One of the more difficult tasks faced by business continuity managers can be presenting investment proposals to company directors and line managers. Difficult bosses can pull the rug from under the best laid plans by refusing investment requests, but advice issued by Purdue University may offer some help in this area.

Like the characters in the new movie ‘The Devil Wears Prada,’ millions of people are subjected to difficult bosses. In the movie, Meryl Streep plays a ruthless magazine editor who frequently doles out insults and unreasonable demands, making life unbearable for her staff.

"Although there are many different kinds of bosses, bad boss behaviour usually stems from the supervisor throwing his or her power around," says William Krug, an associate professor and head of Purdue's Department of Organizational Leadership and Supervision in the College of Technology. "Some even take a certain delight in being difficult."

He says the first step in dealing with a difficult manager or director is to determine what kind of boss you have.

Krug says bad bosses usually fall into one of four types: controllers, analyzers, promoters and supporters. Controllers are demanding and insist that things be done their way; analyzers like a lot of information but have trouble making decisions; promoters are enthusiastic, dislike detail, like to make quick decisions but often lack follow-up; and supporters are seen as the "nice" bosses who consider their workers' feelings when making decisions but can be taken advantage of.

Krug says workers can use this information to determine how best to deal with a difficult manager or director. For instance, ‘analyzer’ bosses will require adequate facts presented to them before making a decision. On the other hand, employees who provide the same amount of detail to a ‘promoter’ boss can make things harder for themselves.

Krug says that while each type of boss has both good and bad points, he recommends three general strategies that employees should use when dealing with a difficult boss:

* Make sure you are accurate. "Always make sure that you are familiar with what you are saying and that your facts and figures are right," Krug says. "If what you are saying is inaccurate, it gives your boss an edge."

* Always document. "Presenting facts is a great way to circumvent the emotional thought process that often goes on between boss and employee," he says. "Documentation has been made easier with e-mail because it gives you a clear trail of happened, when it happened and what action was taken."

* In a dispute, allow your boss to be the decision maker. "If you say, 'The only thing we can do is this,' that can make a boss angrier," Krug says. "But if you can offer a few options, that can help diffuse the situation."

http://www.tech.purdue.edu/ols/

•Date: 5th July 2006• Region: US/World •Type: Article •Topic: Selling to the board
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