Programming with
a dose of satire.
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Dear Bad Managers: How Do You Deal With a Bad Manager? By Matt Stephens The stories on this site do a good job of showcasing the damage that a bad manager can do. Bad managers are surprisingly common beasts, and they can destroy projects - even entire companies. So, if you have a bad manager in your midst, what can you do about it? If you are genuinely on a "death march" project, and there's nowhere left to run, just what are you supposed to do? There is no perfect answer. But here, at least, are some pointers: 1. Lose your fear. If this is not possible, or for any reason proves to be impractical, then it's probably time to jump ship. Time was (e.g. six months ago) when it was almost ridiculously easy to do this. Highly paid programming jobs were two a penny. It seems to be different now. The economy has slowed, the various jobsites are weighed down by phantom jobs posted by desperate, lying agencies - their last, dying thrust before they vanish in a puff of insincerity. So if you're stuck in a job with a bad manager, how do you move forward? First, try to relax... 2. Relax. Look around, see what is really going on. 3. Recognise what you can change, and do your utmost to make those things better ... 4. If you're desperate, just keep checking the job market. 5. Recognise when you've got it good. 6. Always, always try to educate your manager. 7. Make sure YOU know what you are talking about.
In other words, if you feel that your project is sinking and there's nothing you can do about it, think again. Be outspoken. Be the high-flyer. Make an impact. Be bold, bolshy and opinionated, so that almost by default you become the decision-maker! Talkback - Have Your Say: Message Index:
The Messages: Make sure you are indispensableIf you are genuinely useful to your project, your boss is much more likely to listen to you. As Matt says - make sure you know what you are talking about. Make sure everything you say counts. Protect your reputation. Makes life a lot easier, e.g. you donīt have to shout down your boss just to get a point across. If youīre indispensable, you are also much less likely to be "downsized"! Samm Wed Sep 26 09:33:30 EDT 2001 Everything is a contract Treat all your interfaces like contracts. Why are you in this position? How do you benefit, and how do "they" benifit? "They" are probably in charge and have asked you to do something. It is your responsibility to do it, or not be compensated. It is also your responsibility to inform them that you think they are wrong if you think they are wrong, but the decision is theirs. Sometimes they just have to trust you and sometimes you just have to trust "them". For me, taking this attitude has removed most emotion from my work, so I donīt get wound up about "them" making dumb decisions. Joe Anonymous person bad-managers@soliddesign.net MidWest, USA Tue Oct 02 21:53:04 EDT 2001 You canīt deal with bad managers. I keep trying but I should have learned by now that you canīt deal with a bad manager. All you can do is keep your mouth shut and do your job. If it gets bad enough then go elsewhere. Griping and complaining just brands you as a troublemaker. I try to find some good things to focus on just to stay sane, like I can wear shorts to work (small victories). Kevin kevjv@hotmail.com Tue Mar 05 17:55:22 EST 2002 Really Bad Management Is A No Win Twice in my career at two giants I have seen really bad management. The sad part is that corporations tend to put up with these bad managers. In both cases the managers had been with the company more than ten years. Its the veterans who tend to be more bullish in varying ways. Recently I had a manager at a contract "assignment" that was passive aggressive. Those types of managers are a nightmare to deal with. Employees insisted you "knew where you stood" with that manager. The reality is that managers today are finding whatever ways they can to get rid of people, boost productivity, outsource and otherwise "leverage" their resources. In tough times bad managers get even worse. What also happens is that even good employees are scrutinized more and more as people tend to have to do more work for less pay at higher levels of quality in order just to keep their jobs. I believe this sad scene really just empowers bad managers to be even worse. The reality is that many of these really awful people will go back out into the marketplace and find themselves new jobs - because they're very good at "managementspeak". They tell senior level people what they want them to hear. They tell you what they need to tell you in order to "leverage". What ends up happening is that the manager then forces themselves into a sad situation where they're caught between a "rock and a hard place". Suddenly they've made committments they can't possibly keep, they've "overresourced" themselves, they've not properly planned a particular project, they haven't built in slack time. In effect they've really done a poor job of