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I work at a small company. We have a pretty flat hierarchy and a lot of freedom. I have two bosses that lead the company and are my direct superiors.

One of these bosses has the habit of not giving a definite answer to a question, sometimes one really has to pry an answer out of him, even for simple yes/no questions.

Examples:

  • Should I prepare and take over the moderation for the retrospective meeting?
  • Can we get a Windows 10 License for this workstation?
  • Will you be in the office tomorrow?

His strategies include ignoring the question, giving an indefinite answer, or putting of the decision to the future, even for such simple ad hoc decisions.

What can I do to mitigate this behaviour? I do not want to nag all the time for such tiny issues, so often they are ignored and turn into problems - e.g. there is no prepared moderator for the retrospective meeting.

IconDaemon
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Paul Weber
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  • does the other boss deal with other things? – Twyxz Aug 09 '18 at 11:50
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    Not identical but similar, and responses might give you some clues as to possible reasons and how to handle: https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/117073/manager-says-yes-even-when-he-means-no/ – A.S Aug 09 '18 at 13:29

3 Answers3

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  • Be Blunt

Simply say to said boss that you require 'x' and 'y' to do 'Z' otherwise its not getting done.

  • Get Support

See if anyone else feels the same way first if so then:

speak to the other boss even if he doesnt deal with the same queries just get a second point of view.

Twyxz
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Don’t necessarily nag but ensure he is aware of the repercussions of not getting these things done.

E.g ‘Can we get a windows 10 license for this workstation, otherwise....’

andtodd
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Document everything. Email is your friend here.

Whenever you ask the boss for a decision (if verbal) followup with a email restating the question, when a decision is needed and the consequences if a decision is not made.

JazzmanJim
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