We all have stories of at least one manager that spent their days demanding respect while not lifting a finger to even support the work that needed to be done. That one individual that everyone wasn’t quite sure what their job description entailed – or if they even had one.

And that individual was all too often in a managerial position, holding responsibility for whole departments, projects, and services that we could feel declining in quality and quantity as the incompetent manager stumbled through their power trips.

A tale as old as time

Incompetence in managers isn’t a one off story. We can all remember at least one – if not more – manager that was so far off from what ever little competence they had, we had difficulties understanding how the company stayed afloat.

Being able to identify an incompetent manager isn’t just important for the employer as a whole, as an incompetent manager can do irreparable damage in a short amount of time, and lose valuable resources and fumble finances in even less time. It’s even more important for employees to be able to identify an incompetent manager quickly, as knowing what to expect from one’s manager can be the key to reading the workplace quickly and as such limiting any possible detrimental effects the incompetent manager can have on the individual.