no understanding between my boss and his 1

[arnoldmram]

Hi,

I have a bad situation at work place. My boss and his boss dont seem to have a good understanding with each other. I find it rather difficult as I find my boss saying something and my big boss saying totally the opposite in the weekly meetings.

I have tried to talk about my predicament a couple of times with both of them. However to no avail.

As a result of the misunderstanding, I find my boss not giving enough attention to my project. I have to push him hard to get any approvals or papers moved.

Any comments on how to handle this situation other than quitting the job ofcourse!

Arnold

 

[RichCraig]

Can you go a level higher? Nothing put priority to one of my projects than the intrest of a director who asks my boss, who in turn supports me 100%. With out intrest 'from above' Im in more or less the same situation as you (fighting for attention and approvals).

 

[wmichael]

Howdy;

RichCraig has a good suggestion to follow; be wary of politics, though.

I would also start keeping a log of issues where the proverbial buck was passed to your boss -- meaning you've taken it as far as you can, and now require some sort of approval.

Keep this log daily, and be prepared to supplement with email trails, phone logs and meeting notes.

Once you have armed yourself with a solid set of information, you should then discuss this first with your boss. I would put a productive spin on this, and indicate that you are trying to keep things moving forward. While you are discussing things, be sure to get target dates for completion of your boss's tasks -- remember that your boss has the responsibility to ensure you have the tools required to do the tasks assigned -- and track progress with some frequency.

If, after all this CYA stuff, you find your boss is not cutting the mustard, then you should escalate. Again, be wary of escalation when you've not covered yourself; it can do more harm than good in lots of circumstances.

Good luck!



~wmichael

"small change can often be found under seat cushions

 

[arnoldmram]

Hi RichCraig,

Unfortunately, I cant go any level higher as my boss is the No2 man and his the No1 in the company.

I basically see a distinct difference in the way the things are dealt by the two and as a result see my self caught between the devil and the deep sea when both of them are in the meeting simultaneouly. Even if they are'nt, I eventually have to face it when I seek project related approvals.


Arnold

 

[LFI]

If I were in this position, I would work very hard with my Immediate Boss so that he/she always knew what was going on.

If the Big Boss asked me to do something which would take my attention away from something my Immediate Boss wanted me to do or was contrary to something my Immediate Boss wanted me to do, I would let Big Boss know this. If he/she still wanted me to do it, I would let my Immediate Boss know that I'm starting this work at the request of the Big Boss.

ALWAYS let the Immediate Boss know when you're following a Big Boss order. The Big Boss will see you following direction, your Immediate Boss will see you as an ally, and any conflicts to be resolved will be between the two of them.

Good luck!

--Dave

 

[DoubleD]

If you have an HR department, this is an excellent situation to discuss with them. There should be a company policy (or at least direction) for situations like these.
If not, I would ask to schedule a meeting with your boss and his boss. Explain to them that you want to accomplish your job to the best of your abilities, but that you're struggling to understand their priorities.
If you can set the tone of "I need both of you to help me be successful" rather than "You two are making my job impossible" you'll probably get good results.

Pain is stress leaving the body.

DoubleD

 

[LesleyW]

Hm is Big Boss the owner of the firm?

I think you need to decide if you can ever see yourself in a position where you have both of these bosses' respect. If you can, then work on improving your boss in the eyes of Big Boss by supporting him as much as possible. DoubleD's advice about sitting them both down supports this, as does talking to HR about managing the situation, as does LookingForInfos advice.

If you think that Big Boss is never going to respect anyone who works well for your boss, then you can assume that you have 2 choices - suck up to Big Boss, cutting out immediate boss, in preparation for the day your boss gets fired, or find another job - because your immediate boss will get fired or pissed off and leave. If you choose to suck up to big boss, then use wmichaels advice on CYA.

Unfortunately whatever the situation, you have to put some effort in to managing these relationships (ie politics) which in the short term is going to distract you from your day-to-day work, but if you manage it right should reduce your stressload in the long run, hence allow you to do more productive work.

Good luck!

 

[arnoldmram]

Hi,

Thank you folks for your suggestions..

Yes, the big boss is really the big boss and the top man in the company. Unfortunately as this is a small company, we really donot have any policies for situations like these.
Big Boss is not a bad man. Infact, many a times, I tend to agree with his ideas personally more than that of my boss'.

The disagreement I see between the two is specially for my project alone. It seems to be the pet project of the big boss but boss didnt want to get involved initially. So a lot of confusions and arguments later, boss agreed to take up the project. Aftermaths are being seen as is evident from my daily struggle of getting things done.


