Bosses who don't communicate Many managers with no previous leadership experience are poor communicators.  This isn't surprising, because the communication skills required to be a good manager are generally only learned through experience. One common situation you'll find yourself encountering under this type of person is working on a team of people who are out of sync. For example, your boss may tell you about an important upcoming project, but no one else hears about it until the last minute.  On the other hand, you may also find yourself in a position where everyone else knows some crucial piece of information except you. The best solution is for your boss to learn how to … [Read more...]

Bosses who contradict themselves. This can be a really annoying type of person to work for.  In mild forms, it just seems like they are slightly confused.  In really bad situations, these bosses seem totally deranged and malicious.  If you have a boss who will tell you to drop everything and work on X and then come back and ask why you aren't working on Y, you are dealing with one of these bosses. In most cases, these types of people aren't outright malicious; they just have a very short memory, no clear goals, and are very unorganized.  You can usually improve the situation by putting their statements in writing.  For example, if your boss comes in and asks you to drop everything … [Read more...]