15 Ways to Turn off your Manager at Work

It’s important to know how to impress people at your work. In fact I wrote on this topic a number of times. 101 ways to be better at work is one of them. I am particularly proud of the article 20 Ways to be Productive and Happy at Work. Sometimes it is essential to also know the things that can set your manager off, so that you are aware and don’t commit such mistakes.

Some managers get turned off with small things, they are like dry wood stock which catches fire very easily. These managers are actually micro managers. You can usually make this type of managers fairly easily. Sometimes coming late at work one day or failing to give an update set the manager off.

There are the other type of managers who generally maintain cool and calm attitude towards minute mistakes. They usually are hard to set off. You really need to do nasty things to get their wrath. But, when they are turned of they don’t change their decision.

We all have what I would call “our bad manager day” from time to time.  In our rational moments we know, devil or angle, we cannot easily divorce our manager. But on that one day you may be prepared to give up freedom for life for the pleasure of being able to strangle the boss. Or just watch his frustration at your entices, aimed at aggravating his bad day.

Here are a few sure shot ways to turn off your manager at work. Before you start taking my advice ensure that you have another job offer on hand. Else, just take mental note not to commit these mistakes, unless you really want to be laid off.

1.Ignore him. Do not pay attention to him in meetings. Be late for meetings. This one sure shot way to tick off your manager.

2. Better still; convey to him that you know more about your work than him. If you can do it in front of others, it gets even better. Very often managers get so bogged down in managing, reporting and fire-fighting that they may have lost touch of base level transaction work.

3. Hog the credit. Even if your contribution to the project was the highest, others did put in some amount of work. A good manager prefers the whole team to get credit.

4. Going over him or working behind his back is a big turn off for managers. Indirectly but in quite strong manner it suggests that you do not trust your manager.

5. Mark unnecessary CC in mails where manager is seen in bad light for his lack of knowledge or inability to take a quick decision.

6. On the other hand not keeping him in loop can be just as frustrating for him. Do not mark him on mails being sent to clients or for departmental work.

7. Abuse of time off. Stretch you lunch hour. Too many coffee breaks. Arriving for work late frequently.

8. Not meeting deadlines is one of the surest ways of turning off your manager. Based on what he expects from you, he may have made commitments up the ladder.

9. Not showing sensitivity to organization’s needs. When critical timelines are required to be met, take a day off. Even if you are taking the day off for something necessary, it may be taken negatively because you were not there when really needed.

10. Goofing up. Be on the net all the time. Facebook, Twitter and beauty pages are real put off.  [This will work only if your systems admin has not already blocked these]

11. Not integrating in the team. You may feel that you know more than others, But you not being a team player can upset the whole team’s rhythm affecting the output.

12. Show apathy. Just not interested in work. Not only will your output be affected, you may end up affecting the moral of the team as a whole.

13. Being a trouble maker. Being anti-social in the team is something that turns off most managers. Does not mean that you expected to call your entire team home for dinner. Have cordial relationship around the office.

14. Excuses. “The instructions were not clear”, “Xyz did not do his part”. “I could have completed this but for……” Not having done the work is bad. But not accepting your own inability to do that is one of the biggest put off for your manager.

15. Not taking trouble to improve yourself, or, committing the same mistake more than once.

It is quite likely that your manager may be trying to help you grow. Or least case he is not your enemy. I would suggest that you give him a benefit of doubt and ensure that you do NOT do any of the above. Even if you have other job on hand.

Readers, do share your personal experience if you have.