6 Steps for Dealing With a Boss Who Doesn’t Understand What You Do
Whether you are new to the world of work or have been working for many years and know how to survive in this chaotic world, you will encounter a mix of bosses, managers, or supervisors that you like and those that you don’t. Wouldn’t it be great if your boss was like a friend who understood what you or your team were doing?
“A boss or supervisor who truly understands his subordinates only exists in novels….”
But in reality, how many bosses or supervisors understand or try to understand? Because this is not a quality that every boss can easily have. Or you could say that it is a rare quality. If you don’t believe it, try reviewing how many bosses or supervisors have really understood what you do.
“Working becomes many times more difficult if the boss or supervisor doesn’t understand what we are doing.”
A difficult job becomes even more difficult if your boss doesn’t understand how you work, what you are doing and why. It is really unfortunate for a working person if you have a boss who only has money and opportunity but they have no brains, no effort to understand or try to learn the working processes of the employees in their own company.
“The worst thing is a boss who doesn’t care about what his team is doing, but only cares about the results he wants.”
The higher up the ladder you get, the more likely you are to encounter bosses who don’t understand the nitty-gritty of a process. They’re used to seeing the big picture, so it’s no wonder that when you break down the process, these bosses don’t understand anything. What’s worse is that they don’t care about what their team is doing. When a boss doesn’t care, it means that they don’t see the value in what their team is doing, and dealing with such a boss will be a complete waste of your efforts to produce results.
This situation may happen even though your boss may not have any bad intentions. They are just struggling with a leadership failure because this may be their first time as a boss. Therefore, you need to turn this situation into a win-win situation. It is not about trying to make your boss understand what you do in detail, but rather making them rely on and support your work even though they may not understand what you are doing or what you are doing.
Here are 6 things you need to do to turn things around if you find that your boss doesn’t understand the work you’re doing:
1. Keep Your Confidence: If your work isn’t being praised or your boss is still confused by the work you’ve put in, before you get too upset, figure out why your boss doesn’t understand what you’re doing. Here’s how to find out.
- Find and analyze your boss . Find out how he or she works, what his or her background is, what kind of expertise or experience do they have? There may be roles that they are good at but have never shown you. Once you have done your research on your boss, use this information to communicate your support in the right way.
- Talk to other coworkers. Information from just one person’s perspective (in this case, yourself) may not be enough. You may also need to seek insights from people around you, such as other coworkers or departments. They may have some great tips they’ve discovered or you may have shared how you survived working with this boss.
- Go straight to your boss. The best way to learn about someone is to learn from them. To get clear and accurate information, you may need to take the right opportunity to go straight to your boss to talk to him/her directly, clear up misunderstandings, or explain how you and him/her work together. Once you have your boss’s attention, start explaining what you are doing so that he/she can understand your work better.
2. Ask for help the right way: It’s okay if your boss isn’t well versed in the little details of your role — after all, that’s why they hired you. What’s more important is whether they can give you the support you need, whether it’s by providing you with extra resources, handling other responsibilities, or helping you prioritize your work so you can focus on the task at hand. But if you want these things to happen, you need to know how to ask for them.
“Communication is the key to approaching your boss.”
You can create an opportunity for a conversation between you and your boss by asking for a one-on-one meeting, inviting them out for coffee outside the office, this method often works. It makes your boss more open to listening. Whether your offer will be successful or not depends on how well you communicate it. It is a good idea to do your homework on what you want to say and research what kind of person your boss is. Be specific about the tasks you need support for and be clear about what you need your boss to help you achieve. Try to explain the big picture to your boss because they may not understand the nuances you are telling them.
3. Understand how your work contributes to the company’s goals: Good leaders prioritize, plan, and communicate with purpose what they are doing and how they are doing it to achieve their goals. Another important job of being a good team member is to understand how what you are doing contributes to the larger goals of the company.
“Every company has a core mission that leads to a bigger goal.”
It’s not just about working to fulfill your boss’s orders. You need to learn how what you’re doing each day contributes to the larger goals of the company. What are you and your department doing to help with the big mission? Try to break down what needs to be done. When you’re working together to accomplish all the smaller goals, you’ll see how your work contributes to the larger mission of the company, and your boss will see it.
4. Be your own cheerleader: It’s not enough to know how important what you do is to the overall success of your team, department, or company. You also need to make sure your boss knows it too, so you don’t have to be shy about your own accomplishments.
“We all expect our bosses to see our good work without us having to show off.”
Boasting about your work is a show-off, because we all want to see what we’re doing without having to make a big deal out of it. But the truth is, if you’re doing a great job and no one notices it, it’s not going to help you get anywhere in your career. At the very least, you should schedule regular or biweekly meetings with your boss to give them a progress report so they know what you’re doing. This isn’t seen as bragging, but rather as a weekly or monthly report.
5. Ask your coworkers to pass along their compliments: If your boss isn’t willing to listen to your feedback directly, the next step is to let others speak for you. Harness the power of coworkers. Let the feedback of coworkers who appreciate what you do get across to your boss. When you work with coworkers and they compliment you on your work, ask them to pass it on to your boss directly. These compliments don’t always come from coworkers. They could come from clients or external audiences who are impressed by your work.
6. Saying Goodbye: If you have tried your best but still can’t get your boss to understand, support you or appreciate what you do, the only thing you can do is change your boss, change your department or change your company. You have to accept your boss’s incompetence and realize that if you stay, you will not see any career progression. It may be time to think about moving on. You don’t want to waste your talents on someone who is not a good fit for you, do you?
Rude bosses and rudderless companies are real and true facts that we all have to accept, but it doesn’t have to be yours. Some people won’t understand or appreciate what you have to offer. That’s a hard truth to swallow, but that’s okay because others will appreciate you. If you’re in this situation, take a deep breath and start looking for your next gig (or new boss in this case). Just make sure you do your best to assess the company culture and management style of your future boss before you accept the offer. You’ll thank yourself for moving on in the long run, and your new company and boss will thank their lucky stars for finding you.
Conclusion
When you first start working in any company, of course we cannot know from the first one or two weeks what kind of people are in the company? How will they survive or find a way to advance their career within the company? Therefore, you need to observe a lot, study the people around you, especially the people who are the most important variable for your career advancement, such as your boss.
Being a boss doesn’t mean they do everything well, from the big picture to the small details. Bosses can make mistakes, overlook important things, or act inappropriately because not all bosses have the same leadership style. This is something we need to understand first. So as an employee who has to work under the supervision of a boss, if you want to get along well with your boss, you need to find ways to get support, be seen, and be valued, which will help you advance in your career. But if you try your best and the avenues are still narrow and dark, you may have to start looking for other bosses instead, while still being yourself and remembering that you did your best even though this boss didn’t see it.
“Starting over and finding a new job is hard, but banging your head against a wall to show people you’re worth it is even harder.”
Reference:
6 Steps for Dealing With a Boss Who Doesn’t Understand What You Do
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