Arnold

 

[LesleyW]

Then see if you can report direct to the big boss for this project only. You can put it tactfully as in (IB = immediate boss, BB = Big Boss "As this project is part of BB's vision and he has clear ideas about how he wants it implemented, how would it be if I reported direct to him on this project? This would allow IB to focus on his current responsibilities. I think if I spent 75% of my time on it for the next 3 months that would get the majority of it done, then perhaps 25% of my time for the next 2 months." The important things are to use positive words like vision and focus, and to put time-limited boundaries on it so IB doesn't feel like he's losing you to BB.

Lesley

 

[jtb]

in a small company, ib might see directly reporting to bb as an attempt to grab power... might need to build a defense there...

JTB
Have Certs, Will Travel
"A knight without armour in a [cyber] land."

 

[arnoldmram]

Hi,

Yes I agree with Jtb. It is a small company and any change in the heirarchy reporting structure is presumed as power grabbing! Also, Big boss is hell bent on having my boss in the project. Even if I try to have a meeting separately to discuss on the project, he insists on routing the info through Boss.(which may be critical to maintain the protocols in the office)

Arnold

 

[bednarjm]

I sorta' had a situtation like this once. After a reorginazation (something we seem to be doing around here every 6-months or so) my teams new supervisor was formerly a member of upper management. He wanted to get back there really bad and our team was the means to do this. We are a very-geeky team and we butted heads as his only development experience was 15-years earlier in COBOL (also my background many years ago). Attempting to explain technical concepts to him was like trying to explain to my 6-year old - his eyes would glaze over and he really wouldn't get the concept.
Several members of the team really couldn't handle this and were constantly butting heads. I solved the problem (for me) by asking for confirmation on every little thing (especially things he could understand). He got so tired of this that he finally told me to 'take some initiative'. I was then free to do what was needed. If a major decsion was needed I framed it in business terms - not tech speak. This worked so well that by the end of this year I was completing a very large project with almost no issues from the PHB (see any Dilbert cartoon for what this means). He gave my my best progrss rating ever (for taking initative) and as several of our projects were completed successfully he moved to another management position and we got a supervisor that was much better.

[blue]jim b[/blue]

 

[screwloose]

Military = follow immediate superior (unless of course the acts are illegal, so forth).

You cannot go wrong if you tell Big Guy that you were following the orders of Little Guy. LG will have to explain to BG then.

 

[arnoldmram]

Hi,

Just the kind of thing I was telling you earlier.
Here I have another live justification for it. Today, my big boss calls me up asks me about some other projects in which I was involved which he was not aware of (who's problem is it anyways?).

Of course my boss was fully aware of it that I was working on some other projects other than the one Iam directly responsible for.

Some office dynamics changed and it hurt my big boss that I had not kept him informed about this.Why should I be doing it. I have a problem if I talk to him directly, I have a problem if I dont. Is it not my bosses job to be doing the talking to his boss.

When I had a conference with bigboss and boss trying to sort out issues on this, my boss plain let me down and denied knowing anything on my involvement in the project.

I was caught there not knowing what to talk though I tried my best to prove that I was doing what ever I was under his purview.

I felt so hurt by the end of this, that I felt this is a sick place and should quit.

Arnold

 

[Corran007]

so, your boss had you on a project his boss didnt know about, then when your big boss asked you about it in front of your boss, your boss denined knowing anything.

Time to quit. a boss who will not do that has no business being a manager.

 

[ecobb]

Time to quit.

Definately! After that, little boss would have had my resignation on his desk within the hour. I have a short fuse and a zero tolerance for back stabbing! Which, I guess in your situation would be a bad combination.





Hope This Helps!

Ecobb

"My work is a game, a very serious game." - M.C. Escher

 

[rosieb]

Presumably you have some evidence, emails etc, that your boss knew you were involved in the project.

Maybe a tactful, "Sorry for the confusion in the meeting of dd-mm-yy, I think there has been a misunderstanding. The project I called X is probably known as project Y by my boss. The attached documents show my authorisation to work on this project. My mistake. Apologies." Sent to both.

That gives all concerned a dignified exit (while you look for a new job).

Rosie
"Never express yourself more clearly than you think" (Niels Bohr)

 

[DoubleD]

I would agree with many of the recent posts. Time for a new job. I don't suggest handing in your resignation until you've secured another job.
Make sure that when you do hand in your resignation, take some time to speak one-on-one with both LB and BB. Let them know your frustrations were part of why you are leaving. Hopefully it will help someone else in the future.

Pain is stress leaving the body.

DoubleD

 

[screwloose]

Too bad it wasn't Junior High... You could take the little weasel outside and beat him!

 

[arnoldmram]

Hi,

Thank you all for your suggestions.

Shall definitely look out for a better job.

After that nasty incident where in I was fired (verbally) by my big boss for keeping my boss in dark of the project details, My bigboss called me up that night and apologized and asked me not to take the firings personally.

Until date my boss has never done that though I feel it was only his fault of not having kept his boss informed.

Do you think that my big boss is only playing safe and trying to retain his employee?

Arnold