Bosses are people that hold the life and careers of others in the palm of their hands. If you are lucky enough to get a boss who is friendly, understanding and motivating, then good for you! But for some of you poor souls, it might be that your boss is basically a tyrant that ruins -ahem, runs– your life.
But, nevertheless, there are things that all bosses don’t like to hear. Here are a few of them for your perusing so you can stay away from them, and a few ways in which to approach the subject instead.
“I Have a Problem”
Bosses love problem solvers, plain and simple. And why not; they are paying you to lessen their workload, not increase it. It’s natural to come across problems, but its your job to solve them. If you are absolutely unsure of how to tackle the issue, at the very least have a couple solutions ready before approaching your boss. This way, you’ll be asking for guidance, not for him/her to do your job.
“I hate to hear the phrase ‘I have a problem,’ when there is not a proposed solution,” says CEO of BELAY, Bryan Miles.
“I’ll Try”
There’s no use in just trying, you need to actually do it. Don’t tell your boss you’ll “try” to do something, this makes you come off as flaky and noncommittal. But it’s understandable that you might not always be able to do something, so it’s important to let your boss know upfront instead of saying things like “I had too much stuff to do” in the last minute.
“It’s Not My Fault”
No one likes to be the carrier of blame, but bosses absolutely hate it when you pass the buck. Take responsibility, even if it wasn’t entirely your fault; most issues occurring in a teamwork based environment rarely are. Communicate what went wrong, tell them you”ll fix it, and assure them it won’t happen again.
“I’m Not Sure”
Your boss trusts you to do certain things, to know certain things, so saying things along the line of “I don’t know” and “I’m not sure” makes you sound a bit clueless. Of course, you’re not expected to know everything all the time, but a better way to approach this would be to say “here’s what I know, and here’s what I don’t”, or “I think it’s this, but let me find out for certain.”
“I Don’t Have Time”
Here’s a little secret: make time! Sometimes certain tasks might require you to come in a bit early on a particular day or stay at work even after 5 pm, but those are just a part and parcel of having a job. If you insist on only working during the designated hours, it tells your boss that you don’t really care about the organization. Of course, that doesn’t mean you should be staying late every single day, but if you have to once in a while, you shouldn’t be a bad sport about it.
