6 Tips On How To Deal With A Bad Boss At Work

When it comes to office life, a boss can make or break your work.

Ideally, everyone would like a good boss. Someone who is nurturing, kind, supportive, and motivating. What’s more, a really good boss goes beyond this. They need to be able to hold you accountable, tell you when you’ve done something wrong, and show you how to fix it.

Sadly, not everyone has a boss like this.

Chances are that at some point in your life, you will deal with a boss that you don’t like. This could be for a variety of reasons.

Maybe their management style conflicts with your work style, and you feel suffocated or unsupported.

Perhaps they play favourites, and you feel excluded from the office environment.

Or, maybe, they have anger issues and take it out on their employees.

In any case, having a bad boss doesn’t necessarily mean work will be unenjoyable. Or that you need to quit your job.

Simply, it just means that you’ll have to find some ways to adjust your working style to cooperate with them.

But how do you do this?

Read on to find out.

There are lots of different types of leadership styles a bad boss can have.

Maybe they like to be informed consistently of what you’re doing and expect you to send them updates throughout the day about your work. Perhaps they prefer you to get on with what you’re doing, and just update them at the end of the day. They don’t need to be in constant communication with you.

Or, maybe they yell at their employees a lot when they’re stressed. They don’t really know how to communicate well, and can sometimes take out their frustrations on you and your colleagues.

In either way, it’s important to know how it is they like to run the office.

This way, when things start to go wrong or you start to get annoyed or upset – you can realise it’s not personal.

It’s just the way they like to do things.

Have a sit-down and think about what your boss likes and how they prefer the office to be run. There are lots of resources online that can explain the different management styles a person can have.

Once you’ve done this, you’ll find dealing with your bad boss a lot easier when you know what to expect.

Whilst you may be the type of person who just likes to get on with their work without any supervision, your manager may not match this.

In fact, according to the book My Way Or The Highway by consultant Harry Chambers, 79% of employees have felt like they’ve been micromanaged in their careers.

As such, the likelihood of you being able to just ‘get on with your work’ is unlikely.

Once you’ve discovered what type of management style your boss has, you need to make a list of what it is they like and what you need to do to match it.

Because, ultimately, you will have to change your working style to match your bad boss.

So, how do you do this?

If your boss likes to be kept up to date consistently, send them hourly updates. Or, if your boss prefers it when you work alongside your colleagues, make sure to coordinate your tasks together.

Dealing with a bad boss will be drastically easier when you start building these steps into your working routine.

It can be a little difficult to make these changes to your way of working. But, ultimately, it’s the best step to take. Your boss will appreciate it when you start to mould to their way of management.

On the back of finding out what your boss would love you to do, find out what your boss wouldn’t love you to do.

And, steer clear of it!

It’s not worth facing the wrath of your bad boss because you’ve sent them an email past 3 pm when they’ve explicitly told you not to.

Every manager and boss has an unwritten list of things that really get on their nerves. Whether that be breaks that take too long, non-office related talk during work or bothering them when they’re in a meeting.

It’ll be helpful to determine what the characteristics of work your bad boss hates, and to try and avoid them.

This list may seem ridiculous or trivial to you. If your bad boss is as bad as you say, it probably will be a little unreasonable.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still stick to it.

From your boss’s perspective, they probably find you doing these things unreasonable.

Meaning, that for the sake of making your office life easier – just don’t do them.

The extra long coffee break really isn’t worth it when you know how mad your boss will be when he finds out.

One of the most common problems that people will have with a bad boss is that they are unwilling – or unable – to lead you.

Meaning, that they don’t supply you with much direction or instructions on what to do.

This may be fine for the first few times it happens. You may be sitting at your desk, scrolling through the internet, waiting for them to tell you what to do.

You’re not going to complain about that, are you? Who doesn’t want a longer break from work?

But the novelty soon wears off. Boredom starts to set in, and you start questioning why it is that you haven’t been told what to do today.

If you find yourself in this situation, it likely means that you’re going to have to lead yourself. This means being proactive in looking for tasks, keeping track of how you’re doing yourself, and looking after your own KPIs.

Don’t be afraid to badger your boss for some direction. Using your initiative is great, but sometimes you need some instruction on what to do. They’re your boss for a reason, after all.

Plus, asking for work shows that you’re being proactive too. This is an impressive quality to have as it demonstrates your eagerness to work.

This can be difficult to do if you’re new to the office, or if you’re not a very assertive person.

But that doesn’t make it any less important.

Setting boundaries is one of the most important tips for dealing with a bad boss.

Tell them explicitly that you won’t reply to emails in the evenings or weekends – it’s outside of work hours and you’re not getting paid for it.

Be unwavering in this. They need to know where you stand.

Or, tell them that you don’t find it beneficial when they yell at you in front of the rest of your colleagues in the office. You’d prefer it if you were pulled aside and spoken to privately.

Setting boundaries and establishing certain things that you don’t want to compromise on is a great way of clearing the air with your boss.

However, the most important thing to remember when you do this is to remain polite and respectful.

You can get caught up in your frustrations, and may get carried away with ‘laying down the law’ with your bad boss. But this isn’t a good idea.

Be sure to remain polite when you have this conversation. You don’t want to overstep a line, or come across as rude or insolent.

Be calm, be respectful, but be firm.

Now, this doesn’t mean taking part in office gossip. Talking about your bad boss behind their back is a sure-fire way to make them even angrier.

However, if you’re finding your boss to be particularly difficult to work with, you should talk to someone about it.

This could be a confidant in work, someone you’re close with, and who would understand.

Or a friend or family member who is willing to sit down and listen to you rant about your work life.

And, if things get really bad, don’t be afraid to speak to someone in HR either.

Often people working in HR will have a good understanding of office life – and they’ll be more than happy to listen to you. It is their job after all!

Ultimately, having to deal with a bad boss at work doesn’t mean that the job is ruined. You can still have a lot of fun and remain productive despite this.

And, it doesn’t mean you have to quit your job either!

There are lots of ways for you to cope with dealing with a bad boss at work. From assuming more responsibility, distancing yourself from your manager, and adapting your working style – you just simply need to find the right way to adjust and adapt.