WORKPLACE
Assisting a poor manager
Q: My supervisor is an extremely poor manager. Despite 20 years of military experience, he appears to be incapable of coordinating activities or giving clear directions. In meetings, he will say “This needs to get done today” or “That needs to be fixed” without assigning specific tasks to anyone. He gets angry if we ask questions because he thinks we should know what he wants. Although our boss’s confusing communication is driving everyone crazy, we don’t see any way to fix the problem. Talking with his manager would be pointless because the two of them are good buddies. Our human resources department is in another state, so they have no clue about what goes on here. What can we do?
A: To summarize your predicament, your boss won’t tolerate questions, upper management isn’t open to feedback and human resources seems disengaged. This would appear to leave you with limited alternatives, one of which is to take matters into your own hands.
When faced with a leadership vacuum, employees frequently have to compensate by working together collaboratively. Otherwise, they risk being blamed for disappointing results. This unfortunately requires extra time and effort, but is often the only remedy for a manager who fails to manage.
Since you seem eager to take some action, perhaps you could demonstrate personal leadership by encouraging your colleagues to pull together. For example, the next time your boss fails to assign work to specific people, consider initiating a post-meeting discussion in which everyone can agree on a reasonable distribution of tasks.
Along with the frustrations, your supervisor’s shortcomings might have actually created an unexpected opportunity to sharpen your own leadership skills. Should you ever become a manager yourself, you might find that you learned a lot from his poor example.
— Marie G. McIntyre
McClatchy Newspapers
COMPUTERS
Addressing email issues
Q: Recently I’ve been unable to send emails from my home email address. In addition, my incoming email contains several notices of undeliverable emails that I didn’t send that are addressed to people I don’t know. I suspect that my computer is infected by some malicious software and is being used to send spam email — and that those that are undeliverable are being returned. What should I do?
A: I agree that your PC has been taken over by hackers and is being used to send spam.
The fact that you aren’t able to send emails from your home account supports this theory, because it indicates your Internet service provider believes you are spamming and has temporarily blocked your ability to send email to anyone.
I suggest you download and run the free version of security program Malwarebytes (go to www.tinyurl.com/cwbd73f and click “free download.”) If that doesn’t work, try Windows System Restore to eliminate recently installed software (see www.tinyurl.com/y9q9apj and www.tinyurl.com/ykgps6.) Then call your Internet service provider, explain what happened and what you’ve done to fix it. If your PC is clean, you’ll be allowed to send email again.
— Steve Alexander
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Recycling? Destroy PC’s guts
Q: I gave an old PC to a relative after deleting the sensitive files, including my tax returns, but I’ve since learned that “deleting” files doesn’t really erase data. Now the PC doesn’t work and is headed for recycling. What can I do to erase the drive? If I do nothing, how big a risk am I taking?
A: There is software that can search a hard disk for your tax returns’ Social Security numbers, so doing nothing represents a risk. Remove the drive from the PC and destroy it via sledge hammer, electric drill or fire.
— Steve Alexander
Minneapolis Star Tribune