managing the resources they have available. I've seen a number of these "bad managers" who are incompetent - outright - or people that tend to be perfectionlistic. Middle and upper level managers tend to love perfectionists because they deliver perfect goods / services with a low defect rate. No one in the business model seems to ask a really basic question: is a bad manager worth the cost to the company? I believe there is a bottom line cost: I believe our country loses when bad managers are allowed to continue managing. We've all worked with "dead wood" in our careers - people who just refuse to work - they're not unable to work, they don't lack the skills - these folks are just not motivated to perform. But bad managers are just as bad if not worse because they tend to make the work environment a nightmare and frankly I'm not sure they're all that productive in the end. Its odd - I've been the victim of a bad manager on occasion in my career - but the oddity is that I've observed bad managers bullying other people - I tend to avoid these types of people at all cost. I feel sorry for friends and colleagues who have had the misfortune of putting up with people like this for 5, 10 or 20 years. I would have gone mad. A little side-note - one of the bad managers finally got her due. She was called in and sacked after about 15 years of employment with the company. She went on to a smaller company and took a few good people with her, her "pets" as she called them. Those folks worked with her for a while, things seemed to go well. Then she was called on the carpet because she couldn't produce - so she leaned on her people - like all Bad Managers do. So when her people were at their breaking point, she now had "aliented" her "pets". Well one of her "pets" had the goods on her. He'd saved enough email with enough dirty laundry that she was really in a "fix". The email was finally forwarded to people two levels above her - and she was sacked the next day. So good things do happen to bad managers. I just dread her next employer. Here's my advice: 1) Lay low if you can; 2) Document EVERYTHING; 3) Make friends in higher places - discreetly; 4) Look for another job in another organization in the same company that can use your skills; 5) Look outside the company; 6) If you think you can REALLY do better consider entreprenuership. 7) If you can do yourself and your colleagues a favor - end the abuse before you leave - one more sacked bad manager is such a kind present for your colleagues who must suffer this person once you leave. 8) Speak up (if you can afford to have a voice) when future bad managers may be promoted into positions of authority. I've spotted these people well before their time and made sure they haven't gotten promoted. 9) If you see yourself as a future manager remember one thing - the golden rule really does work - even more so at work. The most successful companies I've seen have flat management structures with 1 - 2 layers of management with people who really care at the helm. What's very sad is that people who care - tend to quit or get fired because they're principled. Some do manage to survive - some. Kevin dfwenigma@yahoo.com North Texas, USA Fri Jun 06 13:55:28 GMT 2003 Mark the Events Make note of all the events,situations and encounters that happens between you and your manager. At any point in time you can quote these situations to your advantage.It also comes in handy if there is a possible third party mediation on any of the issues. Always ensure you have the upper hand. venkat venkatnarayn@gmx.net Bangalore, India Thu Apr 29 11:23:10 BST 2004 Is humor antagonistic? At our firm, my boss is big on quotes at the end of all correspondence. Funny...he has not an original thought in his brain. The following is my new set of quotes to end each email correspondence with the other members of my sales team and support. It says it all...and has provided a bit of humor to our otherwise, maudlin form of commiseration. Men are born to succeed, not fail. -Henry David Thoreau , Poet Laureate Men are born to fail, not succeed. -D Shoots, Manager pessimus Rocky Jefferson rockyjefferson@hotmail.com USA Thu Jun 22 21:59:13 BST 2006 Bad managers can drive you crazy This is my 1t job, I am working at a large IT corporation and my direct manager is the manager from hell! He wants me to work 12 hours a day and more, he calls me in the morning, on weekends at night, he shouts at me all the time, every time i have a smart idea he manages to present it as his own. He is not only a really bad peopleīs manager (he is working there for 17 years) he is also highly competitive, insecure and dangerous. He is a compulsive lier and will do ANYTHING ANYTHING to protect his "chair". I am really desperate here because it is my 1st job, the company is very good, I like the job and i donīt want to quit because of him. HOW SHOULD I COPE WITH SUCH AN ASSHOLE? Jamie Lin jamie_lin@yahoo.com California, USA Wed Jan 03 18:30:39 GMT 2007 |
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