To ask about annoying bosses you've had?!

[MrsBookaay]

Not awful abusive bullying shitheads, more... useless.

My manager is patronising, ineffectual, inconsistent and forgetful. Drives me bonkers.

I am WFH today as I have a washing machine being delivered - she approved this, it's in the diary. Yesterday when I left I reminded her.

At 9:30 this morning she sends me a flurry of texts asking where I am and why I am late! After I remind her that I am working from home, she says yes well I'll need you to dial in to this meeting at 11... I know, that's what I intended to do. I set it up with a conference call number for this exact reason. I hate being told to do things that I was already going to do, especially obvious things like this.

She refuses to make any decision whatsoever, always referring to the senior manager in the team. Anything at all from holiday requests to flexible working times to the bloody colour choices in a report. It drives me potty. She may as well not be there.

I get the feeling HER manager puts the fear of God into her occasionally as she will turn very dictatorial and be snapping at us and barking commands and demanding to see progress updates for things that she has access to and should be keeping an eye on anyway... then she will get it out of her system and be nice and absent minded as though nothing had happened and will ask me if I'm ok a million times when I'm not feeling chatty in the wake of all this. Says things like "oh are you not well? Drink some water, maybe you're dehydrated"

Oh shit I’m always offering the drink water advice!
She does sound very tedious, but you know some find stress easier to handle than others. Sounds like you know why she is flapping about, no one is perfect. Just smile, I find it helps to say less.

summersherewishiwasnt

Oh it's not offering the water I have an issue with, it's acting as though I am the one with the issue after she's spent the morning/day/week being shouty and unpleasant.

I think you might be right about saying less...

And I know I was doing a good job, because the main boss kept promoting me to handle bigger accounts. Weird set up when the temp is in

Oh most of my post deleted.

She is your manager she does have the right to remind you of what is going on that day, you sound a bit defensive.

Yep. Woman who I supported PA wise along with her male equal. She told my manager that I had an attitude problem. When my astounded manager asked why, she said "because when I ask for things she tells me they're already done". She was a useless manager, no people skills, chaotic & volatile, cancelled important client meetings with 15mins notice because she never got to work before 10.30 & her team who were lovely, hated her. I was told her attitude was 'cultural, that's the way they treat junior team members'. (she was Turkish). I didn't stay in that job.

I'm an academic so we don't have bosses. We have Heads of Department.

Our last one was awful She admitted in her pitch for the job that she didn't really want the job but was standing because she wanted to avoid getting an external person in for the job (which is actually exactly what the department needed).

She would turn up at meetings with incredibly senior, important people and stay for the minimum amount of time possible and spend that time moaning about the job.

She proclaims herself to be incredibly feminist. In fact, she's a really big name in a particular area of work related to feminism but she completely fucked over a couple of women colleagues including blatant lying to them. She offers support for women in her little club but the rest of us can basically go fuck ourselves.