ALT-2 Bad Bosses how to Work with a Time Waster
Nobody likes to be the one carrying the weight when someone else is slacking off. Its about ten times worse when it's your superior. Unfortunately some bosses think that a title gives them the right to make everyone else do the work and they can sit back and do as little as possible. Some will even delegate tasks at the last possible minute just to watch you scramble around to get it finished on time.
When I was still working for someone else I had probably one of the worst bosses that I have ever had. Being in retail no matter how far up on the corporate ladder you have to deal with people that will drive you crazy you just have to learn how to pick and choose your battles. For instance my former manager used to leave the store saying he had to run an errand. To try and remedy this when the district manager called while he was out that is exactly what I told him. When he asked if it was a business errand or not I would say that I didn't know. Then my manager would get a call on his cell and he would be back at the store pouting at his desk until it was time for him to go home. Eventually he started taking slightly longer lunches so he could run his errands without being reprimanded .
Another example would be when the same manager would be listening to a football game on the radio in his office. Now normally if he was still getting things done I wouldn't complain however, he would put off giving customers quotes until there was a break in the game or until they came barging in the office themselves. When this started happening the customers were calling corporate and we had regular visits from the district manager for about a month. One his last scheduled visit we neglected to tell our manager that he was going to show up. There was a football game on in the customer lounge and he sat in there and watched it for a little while with one of our workers from the back. When the district manager walked in I really thought he was going to faint. He was white as a ghost as they went to his office and shut the door. The last I knew, he was on probation and if he had another similar customer complaint or a complaint from his employees with in six months then he would have to step down. I do have to admit it was satisfying knowing that he was reprimanded showing him and the other people that we worked with how a manager or anyone in a position of authority should behave.
If you're worried about being reprimanded by your boss for reporting them for misconduct of any kind, most companies have an HR department with a system for keeping them from finding out who it was whether it was an employee or a customer. If you work for a very small company that doesn't have this program you may have to confront them directly or look for a new job if saying something doesn't help the situation.
