not have heard their shower serenades.
Try to keep the relationship as professional as possible. Avoid gossip, and don't treat them any differently from any other manager you have. Hopefully they'll return the favor and if they don't, take your concerns to their manager.
Lazy Susan
There's nothing worse in this world than a hypocrite. Someone who asks you to do something they're not willing to do themselves is annoying, but having that person as your boss is the pits. They'll ask you to come in early, but can't be bothered to come in for their own shift.
The best way to cope is to stick to your job description. Make sure you're doing everything you were hired to do: nothing more, nothing less. Eventually their hypocrisy (and laziness) will catch up with them. They won't be your problem for long.
Hopefully knowing what you're up against will make dealing with them a little easier. Didn't see your boss nemesis in this list? We've got five more terrible bosses - and solutions for handling them - coming your way.
About Amy White