Have you ever looked at your boss and wondered who on earth in his right mind promoted this man? Or muttering to yourself: does this man think I’m the clean-up guy? Simply because he is so disorganized and poor in planning that when it becomes an emergency, he pushes all the responsibility (accompanied by both pressure and sometimes blame) to you and expect you to clean it all up.

It is either his desk is perpetually a heap of complete mess, a beautiful complete work day is ruined (once in a while) because that document that took you hundreds of hours of untold hard work and research to complete and submit to him for a client suddenly cannot be found or untold amounts are being spent replacing things that suddenly cannot be found, even though this guy is not necessarily suffering from multitasking overload.

Working with a disorganized boss can be quite an uphill task; you don’t know what next to expect. It is even worse if he is a habitual procrastinator. Many times you are tempted so badly to recommend that he takes one of those time management or project management courses, so you can actually have an easier time doing your job, but then, how do you tell a man that he has bad breathe?

When you have that boss, who doesn’t check his e-mails frequently and turn around to accuse you of not forwarding him a particular important report you actually sent hours ago, the man who constantly begins looking for a particular report when it is most needed, the man who often puts a call across to you at 3 AM and expect you to make a presentation for a client at 7 AM; a job he has prior information on for weeks or the guy who is always making you consider putting a resignation letter due to the unnecessary pressure his time mismanagement approach is putting on you, you may have to try these few tips.

1. Be one step ahead.

You’d have one hell of a bad time working on that job if when he screeches ‘Ben where’s that report?’ and your response is somewhat ‘it’s not ready yet sir…’ You can be sure to get the reprimanding of your life. So before he asks for the report, have it ready. Before he asks for update on that project, have it handy. Before he screams for updates on a particular client, be sure to have your details ready and feed him with it before he lands, else, you’d be in for a really hard time.

2. Don’t assume anything.

When your boss’s management style is one in which he reacts to situations instead of being proactive, then you have no business assuming anything. Don’t assume he’ll see that report simply because you’ve emailed it to him. Don’t assume he read that report you submitted on his table just because he received it from him. Don’t assume that he called that client you are managing his project to rectify a few things, just because you told him and don’t allow yourself have a bad day because the client shows up and laments bitterly how slow the work has been.

3. Be ready for anything.

Don’t stay awake staring at the ceiling after you get a call from him at 3 am telling you that you are catching a 7 am flight to Port-Harcourt to make a presentation. Don’t even think it is a dream, because like a big joke being acted out, you’d be in Port-Harcourt in a few hours’ time, and did I mention that you’d be making a presentation? Oh! Yes, so get ready and be prepared for the worst.

4. Leave no room for unnecessary rebukes.

Be at work at the right time, prioritize you time, don’t wait for his supervision to do you work, because the next time he’d talk to you about it, he’d be asking if it is ready for submission. So be on top of you game and take it easy, because you may be in this for the long haul.

5. Offer help when you see them struggling with things.

Many times, such people are overloaded with work and have their hands practically full. It will be a plus on your side to take some of those off their shoulders, especially when you hear them lamenting of not knowing what to do or worrying about a particular project. You can be sure to earn their respect or at least have an easier time working on the job.

source: Ngcareers.com - Jobs & Career Community

Seems you work for a my boss eh?