Dec 18

Dec 18 How to Deal With An Incompetent Boss

Working with an incompetent boss can be frustrating to the point where you feel like you’re tearing your hair out! When there is a sense of unfairness, that a person who is paid a lot more than you, but is less capable than you are, it’s only natural for it to get right under your skin!

The obvious answer is to find another job, however this may not be an immediate solution, so in the meantime there are other ways to try and make work life less annoying:

1.) See the opportunities of having an incompetent boss

This could be an opportunity for you to work on more stretching projects because your boss simply can’t do them. They might take all the glory from it, but more importantly you get to gain the experience of doing it and being able to talk about it when a future job opportunity arises

It could also be an opportunity for other senior people to come to you instead. If your boss is truly incompetent, other stakeholders will begin to notice and they will need gain help from another source, enter you!

You’ll have to take advantage of this very very carefully though, as you do not want to be seen as sidestepping or usurping your boss.

2.) If you don’t get what you need from your boss, try to communicate clearly what you need from them specifically and tactfully.

If what you need is a decision, try giving them 2 options, present them and tell them your preference so they are led which way to go.
If you need their senior backing on something that needs to go ahead. Ask for it. This can help them feel like a boss and avoid them becoming insecure.
If you need more training and guidance, you could request going on a training course.
If they are unable to prioritise, run through your list of tasks at the start of the week and explain which ones you’re prioritising instead. This way you’ve influenced them before they can start messing your workload around with unimportant tasks.

3.) If your boss is technically incompetent, find other sources for guidance.

If technical guidance and support cannot be provided from your boss, still ask them first, to show you look up to them, and if they cannot answer, then ask for advice on where you could get the answer, perhaps they could ask their boss, or allow you to reach out to them. Or perhaps you could call some consultants. Or there is someone else in the business who may know.

All this is good because you can reach out and make contact with other knowledgeable people in the business. This is a great chance to build relationships with other support networks, who could also provide future job opportunities.

4.) Try to look for strengths in your boss

Often a boss or manager may not have the technical expertise, they may have been hired in purely to “manage”. Although the best managers are shown to have good knowledge of their employee’s work and should be able to guide and support them on it, some managers get the position because they just look the part e.g. :

They have executive presence.
They can “talk the talk”.
They have relationships with other high status people in the company.
They manage upwards to their bosses extremely well.

Now it can be frustrating to have a manager that can just talk the talk and not walk the walk, because to us it’s not genuine, it’s not hard earnt. However they must be able to manage up to their bosses extremely well to have got to their position.

Try to take a leaf out of their book on how they smooth talk, manage upwards and have that executive presence.

I’m not recommending that you become them, what I am suggesting is that you analyse what works and what doesn’t, and learn how to play the game sometimes. It means one day you will become a real leader, one who understands their employees, their work and provide technical guidance, as well as someone who can been seen as such by other leaders and hiring managers.

Do analyse their methods with a pinch of salt though, you never want to be fake, manipulative or lie. Your power needs to come from a true inner strength not a superficial one.

5.) Your boss needs you. So you’ll be able to sit relatively securely.

Try to help them where you can, so that you’re indispensable. You’ll need to do this a lot to balance out any potential insecurities they have about other stakeholders coming to you instead.

Now….. What if your boss is not just incompetent, but also downright horrible?!

Having a boss that knows less than you actually isn’t the worse thing that could happen. You could probably accept it, so long as they don’t hold your work up, get in the way of a project going ahead or worse take out their insecurities on you.

But often an incompetent boss can be an insecure one, that feels the need to assert their authority unhealthily, by:

Knocking you down a peg, by giving you vague criticisms.
Giving you lots of review points that are not to do with the main content of the work e.g. superficial and immaterial issues such as font size (unless you’re a graphic designer)!
Not inviting you to meetings or allowing you to work on projects, as you might outshine them.
Holding up a project with an irrelevant point or immaterial issue.
For more signs of insecure and toxic bosses, click here.

Things you can do to try and make your life easier:

1.) Try to make them feel less insecure (at least by you)

You shouldn't have to be doing this, however if there is a chance it could make your life easier (especially if you’re planning on staying in this job), you could try to encourage them to feel less threatened by you with the following:

Ask for their input (even if it’s not required), to ensure that you’re including them and showing them you need their input.
Thank them for their support and input, (even if it was minimal).
Thank them for the opportunity when they invite you to a meeting or involve you in a project.
Thank them for their review points, (even if they were superficial points, and say it’s helped you).
Ask them for development advice. This will reassure them that you do view them as more senior with value to add.
More tips on how to work with an insecure boss (when you can’t quit) here.

2.) Accept that they are insecure and need to feel like a boss.

Even though this will really grind on you, at the end of the day try to remember the bigger picture. Decide whether you eventually want to move jobs or whether you want to stay. If you want to stay, there must be positives about your jobs, whether that is job and pay security, or whether there is still more to learn. Write these positives down and focus on these whenever you’re getting worked up!

If you are planning on leaving eventually, then see this as a temporary annoyance. And the positive is that you learn what NOT to do!

3.) Maintain perspective and control what you can control.

An insecure boss that tries to undermine you, will affect your feelings, you’re human after all. However don’t let it affect you personally. That might mean you make sure you:

Fully switch off from work and draw a line during your lunch hours and your finish time.
Build relationships with other people both junior and senior. These relationships will remind you that you are valued and respected in your organisation even if your boss doesn’t.
Work on personal projects not to do with work, to help give you a sense of achievement that might be lacking in your work life.

For more on how to cope with an undermining boss, read here.

What you should avoid doing:

Complaining to their boss

Remember that they might have hired this person, so you could be insulting their decision. Also remember that this boss is likely to have a much closer relationship with your boss than with you. They’ll have 1 to 1 sessions, where your boss can tell them all sorts of great achievements they’ve done and built a standing with your boss. You will always be at a disadvantage (unless that boss is super savvy and talks to many different staff at all levels and seeks feedback and has a genuine open door policy. Be careful many say they have an open door policy, but it’s just lip service.)

All that will happen is that your feedback will somehow work it’s way back to your own boss, and that can put a target on your back.

There can be a point where you feel like there is no other option but to do this, but understand that you are choosing a nuclear option, and you yourself need to be at a high enough standing in your company to withstand any shrapnel that will come from your bombshell.

Now there can be real reasons where you should be going to a person further up the chain, for example: fraud, or something that truly breaks company policy, such as bullying (you will need evidence and preferably other people are willing to back you up or have experienced it themselves).

Going to HR

Always remember that HR work for management. HR will always favour the more senior staff, unless both of you are relatively low in the hierarchy of the company. And if this incompetent boss is actually a part of the senior leadership team, then it’s actually possible for HR to actually reveal something to them even if they try to keep your name out of it. Because HR are people themselves, and they have bosses and stakeholders who it is their job to aid.

Remember it’s hard to prove incompetence especially if nothing has actually blown up so bad that they’d probably have to resign themselves. Also HR aren’t experts in your technical line of work, so they will have no idea what you’re talking about when you tell them your boss doesn’t even understand this and that!

Instead talk to a trusted colleague to sound off and get perspective, or an official mentor who is obliged to keep your discussion confidential.

Again there can be a point where you feel there is no other option, but always arm yourself with evidence, dated situations, witnesses, and that there was a resulting impact on the company that was negative. If the company doesn’t even feel the negative impact of your boss being incompetent because their team is saving the day instead, then your company is unlikely to get involved in this drama. They won’t fix it till it’s broke.

Of course any blatant gross misconduct that you can prove, such as fraud, you should go to HR or their boss.

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