Most of us have had to work with a weak boss at some or another. I bet if you were to stop random strangers on the street and ask them about their boss, you would probably get a range of descriptions from wonderful to horrible. I want to focus on working with a boss who is disorganized.

You know the type—the one who loses important messages, doesn’t read your emails, has papers piled on high on their desk, is always running late to meetings. Their scattered actions can make your job more difficult and exhausting. After awhile, your boss’ behavior brings about havoc and an uncertain work environment.

Before you throw in the towel on your befuddled boss look for actions, you can take to manage the situation. At Forbes.com in “How to Work for a Disorganized Boss,” you will find 17 tips for working with a disorganized boss.

How To Work For A Disorganized Boss

Here’s a list of the tips from the slide gallery:

• Focus on your boss’ strengths
• Put everything in writing
• Priortize
• Be a problem solver
• Keep things simple
• Develop teams/or committees
• Clarify before you delegate
• Treat your supervisor as you would a valued client
• Manage interruptions
• Offer your assistance when you can
• Plan ahead
• Be concise
• Plan your days accordingly
• Offer to write job descriptions
• Research and recommend tools that would help your boss be better organized
• Be a sounding board
• Respectfully and carefully confront your boss

The first tip I think is a rational way to start working on the relationship. We often focus on the negative exclusively without giving credit for strengths. If you begin by looking at your boss’s strengths, then you can proceed with a constructive mindset rather than being angry or frustrated.

[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. ~Winston Churchill[/social_quote]