Q & A Table of Contents
My Supervisors Are Lazy And Don’t Communicate
From: Nadine, Fort Worth, Texas
Question: I perceive myself as a worker with great work ethics: hard worker/reliable/excellent team player/easy going/smart/excellent time management/disciplined/organized/a performer and ambitious. I also know that because my evaluations show it.
My problem is that I see my two immediate superiors as incompetent, lazy, and lacking many other qualities. They are disorganized, have very bad communication skills, they waste time, and I don't get good vibes from them as well, maybe because they are sensing that I am judging them internally and that I am looking at them with a critical eye.
I get mad because I don't think they deserve to be supervisors simply because they don't have the qualities of good leaders.
Of course they were there before me and I am fairly new in the company.
How I should I deal with my day-to-day discontent and their lack of communication when sometimes it affects my work.
I tell myself that I should keep doing my best and may be one day I can ask for a promotion and or managerial job. And if this doesn't happen I should look for another job.
I have to add that I work at a non-profit organization where the accountability of each one is low.
Please share with me your views.
Thank you
Response: You need to figure out what your interests are in this situation before you undertake any negotiation — or any other initiatives to change things. For example if you want to keep your present job, you need to figure out whether you are staying there because of the pay, because you want to help fulfill the mission of the organization, because your current employer is among the few — or the only — ones in your area that has jobs for which you are qualified, etc. There can be many underlying reasons for actions you undertake — or continue to implement.
In your question you indicate that your primary interests are to overcome your discontent and to have better communications with your supervisors to support your capacity to fulfill your job. It sounds as if fulfilling the communication problem could lead to overcoming your discontent. So on those two issues, perhaps you should make a conscious choice of prioritizing communication.
One problem you may face is that your attitude, like that of many people in the work force, is very judgmental about your superiors. Whether it is or is not accurate, the likelihood you will be able to convince a supervisor to think of herself or himself as ‘incompetent, lazy, and lacking many other qualities’ is low. One cannot convince others by attacking their egos.
It is possible that your unloved superiors are highly aware of your opinion of them. That knowledge, if it exists, means there’s a particularly high obstacle to progress in terms of open communication — and mutual respect.
Your first step must include learning as much as you can about what the superiors think is important. Are they sensitive about any particular issues relating to their jobs, the organization’s mission, your job, your attitude towards them, or issues outside the workplace? Can you find any things in which you and they (or at least one of them) share interests: sports, movies, music, food, etc.? Do you see eye-to-eye with them on any of your organization’s activities or accomplishments? If you focus on interests you share, it could help you open the door to a better atmosphere and easier communication.
You know what bothers you about them. Perhaps you should research what bothers them about you.
If you want them to communicate better about job-related issues, you need t o have a clear sense of what they feel they have to gain from doing so. If there’s nothing in it for them, the odds are they won’t be motivated to do what you want. Find out what they want — and then figure out how working better with you can help them achieve their personal objectives. For example if they are indeed lazy, find ways to show that if they communicate well with you, you’ll be able to do a better job and make them look better without significant effort on their part.
The bottom line is: use negotiation in a way that invites them to pursue their interests in ways that serve your interests as well. Treat them with disdain and the door to cooperation will be closed. Treat them with respect and they will listen.
Good luck,
Steve
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