How do you tactfully tell your boss he's wrong? Even if it's a trivial thing,

[raccoon]

such as, he says people can't do such-and-such from the company's web page, but the fact is they can?

How would you approach this?

[HopeHoops]

1. FUCK YOU AND EVERYONE WHO LOOKS LIKE YOU!!!!

Actually, that only works if you've already cleared out your office.

I've found that as long as your argument is more logical, better thought out, and backed up by sound facts and documentation, you at least have a 10% chance of getting somewhere with your boss.

[Xithras]

2. Respectfully.

In my experience, bosses usually want to be corrected when they're spouting incorrect information, because they realize that it makes them look stupid. The trick is to do it in a way that doesn't make him feel like an idiot, or make you look smug or superior. Just be friendly and respectful.

"Excuse me boss, but I heard you say that we couldn't do X, and I thought you might want to know that X is actually possible on our current web page." Don't offer to "teach" him or provide instructions unless he asks for it, because that can be interpreted as demeaning.

Of course, your boss might (rightfully) point out that there are either problems with the work flow or intuitiveness of the site, if he wasn't able to find an important feature on his own.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

3. I wish it wasn't true but where I work there are two rules:

1. The boss is always right.
2. If the boss is wrong please refer to rule #1.

[petronius]

4. If there's no benefit to you to give the boss the information, then have someone else do it

Best option, trick the intern into telling the boss he's wrong. Bonus points if it's one of those smug, over-educated and under-experienced interns who thinks he should have the bosses job... :)

[Deep13]

5. Beats the hell out of me.

Mine has a glass ego and takes it as an insult and a challenge to his authority to have an opinion different than his.

[struggle4progress]

6. Privately and without confrontation. I might send an email along the lines of

"subject: webpage FYI
message: In today's meeting, I understood you to say X about the company webpage. I don't know when it was changed, but in fact Y"

Keep it short and simple. Don't copy it to anybody. Keep a copy somewhere for your own records

Weasel just enough in the first sentence, so you really don't need to respond if Boss decides to be an asshat and retort that His/Her Excellency certainly said no such thing

[Ikonoklast]

7. I'd hit his smug face with a pie.

But, then again, that's my answer for everything boss related.

[jobycom]

8. "I thought that, too, but turns out you can. Look, over here, there's a link."

Something that makes it an understandable mistake.

It really depends on yours and his personality. I've had bosses where I'd say "Idiot. You can to." And they'd laugh. I've had bosses where I've had to be so cautious I had to blame myself. "Actually, I know you couldn't have known this, and I really should have told you before now, but they've added this feature now so that you can do that. So someone was thinking like you were and already fixed the problem before you spotted it."

Or you can call up pretending to be a customer and say "Hello. This is Mrs. Esterhouse. I was just using your website and noticed that I can do "X," and wanted to know if you thought I should or not."

Good luck on guessing right.

[Jamastiene]

9. Don't.

Bosses don't want to be told they are wrong...EVER!

Let him learn the hard way and don't say anything.

If he was the type you felt you could talk to, you already would have because you could.

If he is the type that makes you worry about talking to him about stuff...let him learn the hard way.

[LiberalAndProud]

10. Hey boss, have you seen this new feature on our website?

If he asks when it was implemented, mumble into your hand and walk away.

[stray cat]

11. Offer to show him/her how if they want to try it

[Redstone]

12. Well, I used to be able to say "whaddayou, fucking nuts?" to the owner of

the electronics company I used to run, but then again it wasn't your average boss / employee relationship; he really did consider me to be the son he wished he'd had.

So that gave me some latitude. He ran the company with a tight fist, and I was the only one who could talk to him like that.

He died five years ago, and I still miss him, even though I quit working for him 20 years ago.

Redstone

[Liberal Veteran]

13. You say, "I updated the company web page per your suggestion"

"Can I have a raise?"

[6000eliot]

14. Indirectly.

Instead of "You made a mistake," say "A mistake was made."

[Xipe Totec]

15. Find a patsy to tell him. Then watch from a distance. nt

[Moondog]

16. By either

living with it, or by floating resumes and moving on ASAP. Your choice.

[lukasahero]

17. It depends on the boss

I've worked for some that you just can't tell anything (they're usually the painfully stupid ones who don't know anything) and for others who look to me to have knowledge and experience they don't.

In your case though, this sounds demonstrable. If the boss gets obstinate, you can always show him he's wrong.

[Chan790]

18. I tell my bosses they're wrong all the time.

Technically, I'm the low man in the office but we're all specialists at some facet of branch banking. We all tell each other they're wrong about something just about daily.

[guitar man]

19. I've worked with my boss so long

And we have such a relationship that I don't have to tactfully tell him anything . The conversation would go like this:

(interoffice intercom) beep!

Him: "what the fuck do you want?"

me: " hey nutsack, you CAN do that from the company web page, just click the link in the top right corner"

"what link?"

" the little link that says station budget info, if you'd put your damn glasses on you could see it!"

" oh shit, I didn't know that... Now get back to work before I fire your ass!"

"fuck you , who else you gonna get?"

:rofl:

Him and I came up together on the engineering side of the company before we were both promoted to management, we were working the same job as equals back then so there's a lot of camaraderie there. I sometimes forget what it was like to work for some of the egomaniacs I've worked for in the past. I'm really fortunate in that regard.

[Dr Morbius]

20. I just clear my throat.

Everyone knows I'm usually right ( * ), so I will be heard in such a situation. Being right doesn't qualify one to be in charge anyway so it isn't a big deal.


* - Makes one quite unpopular, but what can you do?

[PVnRT]

21. "Christ, you are a fucking idiot."

"There's a link ON THE FRONT FUCKING PAGE, you inbred shit-for-brains. Did you spend all of five seconds looking for a way to do it before shutting your door and masturbating to the Sears Lingerie catalog you keep in your desk?"