Talk Internal Communication

Has an employee ever come to you with a problem to which you helpfully answer, , “If I were you, I would…” You may feel satisfied that you have helped but you may well be storing up trouble for yourself.  The reality is that when this employee came to you they had a problem. You helpfully took ownership of that problem and relieved your employee of responsibility for solving the problem themselves. As a manager this type of action trains your staff to come to you with their problems instead of trying to resolve the issues themselves. This can lead to you becoming embroiled in office politics taking you away from your role as a leader. Beware! The key is to actively listen and allow staff to think through, analyse and arrive at solutions themselves. 

Many of my friends have been asking recently how to deal with difficult bosses. Previously, during the "celtic tiger" years they may just have got a new job. Now, with employment in a more precarious situation they feel more trapped than before.  So I went exploring and found a little gem of a book called "Working for you, isn't working for me".  An easy read it identifies  the difficult boss characteristics. It also provides a "boss baggage profile" - i.e. what baggage the reader brings to the table and how this can impact on their work relationship. It then outlines coping mechanisms for dealing with each boss depending on the readers baggage profile.  The first few chapters are very interesting -especially when detailing how people  react when a boss relationship begins to deteriorate; replaying the events of the day, trying even harder and becoming nervous etc.  Definitely worth a read on Google Books.