“If you could go ahead and just do that from now on, that would be greeaatt.”
If you’re familiar with the 1999 comedy classic Office Space, you know Initech’s micromanager Bill Lumbergh. He’s arrogant, lacks vision and doesn’t move around the office without his coffee cup.
If you work in an office space, chances are you’ve come across a Lumbergh – and thought very unpleasant things.
Corporate work life can feel like such a revolving door of personalities and characteristics. You meet co-workers you become instant friends with and bosses you’d rather had never met.
Let’s take a look at some Office Space characters and see which ones could be your very own boss.
Task Driven Lumbergh – This type of boss is not your motivational prep talker. You’re guaranteed to feel uninspired, overworked and lacking enthusiasm. Imagine a Monday morning of eye rolling and willing the world to end so you could get to leave your desk.
Don’t worry I know you don’t mean for the world to really end, only for your boss to dive into a pit of snakes.
Clueless as they are lacking creativity, Lumbergh types are reminders on why a thing like managerial training exists.
Managers are supposed to be the powerful influencers and regular company hype men. Lumbergh’s unenthusiastic and passive nature is the opposite and all the best to you if you ended up with someone like this guy.
– These guys are the outside consultants who come in and strike fear with every glance in your direction. They don’t understand the way things work in your workplace nor can they tell how hard you’ve been necking with the idea of a promotion.
Just in case you’re unfamiliar, the Bobs in Office Space were two characters who came in as outside consultants to help downsize the company. Not your typical manager – boss relationship but anyone with the ability to hammer your job into oblivion gets my vote for head in charge.
There’s a lot of anxiety when these bosses are around and company tension could rise. It’s important to know your worth and what values you bring to the company. And if all else fails, be the blunt honest person Peter was.
Just don’t tell anyone you got the idea from me.
Never The Bare Minimum – Chotchkie’s is the restaurant where Peter gets the girl – Joanna. Her boss is rigid with his patches-of-flair system required to be an exemplary employee. And he’s not happy that she’s sticking to the bare minimum.
These types of bosses don’t care much for interpersonal skills. They are the belittle kind without much positive reinforcing, nor do they ask good enough questions to get helpful answers.
Lacking interpersonal skills is a huge disconnect in the workplace. It sucks when your hard work goes unnoticed and your excellent behavior overlooked. And when basic communication goes, you’re royally screwed.
Ask the waitress, she quit.
Let Things Flow – Peter, the main character, before the hypnosis was just another overworked, unenthusiastic employee. Under hypnosis, he became relaxed, energetic, goal oriented and fired up.
The greatest asset from being a relaxed manager is enjoying the small bursts of creativity that can influence your daily routine. You’re refreshed, relaxed and looking forward to the day. These types of bosses have the ability to be innovative and inspiring with a sense of clear vision and direction.
They know what they want for their company and even while they can be pressured from the work environment, they remain in control.
TV characters are a real treat to watch but the real kick comes when you make the connections to characters in your real life. Office Space showed a collection of personalities that usually live in the workplace and if you were to pick the boss you’d rather have, who might it be?
