How Do I Tell My Boss to Use His Cabin Without Hurting His Feelings?

Hi everyone,

First of all, let me commend all those behind CiteHR as this is an excellent site for HR professionals and those working in the personnel and administration department.

I am currently working as a Senior Officer in the P&A department and I would like to share something about my boss.

My boss is a very nice person, but he does have some drawbacks. Firstly, he never sits inside his cabin; instead, he prefers to sit outside which makes everyone conscious of his presence. Additionally, he sometimes scolds or gets angry with us in front of everyone, putting us in uncomfortable situations. He also makes unexpected comments in front of others. Moreover, when he talks on the phone, we are compelled to listen to his conversations, leading to wasted time and loss of concentration, especially for me as I sit directly opposite to him.

I would appreciate any advice on how I can communicate to him the importance of sitting inside his cabin.

Thank you once again for the excellent work that CiteHR is doing.

Regards,
NN

I take the privilege of thanking you for the compliments about CiteHR and its members. I understand your difficulties. Some of you should make your boss convincingly understand the situation or through your boss's more proximate persons like auditor/friend, etc., you should try.

Regards,
Chennai.Ibrahim

When there is too much delegation, bosses find themselves out of a job and try to snoop to get a firsthand feel of things happening in their domain. Try to assign a few tasks that keep them tied to their chair (in a lighter vein); otherwise, the suggestion given by Ibrahim is quite useful.

I feel if the boss is intervening in your daily routine, then he must be communicated with straight away. Please remember that once you start ignoring or accepting the problems, they will never fade away. The only thing they will do in the future is to frustrate you.

In case he just wants to be with his team and would like to be a part of your team, then you guys should try to give him a slot (informally) among yourselves. This will help you guys gel with your boss as well.

Best Regards, Sumit

Dear N. N.,

First, try to find out why your boss is following this approach. It looks like he is not a very confident personality; he may be insecure and wants to know what his subordinates are doing. Analyze his body language to make a final diagnosis. Scolding subordinates in the presence of others indicates a lack of confidence and a desire to show others that he is the boss and in command.

Now, find the solution. No straightforward solution is possible. Interact more with him, assure him of your confidence in him, and if need be, tell him in person that most of the staff would be very happy if he could guide them from his cabin only. If he agrees to that, it would be nice since he won't be scolding in front of others. He is the boss, so it's better to find a psychological solution to a tricky problem. It will certainly work. Don't forget to give feedback to the forum.

Hi Suvik,

Does your boss have a one-on-one session with you guys? Let him know about your problem clearly but assertively. If not, you can catch up with him on breaks, try to be friendly, and you can give your opinion. However, it only helps if your boss is okay with taking feedback and working on it. Otherwise, if you and your team feel it is beyond that, you may go for a skip level.

Regards,
Padmini