To think that slightly scatty managers are actually the best ones?

[CraftyBlueHare]

I’ve noticed that the best managers I’ve worked with are the ones who are a bit all over the place - forgetful, a little chaotic, maybe even a bit disorganised. But somehow, they trust their team, don’t micromanage, and create a relaxed work environment. Meanwhile, the hyper-organised, super on top of everything managers tend to be the most controlling and stressful to work under.

Is it just me or does a bit of managerial chaos actually make for a better workplace?

This gives me hope that I will be an exceptional manager.

If I remember to submit my application on time.

I hope so, because I have adhd, and I'm definitely slightly scatty at times. Though I do try to stay on top of stuff!

I hope it's true because I'm ADHD and that's pretty much my management style 😆 I recruit detail orientated people to work under me. I always get great feedback (anonymous) from the teams I manage. I don't clock watch or micro manage, I judge purely on results + the job being done.
I take great pride in upskilling all my teams, opening doors to other opportunities for them and raising their visibility across the company.

I’ve always worked better under managers that trust me to do my job. People who micromanage end up stressing me out and generally seem to concentrate on things that don’t matter so much and ime tend to have less empathy with staff.

Hard agree. My current, fucking fantastic , manager has just been diagnosed with ADHD.

Maybe it's just those of us who have ADHD 😆 maybe it should be on the job descriptions 🤣

Totally agree with this

I really hope she knows how fantastic you think she is. If she has a late diagnosis of adhd, I'd be willing to bet that she has spent most of her life beating herself up for all of her perceived inadequacies.

Haha well I hope that's true since that's definitely me. "Remind me what you're working on again"?

YABU to be so vague about the kind of scatty you mean. There are scatty managers who cause an immense amount of stress for their team by failing to provide the correct information on time so that the staff have to bungle through or end up working late to cover the manager's tracks. Also scatty managers who are lax about carrying out performance management and submitting info for pay reviews causing staff to have to chase up on it with HR themselves. Then there are the managers who endlessly delegate because they know you will do a thorough job and they won't which makes you wonder why you are earning £20k less than they are when you are doing their job...?

Yes, I have seen all of the above!

If you are a manager, do the job properly!

I think it depends on what they are scatty with. I’ve had the manager you describe and I agree they’re the best managers. However, I’ve also had the can’t find your leave card on their desk, won’t sign your leave card for two weeks, forgets to do an expenditure approval until prompted 3 times and forgets appraisals kind of scatty. The latter isn’t so great.

Agree, as they don’t blame their reports for their own mistake, or fail to give clear instructions.

It depends how scatty and what kind of scatty, but I certainly know what you mean. Bosses who have a slight air of enthusiastic scattiness and don't try to appear perfect and impeccably professional are more relatable and make their employees feel less worried about their own imperfections! I've had quite a few good bosses, but my last boss was the best and she was just like that!

Depends on how passive aggressive they are. In my last role, I had a complete basket case for a manager. She was absolutely all over the place.

Except none of it was her fault. Can’t remember a meeting we had where she told me to do x? I go and do x and then it’s my fault we did x. Ask me to spend 3 days doing some totally mindless task that she then changed her mind about because she got distracted and thought maybe doing it the complete opposite way would have been better? It would be all my fault for doing the wrong thing. She would go off on 20 minute long rambling stories about her dentist from 20 years ago in meetings and then get annoyed that I didn’t tell her to stop so we kept to time.

It was exhausting. And I felt completely gaslighted all the time because no matter what she said or told anyone to do, she’d forget about it and tell you that you should have done something different, every time. I felt like I was losing my mind. She was so loopy. I missed my very direct exacting old line manager who was firm but lovely.

I got cancer and had to leave this job and honest to god, I’ve never been more grateful for cancer. She took me to breaking point. It was a relief to escape.

Disagree entirely, but obviously my personal experience so a subjective view.
The last manager before I retired was totally scatty, didn't know what she was doing, was always late, couldn't remember stuff, got so many things wrong, her team were always bailing her out. I was glad to walk away.

Currently I do a few hours per week in a little retirement job which started off voluntary and progressed to paid work. The manager is kindly but slightly scatty, another disorganised person, makes me pleased I only do a few hours a week. Otherwise I would be tearing my hair out.

There are papers everywhere, nothing is tidied up, the back office looks like a bomb has hit it. We can't read the noticeboards because there's too much stuff on them. Forms lost or missing, meetings changed/forgotten, rotas not done on time, can't remember what they said last shift so time wasted explaining something I already know and have done correctly and "Oh, sorry, I thought it was you, I realise I should have been telling this to (another staff name)". Useless.

Scattiness makes managers look unprofessional. I don't trust them and lose respect for them. Give me an organised, efficient manager any day. I'm there to do a job, not expand my social circle.
But I know many would disagree with me.

My best manager was very laid back and not fussed about the rules. He trusted his staff to get the work done.

I loved my boss like this. Inspirational woman.

Made it ok for us to make mistakes or mislay things. She was so bloody untidy, but so lovely too.

Hell no.
Being told "sorry, forgot to pass this on, please can you complete 20 hours work before the end of the day" dors NOT make for a harmonious workplace.

Best boss I had was so completely on top of stuff he gave you the next 2 or 3 bits of work, and left you to get on with it.
He also kept a stash of chocolate digestive biscuits in his office!

This is perfect

Thank you, I certainly don't claim to be perfect but I do think I'm a good manager! I certainly try to be and that's half the battle, I care about my teams and will always have their backs but at the same time hold them accountable for their work. In return I expect them to hold me accountable and to challenge me if they feel it is warranted.

Oh good! Speaking as a lovely, SSM this gives me hope ☺️☺️☺️

Ha! It does depend on the sort of scatty, as others have said. But I know what you mean. I've actually trained myself out of being the Manager Who Knows Everything as I realised it was no good for my team. I'm always delighted when they pick up some details I've missed by being a bit slapdash. As it's their role to be the expert on specific projects, not mine.

I dont agree scatty managers to me = important stuff is missed or others pick up their slack and dont get the recognition for it.

As a scatty, slightly chaotic manager who never micromanages and trusts her team, I want to say yes. I think my team are pretty happy but sometimes I see their (valid) frustration with my scantiness. What I’ve learnt to say is ‘I’d rather you use your initiative and make a mistake than wait for me’ - sometimes that leads to mistakes, but I’ve never had a go, after all that’s the culture I’ve developed!