Why bosses are misunderstood?

Team management is the most integral as well delicate part a boss needs a handle on.

“You are the Boss”, one often views it just as a position. But a boss in whatever capacity generally has more responsibilities than his subordinates. There are deadlines to be met, team management & supervision to be done plus other administrative duties are to be fulfilled. Team management issues often surface at work such as attendance, inadequate performance, other behavioural problems, etc.

Often while handling issues a boss has to keep in mind the interest of the organization as well as the team. He might make decisions which might not go down well with his entire team, as each employee has their own personal perspective & agenda. Effective boss has to create an environment of trust and understanding where all team members’ work towards a common vision, not because they’ve been told so, but because they share the vision and want to walk the journey with the organization. If the team members do not hold up their end of the work requirements, then productivity suffers and harmonious work relationship cannot be established.

Here let’s take few examples:

Unfair advantage: If any employee is going through some trouble in his personal life and issues crop up at work because of it. For example Mr. Singh has recently been in an accident. On compassionate grounds he was given leave to recover from the accident with no deductions made from his salary. However he started coming late, taking leaves without permission, leaving early. His boss initially and unsuccessfully tried discussing the problem with him, after which couple of verbal warnings was given to him. Verbal warning led to further discontent and ultimately he had to be fired. Even though team members are aware of the misconduct of their colleague some of them might still end up empathising with him and blame their boss. Hence any such incident affects the morale of the entire team.

Difficulty in accepting you are wrong: All of us make mistakes sometime or the other, but some of us are unwilling to accept our mistakes because we might feel belittled or fear losing our respect among peers. Such a situation leads to problem at workplace. As a responsible team member when your boss corrects one for a mistake at work one should take it in their stride. Bickering, gossiping and cribbing about it gets nothing instead it might invite a stern disciplinary action or earn a poor performance appraisal.

The Smart Alek: So you have come across a colleague who tries to appear extra smart, so much that it annoys you. He will butt in between an important discussion as if he has the most important point to prove. He will always have an opinion on everything and anything that goes around the office. Gossips mindlessly and may be maliciously, he might end up as a bad influence on the entire team. This reminds you of someone right? Imagine being in your boss’s shoe to correct this guy?

Emotional Maturity: While some members will have the necessary skill set and competency to perform at their jobs, they might lack the emotional maturity to handle problems at workplace or interact with other employees and team members. There will be issues at work which cannot be avoided but one has to deal with such issues with restraint and maturity. It is as important being a team player as having necessary skill set for a job. Dealing with such an employee seems like quite a task!

Lack of proper communication: Most conversations happen over an email or phone, the tone and manner of conversation might sound brusque and to the point. Sometimes because bosses are busy juggling between too many tasks at hand and sometimes because it is the way they communicate via such mediums. It might not encourage a two way communication, but clarifications must be sought and a face to face interaction might give you a completely different picture.

The under-performer: At a job it is expected that an employee performs to meet the targets set for him or exceed them, because that is what he has been hired for. Sometimes they are not able to perform, may be because they do not have the required skill set as expected or they are lazy and do not want to put in the required amount of effort. A boss has to identify the issue with such an employee and take corrective action so that entire team is not affected by his non-performance. While it might seem like the boss is being harsh and is exerting too much of performance pressure on that particular team member, but it is essential that every employee contributes to their share of work and is equally a part of the success of the company.

Team management is the most integral as well delicate part a boss needs a handle on. Next time you wish to blame your boss, remember to step into his shoe and think would you do things any differently in his place. All your resentment will vanish and you will work in harmony with a settled mind.