Know How to Deal with a Difficult Boss Remotely
If you have a great boss, consider yourself very fortunate. You know how easier your work life is because they are in charge, giving you direction and supporting you every step of the way. This is especially important when you are working remotely and don’t have the face-to-face contact.
On the other hand, there are bosses who don’t exactly fall into the “great boss” category. For those bosses, it would be easy to brush them off as the higher-up’s problem, but that’s not the case. You have to deal with them.
“You really have to develop your relationship with your boss,” said Alan Hubbard, LandAjob Chief Operating Officer. “This is where your personal skills come in. You have to figure out how you can best work with your boss and help them meet their goals and requirements.” A nonprofit organization, LandAjob helps Americans with disabilities find jobs and receive up to $13,000 in job reimbursements. You can register at www.landajob.org.
There are different kinds of bosses you are going to run into at work whether it is an onsite or remote position. If you get the above-mentioned great bosses, they are going to take an active interest in your work life and be supportive.
These bosses realize that it is a benefit all around to teach and empower their employees to do the best they can for the company.
“This type of boss is very confident in their own skills,” said Hubbard. “You can tell because they are listening to you and taking pride in your success and accomplishments.”
With those bosses, the best advice is to listen, learn and work hard, but that’s not the case when you end up with a more difficult boss.
“That’s where you have to work hard to make sure you are doing your job well and getting recognized for your efforts,” said Hubbard. “Sometimes, it can be a case where the boss is learning to be a manager after being an employee. You can actually help them grow into the position.”
Fortune magazine put together a list of boss types people have dealt with. The “2018 Managing Difficult Bosses Survey” identified the “Clueless Chameleon” as being the most difficult to deal with. The traits of this boss are they don’t know what they are doing, but they expect you to know what they want you to be doing for them. It can also be thinking they are giving you directions, but they are not.
“This can be a difficult thing to deal with,” said Hubbard. “It can be frustrating to play ‘the guess what they are telling me to do game’ or worrying that you are going to be blamed for what happened. This is especially difficult if you are working remotely.
“Instead of getting frustrated, one thing you can do is to present your own ideas with a game plan on how to make it happen. The boss then has options to choose from. This makes it easier for them, and you aren’t playing the guessing game.”
Another boss type to deal with is the absentee boss. Often this person has been in the position for a long time and feels like they have things under control and don’t need to be there.
While the micro managers are usually the ones employees have difficulty dealing with because they feel the pressure of having someone in their face all the time, the absentee boss can cause all kinds of problems.
“It can be frustrating because you don’t feel you are getting the guidance and support you need,” said Hubbard. “Again, though, it comes down to you using your personal skills to develop relationships.”
(LandAjob helps Americans with disabilities find jobs with their free database of more than 600,000 jobs in the United States. They can also help you learn how to find out how to get up to $13,000 in job expenses and reimbursement.)