The Idiot’s Guide To Being a Bad Manager

Have you been feeling burnt out or stressed lately? Do you hate your job? Forget those self-help books. Consider taking out your frustration on your team instead. It’s much easier- and surprisingly therapeutic- to make their lives a living hell.

Here’s how you can punish them for working for you:

1. Act like everything is urgent

Pretend that the company has no priorities. Expect them to do everything at once. Set unrealistic timelines. Get frustrated when they’re missed. Get even more hassled when they don’t spend time on the right priorities in the first place. Tell them that you have limited bandwidth, and it’s unreasonable for them to ask you questions or review their work at every stage, for every project. Why can’t they prioritize better?

2. Keep changing the team’s strategy and direction

Ideally, you shouldn’t set any direction at all. Don’t set team or individual goals. Better yet, don’t define their roles. Give them ad-hoc work through the year. Keep it coming, and ask them to continuously work harder and faster, with no breaks. When they burn out, question their ability to execute on the next important project.

If they ask about the company or team’s strategy, tell them that you’re going to keep trying to do everything. Then reluctantly…