Shanaya is working as a Project Manager. She logged in at work early to work on critical deliverables of her project. Suddenly she receives a series of whatsapp messages from her boss. The messages read that- ” Join this meeting link right now. You and your team have put us into deep trouble”. Shanaya joins the meeting. Everyone from her team and the Sales Manager, Atul, who handles the largest account, Corsica, for the company was also present. Before she could greet everyone, her boss started – ” The boss started talking in a high pitched tone. I have only 20 minutes so let’s get straight to business. Do you people know how important the Corsica account is or Do I need to keep repeating myself? The client called me today and said that we are delayed to deliver one project commitment by 2 days and is there anything that I can do to deliver it as per timelines. What I want to know is why is this delay happening? Are you guys so incompetent that you could not get the scheduling right in the first place?
Shanaya stepped in and said – ” While I understand your frustration, please allow us to explain. It is not entirely because of us that the project is delayed. There were delays from the client’s end as well to furnish important pieces of information that caused this”. Before Shanaya could have said something more, the boss yelled – “You have the audacity to say that the client is wrong. Customer is always right, the sooner you get this, the better it is for you. You people who work behind the scenes do not even know the importance of customers”. Atul, the Sales Manager, was getting uncomfortable with this conversation. He stepped in and said – ” Boss, with all due respect, the client can be managed. I can speak with my point of contact in Corsica. They too realize that it’s not entirely our fault and it’s just a matter of two days. Let me speak to them. I don’t think it’s the team’s fault. The Boss Loses his Cool and Says ” Please shut-up. I cannot believe that this team takes Customer problems So lightly. Have you forgotten that your salary comes from these clients? Get your act together. You all have become complacent. Do the project as per what was Committed. Time is up. I need to log off now”.
Shanaya was in shock,” “She was scared. She dreaded going back to meetings with her boss. She thought about Quitting but she needed the paycheck. Shanaya lost her ability to concentrate, and was still upset weeks later. The quality of her work has suffered because She is so stressed all the time and afraid to make any mistakes which in turn is impacting her team. Shanaya is trying to stay out of the manager’s way until she can land a new job.
Questions :
- What do you think about this situation? What type of boss is getting reflected?
- How do you think an organization can manage such a difficult boss ?
- What can the team members do in such situations?
To know more about this type of difficult boss and strategies to deal with such a boss, tune in to this episode of Beyond Biases.