Dealing with many bosses

Some people are naturally bossy and they will want to show they are in charge even when they are not.

The working environment is fast-paced and to survive you need to learn how to deal with the bossy office environment that is in most cases lined up with all kinds of bosses and many at that.

Allison Janney, a popular philosopher and actress wrote that it is a difficult job to deal with many bosses and if you are the type who can’t keep your cool there will always be trouble.

To avoid trouble, according to Grace Babirye, a programmes director at Volunteer Efforts Development Concerns, you need to focus on your work and do it with diligence.

Benedict Emurugat, a social worker has worked under a number of bosses and this has made him learn how to survive, even with the most pathetic of them.

“It is pretty hard but where there are goals, there should be compromise because at the end of the day you don’t want to fail. I have learnt it the hard way,” he says.

In such circumstances (working with many bosses), he notes one ought to be rest assured that there will be conflicting assignments, varying instructions and expectations.

“As an employee, you have to strike a balance and divide attention and loyalty to match demands,” he says.

Mark Bwiire, the chief executive officer of Act Now, admits it is tricky having a real boss, one who you directly report to and yet another or more who have to offer you assignments.

“At times you lose focus and wonder what tasks to accomplish first and which ones to save for later,” he says but recommends that surviving will need a cool head and going an extra mile.

But beyond a cool head there are other ways through which you can deal with many bosses without conflicting with any of them:

Know your main boss
According to Paul Kirabila, a senior investment executive at Uganda Investment Authority, your main boss saves you a whole lot of trouble because at the end of the day they are the ones to assess you or protect you when you are being accused rightly or falsely.

“In other words they are in position to make any decisions that impact your stay and progress in your career,” he says.

Honesty rules
Honesty rules in any situation, according to Babirye, and it helps in circumstances where you have to report to many bosses.

“You might be overwhelmed with work. All you need to do is be honest about your work progress and state whether you have pending work, which is seemingly more urgent than what another boss is asking you to do,” she says, cautioning that one needs to maintain a positive attitude at all times.

It is also important, she says, to communicate more frequently with those assigning you to keep them in the know of your progress.

Keep time
When you keep time and manage your deadlines, Nuh Mukiibi, an internal business partner and recruitment consultant at NFT Consults says, there are less chances of clashing with bosses or making them clash.

“Be sure of the time frames for all your assignments such that they do not collide. This calendar will help you avoid missing deadlines or having too much work,” he says.

Learn to say no
According to Mukiibi, most people will just take on assignments because they don’t want to sound rude but saying no saves you and your bosses a lot because you don’t want to accumulate work that is going to appear half baked.

“It is better to do less but quality work than a lot that is questionable,” he says

Learning to say no, he says, ensures that what would have been assigned to you is passed to another person to avoid stalling work flow.

Therefore, according to Douglas Opio, the head of research and policy at Federation for Uganda Employers, in some organisations, handling many bosses has become a requirement while recruiting employees given the dynamic nature of work environments.