How To Deal With A Workaholic Boss in 12 Ways

If your boss doesn’t think of anything other than work, this article is for you. This article is all about how to deal with a workaholic boss.

A workaholic boss is someone who prefers to work than to socialize. Therefore, it is challenging to build a good relationship with him.

How To Deal With A Workaholic Boss – 12 Ways

There are many things to consider when dealing with a workaholic boss. Below are a few of them:

1. Have Patience:

Patience is the most important thing you need to deal with a workaholic boss. You will need lots of it.

You can’t get mad at your boss for not wanting to do anything besides work because they probably mean well. They are selfless and caring, which are great traits in a leader.

They may have forgotten how to be friends with people outside of the office. Your job will be to teach them this concept through gentle encouragement.

A word of warning, though: change will come slowly, so don’t expect it right away.

It would help if you also had some creativity. You’ll have lots of fun coming up with new ideas on how to persuade your boss to have some fun in their free time.

2. How To Deal With A Workaholic Boss – Use Your Team:

First of all, you should know that your team is the best resource in this situation.

If your team is on board with having fun outside of work hours, then they can convince your workaholic boss too. For example:

– If everyone gives ideas about what activities would make them happy, all can select one idea per week or month.

3. Be Active Yourself:

It helps to lead by example. If you support social events among co-workers, it will be easier for your team to convince your boss.

If your boss knows that you are always having fun and enjoying life, they will follow suit. The office will be a much more pleasant place for everyone.

4. Put Short Term Goals In Place:

As we said before, change won’t come overnight. Thus, don’t get discouraged if it takes time for your boss to adapt to these new social activities.

Start small and think of activities that last only an hour or two. Soon it will become more accessible. You’ll see how excited your team is about getting out every once in a while.

Then you could start organizing more extended events. The main idea is not to give up if things aren’t working out right away. If you keep at it, then change will happen.

5. How To Deal With A Workaholic Boss – Be Honest:

Don’t make things difficult for your boss by force if they don’t want to join in on the fun. Make sure you only attend the activities that make you both happy and comfortable.

There’s a good chance that your boss will start joining in on the fun after a while.

However, don’t expect too much too soon. When someone works all day, they might not take more than one full day off from work at first.

6. Keep Up The Good Work:

When your team manages to convince your boss into going out every once in a while, thank them. It would help if you encouraged your boss to have fun in the office.

It will add up over time, and they will be back to being a social person in no time. Everybody wins.

7. How To Deal With A Workaholic Boss – Don’t Fight:

It is essential. If you disagree with your boss about going out, then do’s try to convince them to come along anyway. Both of you need to be 100% on board for this to work.

If there’s one tiny change that could ruin the experience for one person, then it might not happen at all.

So if your boss doesn’t want to go out, but you do, then it would be best for everybody involved if you go alone instead.

It will make things easier, and nobody feels bad because they missed an opportunity.

8. Never Assume:

Finally, never make assumptions about when the workaholic boss wants to go out. It will save you a lot of trouble, plus nobody has to feel left out.

Remember that everyone is different. If your boss works 8 hours per day, it doesn’t mean they want to spend the rest of the day having fun with co-workers.

Treat each outing as if it was unique to someone else. It doesn’t matter if they already went out for drinks at least five times this month.

Start by asking them their thoughts on group events outside of work hours. If they’re not up for it, then you might be able to convince them over time instead.

You can find an alternative solution to ensure everybody gets what they want.

9. Don’t Get Discouraged:

If your boss doesn’t want to have fun, that’s their prerogative. You have to accept it and move on. It is essential not to get discouraged.

Otherwise, you might end up pushing too hard trying to make somebody else do something they don’t want to do. It can put a strain on your working relationship in the long run.

Workaholic bosses are usually used to working alone. Still, there aren’t many situations where this is necessary. They’ll cooperate if you show them how group activities improve team morale.

10. How To Deal With A Workaholic Boss – Don’t Stress Yourself Out:

If all else fails, then it’s time to take matters into your own hands. No boss can give you 100% of your salary without working for it.

Therefore, make sure that you still have fun even if they don’t want to go out. Once again, don’s force them to come along.

They’ll feel bad about themselves and will be miserable throughout the experience. Plus, all stress is not good for your mental health.

Keep working hard but never miss an opportunity to relax. Sometimes pressure builds up over time. The end is you snapping at somebody, or something else happens that makes things even worse.

If work gets too hectic, find a way to release that built-up tension before it all gets out of hand.

11. Don’s Make Them Feel Guilty:

Remember that your boss might think they are doing everybody a favor by showing up for work. They feel guilty about leaving their co-workers alone all day.

So instead of making them feel even worse, make sure that you are staying productive.

Nobody likes a slacker, but there’s only so much work one person can do by themselves, right?

12. Keep Trying:

Remember that it takes time to win somebody over. Be patient, and your boss will come around. Let us know in the comments if this guide works for you.

And don’t forget to tell us what kind of tricks you’ve used on people who weren’t interested. We’d love to hear about your experiences.

13. If Necessary, Point Out Their Dependence On You (Bonus):

If everything else fails, it’s time to use the big guns. Tell them that they need you more than you need them. It isn’t a threat or anything of the sort.

However, your boss might realize how much work you do all by yourself. It might convince them a little bit. Or a lot depending on who they are and their personality type.

If so, then don’t ever stop doing things out of selfishness just for this reason alone. Instead, try pointing out that everybody wins from going out once in a while.

Your last resort should always be using guilt as an argument, though.

Activities To Do With Your Workaholic Boss

There are so many fun group activities to do with your workaholic boss, such as:

– Go skating.

– Go to an amusement park

– Go out for a hike

– Go to a museum

– Invent your fun activity.

– Eat delicious food together.

– Shop ’til you drop.

– All-night karaoke session.

– Attend a comedy show or improv comedy night.

– Attend a sporting event.

All of these can be very fun as long as there’s no pressure involved. There won’t be peer pressure from you to make your workaholic boss come along.

Likewise, they won’t pressure to cause you to do something you don’t want to do. Always be fair and let everybody have a good time.

If they’re not having a good time, then it’s okay. At least one person is responsible enough not to fight about going out all the time.

Remember: this doesn’t have anything to do with ‘working hard’ or ‘playing hard.’ Working too much is as bad as playing too much. Balance is what matters most.

Conclusion:

After reading this article, you should now understand how to deal with a workaholic boss. Don’t push too hard or get discouraged.

There are several ways you can approach this problem. Following our advice, you should improve the relationship between both of you in no time.

Don’t stop trying because these first few times didn’t go as planned. Remember that patience pays off.

It takes one successful outing for your boss to learn that their team looks out for their best interest too. Good luck.