How do you deal with your “provocative” boss?

“My boss is provocative”, “My boss is bossy”, “Always catches me wrong”, “Hold me on one”.

Several complaints are frequent on our tongues in many of our work sites, where many employees suffer from the inability to build a bridge of communication with their managers at work, either due to the lack of a common base of understanding between them, or because managers are often stubborn in their dealings with these employees ..

But Michelle Ward, an expert in the field of self-development and work relations, stresses that the first way to avoid humiliating and embarrassing situations with the manager is to “do your duty perfectly” and therefore he will not have any chance to provoke you in the first place.

Michelle points out that if the manager begins to blame the employee or even begin to provoke and insult him, the employee must maintain his emotional stability and psychological calm, and not slip into this abyss by exchanging insults with his manager, and not taking these actions personally so as not to collapse his confidence By himself.

The employee must also realize that each manager differs from the other in his personality, because each of them comes from a different culture that stems from education, the nature of the personality, temperament, and the same administrative capabilities. There is the stubborn manager or the one who likes to give orders all the time, there is the quiet manager and there is the manager who does not interfere in the work.

Self-development experts believe that the reason that prompts the manager to act in a “provocative and unprofessional” manner with his employees is that the manager himself repeats the same behaviors that he encountered over the course of his career until he has a stereotyped image that this is the best and correct way to deal

With employees, some point out that this behavior may be the result of the manager’s lack of confidence in himself, his lack of administrative abilities, and his inability to communicate with his subordinates, thus turning into a dictator whom no one can hold accountable or object to his orders.
Some managers may argue in their aggressive and provocative behavior that they seek perfection and want to achieve 100% success, not 99.9%, but it is just an excuse to hide their lack of happiness and satisfaction in their current position.

Experts offer a simplified prescription for dealing with this type of manager to ensure proper workflow and career success and to avoid provoking managers:

1- Determining the nature of the manager’s demands:

Some may think that the manager exercises a kind of provocation and control just because he demands a certain level of quality of work, or assigns the employee many tasks, but the employee has to distinguish between the manager who demands the completion of many tasks as a result of the large number of work, and who is only trying to provoke and confuse the employee.

If the manager’s demands are realistic and commensurate with the person’s job title and with his scientific and skill background, the problem here is with the employee who does not meet the demands of his manager, but if you do the work to the fullest, submit it on time and find that your manager is still angry or intransigent, ask him to speak About this, you may have been at fault and did not understand what he wanted from you.

2- Take a truce:

Working for a harsh and intransigent manager is one of the most important causes of stress and tension and the lack of a work environment that encourages success and creativity.

When you feel that you have begun to enter the circle of tension and pressure, ask for a truce immediately, and stay away from the causes of tension, and avoid talking with your manager until you calm down, and if you feel that you cannot control your nerves, submit a request for a week’s leave until your nerves calm down, and think calmly about the nature of the relationship between you.

Read About:  Job loss and the anxiety and psychological pressure it may cause!

3- Confront your boss.

If the manager feels that one of his employees is submissive and easily acquiesces to his exaggerated demands, he will never stop treating him like this, but if the employee reacts clearly – but in a decent and polite way – the manager here may review his actions, and stop harassing him.

The most informed response to the manager is through perfecting the work, completing it in the best way, and submitting it on the specified dates and with the best required quality.

4- Documenting the insult:

If the employee feels that his manager is hunting him, he should make a small log that documents – accurately, with dates and comprehensive description – the situations and events during which the manager intentionally insults, provokes or any negative behavior towards him.

5- Constructive confrontation:

Talk directly to your boss about the incidents in which he was provoking you, but maintain your composure, do not raise your voice while talking to him or wave your fingers at him, and ask him how you can help him to complete the work in a more civil and calm manner.

6- The official complaint:

If you do not reach a solution with your direct manager in this case, do not hesitate to submit a formal complaint to the Human Resources Department or (Personnel Affairs), including the negative attitudes that your manager initiated and that you documented.

7- Plans to leave:

If all of the previous steps have failed to find common ground with your manager, you should start planning your move to another organization. Update your resume, and start undergoing several job interviews with other organizations, after all, you don’t have to deal with this type of manager for the rest of your life.