By Lisa Kuzara | February 4, 2011

Great Job - Not-So-Great New Boss


I have been at this job for almost six years and I’m very good at it.  I am in the finance department of a company that manages a group of hospitals, and I like the job because it pays fairly well, I have a lot of friends here, and the hours are very reasonable.  At least they used to be.

About 3 months ago, we got a new boss and I’m beginning to think they rotated him to this department because nobody liked him in his last department.  It surprises me that I’m complaining about him now because I liked him so much when I first met him – and by the age of 41, you’d think I’d have learned to be a reasonably good judge of character.  But now I’m learning that many of us in the department felt the same way because the guy seems so nice at first.  He smiles a lot as he hands over piles and piles of work and says things like “You can get this analysis back to me by Thursday, right?” It is Wednesday at 4:15.

He also never really seems to have that much work to do himself.  But he has a lot of time to walk around and check on everyone else, while he smiles and makes small talk about the photos in their cubicles.  It has started to become a bit of a running joke, where we compare him to the character Michael Scott on the sitcom “The Office.”  Only he is not as funny, we actually have jobs to do, and the workload seems to be getting worse and worse.

Work / Life Balance at Risk

Up until now, I’ve been managing my career just fine, and I’m happy with my position and my pay.  What I’d like is a little input on how to protect the work/life balance I used to have.  It seems with this new boss that my former 8:30am to 5:30pm work hours are very much at risk.  I have two children and a husband who I need to come home to at 5:30 every night.  How can I manage my new boss so I can keep the hours I used to have, without risking my job?

Wendy Weighs In

It seems you’ve kept a steady head and good perspective on this whole turn of events, so kudos to you for that.

My first recommendation would be to keep track of the next two or three instances when your new boss gives you assignments with unreasonably short turn-around times.  Include the dates when the assignments were given, what the assignments were, when they were due, and when you turned them in.

Then set up a private meeting with your boss to discuss communication.  Take the lead in that meeting and tell him in a respectful and non-confrontational way that you have a strong performance record with the company, and that in order to maintain that positive record, you will need more turn-around time than you have recently been given on your assignments.  If and when he seems not to understand, break out your examples and explain exactly what you mean.

Leave out your observations of his tendency to wander and chat.  You may be able to solve that annoying problem for yourself simply by getting a phone headset, wearing it all the time (they are very comfortable – I used to forget I had mine on all the time), and pretending to be on a call when he enters your cube or office.

After the meeting, give your message a month or two to sink in.  If it does not, start keeping track of your assignments and turn-around times again, then reschedule the same meeting, only this time invite your boss, and his boss to attend, and remember to maintain a professional, non-confrontational tone. That should do the trick.

Best of luck to you!

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By Kathryn Gomez | Tuesday November 30, 2010

At first I thought my boss was just annoying.  I tried to make the best of it by just smiling and keeping my nose to the grindstone.  But it’s been thirteen months now and I’ve noticed a trend.  He will come to my desk about a day after the VP has asked him to provide his thoughts on a relevant matter – maybe whether or not to feature a new Caribbean route in the TV ads for the cruise line I market for – and he will ask me to write up a one-pager on my thoughts. 

When it happened the first time, I assumed it was a test of sorts, because I was new to my position and he wanted to get a handle on my thought process.  Now it’s becoming clear it’s because he simply doesn’t know how to do his own job. 

I’m pretty sure he knows I’ve caught on, because now he tries to hide it.  For instance, last week our VP asked him to run the numbers comparing how our profits might improve if we changed two of the ports we used in two of the cities we stop in.  So he gave me the same exercise the next day, but changed the cities.  How do I know the VP asked him this?  Because I am friends with someone who was in the meeting when the assignment was given – and she shares her information with me.

Once I asked if I could attend a meeting with the VP and present my findings. My boss got really angry and actually called me “uppity.”  He said I should not be so demanding and that I should take more time to settle into the company, like he did.

How To Manage The Bad Boss

I really like this company and the industry – it’s fun to market cruises – but I certainly won’t continue to move up the corporate ladder if I never get credit for my ideas here!  I am 34 years old have always been a hard worker.  I want to keep learning and to be rewarded for my hard work and my ideas by being promoted.  I want to be a co-provider and an example for my family, but I feel trapped.  What should I do?

Wendy Weighs In

I have a friend who was in a similar situation and it was very difficult.
What generally happens in situations like these, is that you are not the only person to notice that your boss cannot do his job.  Eventually, his bosses notice too, and he gets replaced.  In the mean time, you can do one of two things. 

Option One:
You can continue to prove how smart you are and provide your ideas to him and anyone and everyone else who will listen, and continue to do your job well.  But you must also speak up for yourself.  Not by going to his boss and telling her that your boss is an idiot.  But by going to his boss and sharing some of your ideas.  Do some extra credit. Set up a lunch meeting with this VP and present some ideas to save money on one or more of your cruise lines.  Or present some ideas on how to punch up next year’s cruise season:  a cruise for parents of young toddlers!  A cruise for parents of teenagers!  A cruise for gay couples!  A cruise for newly divorced people!  Whatever.  Just wow this VP with your thought process and get (and keep) yourself on her radar.  She might even ask you how things are going with your boss…

Option Two:
If you believe that you have already earned yourself a solid reputation within the company, you can start working on a lateral transfer.  Be aware, however, that this involves some serious risk.  You will set yourself back in that you will have a new learning curve to climb when you start a new job at the same level.  People will also wonder why you are looking to move within the company – they will wonder if you could not make it work in your current job and may not give you the benefit of the doubt.

Either way, marketing for a cruise line does sound like fun, I admire your goals and I wish you the very best of luck!
-Wendy

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