Issues with manager at work

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Ok, so let me put this out there for everyone to comment...

I have this manager at work and keep in mind she is younger than me and is my manager only because she has more general experience in our field and oh by the way a degree. I don't have a degree from continuing edcation--I was lucky to survive 1 year of college let alone 4. Anyhow, I digress--she has major issues with depression and I suspect bi-polar. She openly admits to not keeping on her meds and to be 'too busy' to go the doctor to get a script. Her moods are affecting the working relationship and I am having a really tough time playing the politics. She does not communicate things that are needed to be a 'team' so my request is to find out--how the hell do you deal with such a b***h and still work together?!?!?!

when you find out, ******PLEASE****** do us a BIG favor! Come back and tell us! I have the SAME MORONIC problem! Ever read dilbert? That is REAL! That is representative of the IT field!

Your best bet is to not even try and play office politics. Just zone out and let everything she says or does roll off your shoulders. Just go to work, sit there, and then go home; and don't let anything there affect you. Let her run the company into the ground if need be but it is pointless trying to change things or force a good working relationship. No matter what you do it is virtually impossible to get along with someone like that on a long-term basis.

And might I say by the way that your photo is absolutely stunning. You are a younger and more beautiful version of Penelope Cruz.

It sounds like you are a bit jealous towards her. You point out potential problems in her, while you have other problems yourself.

Like Brusilov says, keep to yourself. Relationships in the office should only be superficial, it is a job, not your personal life! When you try to be friends with people, your personal issues could damage your position in the office.

Don't torment your self with her. Let her fall alone with her problems in front of the rest of the team, and if you are good with your job you'll be next in the cue, ready to show that your intelligence and experience is more worth that a degree.

In addition to Dilbert, I suggest watching the movie "Office Space"

hahha. I'm 39 and left the American job culture 10 years ago (worked at home) as I couldn't stand the emotional form of decision making. Where politics and charm win out over solid arguments and good work performance.

So focus on your career and where you want to be - and how to use the economic downturn to your advantage. Traditional cubicle work could very well go away Start thinking of what you want to do in 18 months, start working toward it.

Work is a situation where you are almost like married to someone - but you don't get to choose the pairing. Sometimes it can be great, other times... well...

I used to be in a job for years where I felt I was working with management who didn't pull
their weight and didn't care about the company or their colleagues as much as I did. In the
end I realised that it wasn't my problem and it was adversely affecting my life because I was
investing emotion in things that ultimately weren't my responsibility. I happily took redundancy
when I got the chance and have now moved to a better job.All I'd say is we can only work
to the best of our abilities within the remit we're given and try to get along with colleagues as much as possible. If others don't respond or follow good examples they'll be found out
eventually,as in the saying
"If someone isn't pulling their weight,they're probably pushing their luck"`

Hello, I work in an office environment as well, so I may have some insight into your problem. Luckily, I haven't had to deal with a toxic manager -- mine is a great, supportive guy who appreciates that I just want to get on with the job and do it well. However, I have had to deal with toxic coworkers. My best advice is to just hunker down, do your job well and efficiently and let things fall as they may. If you feel like she's being unfair to you personally, try to keep as much communication written or in email form as possible and keep records so that if the problem gets out of the immediate office -- like to HR or your boss' boss -- you will have documentation of the situation and any patterns of behavior.

Do not, under any circumstances, try to confront her yourself. I've found that I'm very bad at confrontations and tend to come off looking worst, even when I'm clearly in the right, so I tend to avoid them and if a situation becomes so terrible that questions are asked, rely on my records to back me up. This works much better and avoids any emotional component nicely. It's very hard for a manager to argue with someone who is doing their job well and can demonstrate it. If a confrontation is absolutely necessary -- like she starts creating a hostile work environment aimed at you specifically, not just a generally unpleasant vibe -- then take your evidence to Human Resources and let them handle it. You may want to explain that you have some diagnosed social issues that make it difficult to handle this kind of situation yourself and need some intervention, that's up to you. But this is what Human Resources is intended to do, handle issues that come up between employees and management and come to a solution that best benefits both and in best interests to the company's goals. Unhappy, harrassed employees are not in the company's best interests. They may also be able to point out areas where you can make improvements to your own office behavior -- I've found that other people view me quite differently than I view myself and a third-party's perspective is always helpful, even if my feelings are hurt in the short term.

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You have a point. The idea WAS to multiply productivity. NOW, they have many people doing a job that can only be done by ONE person, and have others to just waste time and money. I have seen people COMPLAIN that I cost too much(Though they ADMIT that they like me, and I can do more than others) while they hire DOZENS that are less effective and just cause trouble. The average place could fire 2 DOZEN people, give ME the work, and see it done in 1/8th the time. But NO, they would rather pay all those extra MILLIONS and then complain that I cost maybe $40 more per hour.

It seems they can't figure out the simple formula! Charge per hour for a person does NOT indicate their cost! It is more like CPP=CPH/work done! If they REALLY think that CPP=CPH, I am SURE they can find parents that will be willing to have them take care of kids for say $3/hour! The parents get paid, and get their kids cared for, and they get "cheap labor"!

So what is cheaper? Paying a baby $3/hour to do NOTHING, or paying me maybe $150/hour and getting maybe an ENTIRE project out of the way? Only $150 for an ENTIRE project?!?! It HAS happened, and that is CHEAP! Sometimes the entire department rests on only ONE project! One project can mean the difference between a successful spinoff company, and the unemployment of everyone in the department or company.