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Ask Slashdot: How Do You Deal With a Terrible Tech Manager?

Posted by BeauHD on from the learning-experience dept.

snydeq writes: From the Know It All to the Overwhelmer, succeeding beneath a bad manager takes strategy and finesse, writes Paul Heltzel in his round-up of bad IT bosses and how to keep them from derailing your career. "While there are truly great leaders in IT, not all inspire confidence. Worse, you can't always choose who will lead your team. But you can always map out new paths in your career. With that in mind, here is a look at some prototypically bad managers you may have already encountered in your engineering departments, with tips on how to deal with each of them." The six "terrible tech managers" mentioned by Heltzel include: "The Know It All," "The Pushover," "The Micromanager," "The Unexpected Boss," "The Fearful Manager," and "The Overwhelmer." Have you ever worked for any of these managers? If so, how did you deal with them?

5 of 140 comments (clear)

  1. Escalate, then quit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    First you bring up the issue with the boss's boss. If nothing is done, then you quit. If you're good at what you do in technology you shouldn't have trouble finding work anyway. If you're useless or burnt out, maybe you can apply to be the next terrible tech manager. Many of them started that way and got "promoted out of the way".

  2. 1. Scram by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Get out if you can! It's not worth your health and sanity to stay for a bit more money.

    I had a sinister boss during a past slump, and had to wait a while to find another company. Economic slumps suck: choices die faster than summer daisies in Death Valley.

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  3. Oh ... my. by buss_error · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I've had a boss that was all of these. Very frustrating.

    I've often wondered why folks in tech expect 24x7 access to their employees. If you work at Burger King, you don't have to put in 90 or 100 hour weeks - or if you do, it's with overtime pay. But if you're in tech, this seems to be the default expectation and don't you dare ask for overtime or even a bonus. Gosh no. Don't expect profit sharing either.

    --
    Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
  4. You all show up in suits ... by davecb · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And have appointments out of the office at odd times. A colleague started that, and promptly got button-holed by the VP Financial (who had been our receiver in a former startup). The VP then started a reference check on the problematic boss...

    --
    davecb@spamcop.net
  5. Look for a new job by redmid17 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Seriously, you're not going to get anywhere under a terrible manager. Moving to a different team will look petty and personal (even if it is). Moving to a new company lets you start over fresh.