Your boss and you are having some interpersonal problems

Your boss and you are having some interpersonal problems. He does several things that you find really annoying. To start, he is not considerate of your employees or you. You often find myself thinking that you would be reluctant to do things he does around you that annoy you. Yet, he is your boss, so what can you do? He comes in late to the office, and you and your co-workers have been working for awhile and have your day planned. Inevitable, he will come in, interrupt, and lay on you a whole new set of priorities for the day. To be fair, he does stay late (you have flextime in your office), and he has a good reason to be late – he has childcare responsibilities to fulfill on school mornings. But his habit of coming in and interrupting the schedule for your day is really off-putting. By the time you have listened to his concerns, reprioritized your work, and gotten back on track, it is almost lunchtime and you feel you have wasted almost a half day trying to respond to his concerns. You are afraid to confront him – he is a good guy and it would only put him on the defensive. And it wouldn’t really change anything. But you are also tired of not feeling productive. You just wish he could be a little more sensitive to your situation and be better organized and more aware of your time constraints. Is that asking too much?

1. What is your immediate reaction to the scenario? How would you feel if you were the person this situation was about?
2. How could this situation have been avoided?
3. What approaches to resolving this conflict are appropriate?
4. What are some things that, if done, would make this approach successful?
5. What are some things to avoid when attempting to resolve this conflict? Why?