We all know that managing bosses can be tiresome, so I thought I'd jot down a couple of tips for the willing worker to take control of the situation and keep the boss out of your hair.

Tip One: Do the Unexpected

I'm standing there at the sink, up to my elbows in suds, with a pile of dishes that seems to get bigger as the night gets later, and one of the bosses appears at the
door to the kitchen.
'Get to work,' he says,  'I'm not paying you to stand around and talk.'
Well, I think, you're not paying me to stand around and take abuse either. But I know I'm wasting my time getting worried or upset about it all, so the next time he sticks his head through the door, I ask him how his night's been.
  And its as though he's just been hit with something, like a classic   cartoon scene where eyes bulge, heads twang to a stop, and looks of stunned amazement are writ large
on someone's face.
'Oh, OK I suppose,' he says. 
'Well, that's work,' I reply, friendly and confident.

And he leaves me alone for the rest of the night.
 

      One night I arrive for work, and as I'm stripping down for another sweaty session labouring over a hot dishwashing machine, one of the  assistant chef's slides
over to my corner of the kitchen, a worried look on her face.
'Watch out for the boss tonite,' she says, 'he's in a really foul mood.'
Well cock-a-doodle-do, I think, we'll see.

    Later, when he appears in the kitchen, I ask how he is tonite, as cheery    as can be and before he gets the chance to say anything, explain that personally I'm a bit tired.
'So am I,' he replies, looking a bit quizzical, as though he's wondering  why I'm asking.
'Actually I'm stuffed.'
'Yer, we had a hard night here in the kitchen last night too,' I explain.
'Oh,' he says as he exits the kitchen, and once again he leaves me alone for the rest of the night.
 

   ' If you're just standing around, go out the back and see if there's any boxes need cleaning up.'
Its half way through a slow Saturday night, and for a moment I'm  standing at an empty sink, staring into a vague distance dreaming about  the beer I'll be having
when I knock off. Of course, its at this moment   that the Chef looks over to my corner of the kitchen. So I'm stuck outside, in the cold, folding the boxes which are spilling out of the recycle bin.
   Now, when I have those all too rare moments of idleness at the coalface, I busy myself with cleaning down the tiles around the sink and the dishwashing machine, tidying up my corner, so at least when the Chef looks over my way he sees a busy, conscientious worker.
 

    Its not to be a conscientious worker, and its not to be the best worker in the kitchen, but one way to have a voice with the bosses is to do your job well. This also keeps the powers that be off your back, and creates a space within which its possible to say things which otherwise would not be listened to.

       The other workers in the kitchen are relying on us to keep those dishes flowing, and the floor staff are relying on us to keep the cutlery and plates moving back out. So I wash the dishes and keep an eye on what's needed. That way the chefs make me nice meals
and the floor staff bring me cold drinks from the bar.
And together wecan face the management, knowing that we are all helping each other on
the job.

    In the same way, making sure that I cover the shifts I've said I'd do makes sure that all the other dishpigs aren't put out, and improves our position in the restaurant. And why do we want to improve our position?
   So we have some bargaining power if and when the shit hits the fan, as it often can in such a volitile working environment. And so we have some bargaining power when we ask for more money, as we should do on a regular basis.