You might have heard from your friends talking about office politics, biased communication and even performance-related issues. Whether you’re facing a problem related to internal issues or not, whether you have a great boss or a miserable one, you have the right to discuss any problem you have been facing at work with your superior. Don’t wait for it to an extent where you are the one who’s blamed. Let’s talk about some ways on how you can talk about any problem with your boss.
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Know your boss
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Before talking about anything personal with your boss, try to understand his behavior and the way your boss communicates with others. The more you observe his work style, the more likely you will be able to understand him and his nature. Act accordingly.
Once you believe that you know your boss a li’l better, your next step should be to find the right time to talk to him about the problem you are facing. Don’t overthink about how is the boss going to react to your problem. Without a lot of self-questioning, it’s better to talk about your problem. We’ll talk about this in the 8th point.
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Try to keep your track records clean
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Sometimes, things are not as worse as they seem to us. There’s a good chance that your boss himself is the reason behind your problem. But it is risky to blame someone just because of your self-doubt. If this sounds like your case, I’d recommend to test it out first and try to identify the actual problem. Make sure you double-check the condition.
You can test it by providing excellent work in return. If you are certain that you’ve delivered exceptional work and yet, you feel like facing a biased problem with your boss, there could be 2 reasons:
– First, it’s a personal conflict with your boss.
– or maybe your boss is too busy to even think about you.
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Loyalty is still a game-changer
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Whether it’s a personal or a professional relationship, loyalty always wins. If you overhear a conversation that you shouldn’t have, talk about it with your boss. If a client reaches out to you personally asking to ditch the company or work directly with them, let your boss know!
Don’t betray the company, don’t look for shortcuts which can get you big money but lose respect in-return.
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Take the Responsibility
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Whenever you’re planning to discuss a problem with your boss, be prepared with a solution as well. Your boss listens to various problems everyday, reduce the load by going in with a solution or a notion as well, if you have one.
This will remind him that you’re a person who can be trusted, who is going to be there when things go south. Don’t try to involve any other person (even your closest colleague) if they aren’t directly linked to the same problem.
Do not approach with something like “I don’t know how to do this” or “Marketing department is the reason for this loss”. Present your research on the subject, share your case studies and guidelines for the company. Let them know you’re ready to take the charge.
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Approach the HR
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Honesty and work dedication is the key for any organization. Show you want to contribute to the company, and do the best you can. If you are facing any issues that are personal and impact your performance, it’s important to speak up.
Let your company’s HR team know that you are aware about your work responsibility, however, also be honest about what you’re struggling with. Honesty, as well as self-acceptance, are important.
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Address a team issue with your boss
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If your colleagues and you have a common problem, it’s about time that someone talks about it. Let that someone be you.
Start approaching other employees in the company to understand if they are going through a similar problem. Create a written note including details of all the employees facing a similar problem and keep it with you. Then, talk about it with the higher authorities.
This definitely inspires a company’s culture to move in the right direction. If you become the voice of others, they’re going to love you. But, don’t be the one who has built a habit of complaining all the time.
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Evaluate on your own
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Before you approach the boss about your problems, something that involves your manager or even your colleagues – take some time to self-evaluate. Try to find the answers by yourself. Most of the times, you will be able to solve the puzzle on your own.
Sometimes you need to give yourself some space and think about how you can resolve the conflict internally.
You might be going through Erik Erikson’s Intimacy vs. Isolation Stage. It is observed in individuals between ages 19-40 where they feel the need to share their feelings, where they consider being in a relationship with someone who isn’t already their family member.
There is a very good chance that you’re going through this already as you might not have someone close who loves you, cares about you and is always there to listen to your problems. You can be attracted towards loving relationships where you feel like getting married, sharing everything with the significant other.
In such cases, isolation is the source of your problem. This is because, if you are looking for a relationship but don’t have any, you might feel lonely and end up building up all these problems. You might be needy at times because you don’t have anyone to share your happiness and/or problems with. This is a stage where therapy can do wonders and BetterHelp could be a great solution for you.
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Schedule a meeting
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Now that you are ready and power-packed to talk about any problem with your boss or the HR, it’s time to schedule a meeting and get it done.
It’s always a good habit to schedule a meeting when both you & your boss are present with full attention. This will make sure that your conversion reaches its goal, and isn’t missed out because of other routine work.
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Don’t Rush
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After sharing your problems and suggestions, have the patience to wait. Let your boss think about the circumstances and what he can do for you to make things easy. You have done your part, you have shared your viewpoint. If you still don’t hear from him in some days, a follow-up would do no harm.
Final thoughts:
Talking about your problems with your boss is important and should be taken care of before the situation gets out of your hands. Whether it’s a personal problem or a professional one, talking to your boss about the problems can be difficult for some people initially. But if you are confident and know how to approach problems, it’s going to be a cake-walk for you.
You’ve got this, let us know how it went in the comments section below.
