Like many people I work with, I have decided to look for a new job. A manager we all have in common has proved to be a nightmare. They are mean and incompetent, and they make our lives hell. I am proud of what I achieved in this job before the manager arrived. I want to be able to talk about it with future employers. I would love to have a reference from other leaders at the organisation.

My worry is that things have got so bad, I find myself going through the motions. I don’t care what my boss thinks, but I don’t want to burn bridges with other people. What can I do?

My immediate question is: who manages this person? I suspect from your longer email that this nasty and inept manager isn’t the highest authority at your place of work. So why is such a terrible influence on the culture of the organisation allowed to continue their corporate reign of terror?

If it were just you looking to leave, decision-makers might be forgiven for shrugging this off as a clash of personalities or work styles. But it sounds like there’s about to be a mass exodus.

Office politics can be delicate and sometimes dobbing in a person in power can seem right in theory but only causes pain in practice. But I still wonder whether this is one of those cases where the higher-ups are genuinely oblivious.

If this sounds possible to you, and if there’s any chance of bringing this manager’s behaviour to their attention without causing trouble for you and your fellow discontents, I’d make that my priority.

I would consider making a radical departure from your usual working arrangement. Wherever possible, simply avoid them.

Any rational employer will see that losing several good, long-term employees is far less preferable than asking a single manager to change their ways – or to leave.

If you’ve already tried this gambit or are convinced it’s a futile exercise, I’d go one of two ways. And which one you opt for depends on what kind of bad manager this person is.

If they’re unpleasant personally, but so out of their depth that they don’t know the first thing about what you do or any of the systems that make up your work, I would consider making a radical departure from your usual working arrangement. Wherever possible, simply avoid them.

I know this might sound dangerous at first glance. Your desire not to burn bridges probably heightens your sense that deviation from the norm is a risk. But I wonder if retaining your strong relationship with people at the organisation you respect while keeping away from your boss’s radioactive zone is more plausible than it might first look.

If this manager doesn’t know you’re changing your usual work patterns, they won’t mention it. And as long as you act professionally, still get the job done and don’t encroach into areas you’re not supposed to, nobody else is likely to care. That’s if they notice at all.

If their nastiness takes a more suffocating form – they’re a micromanager whose constant criticism and direction betrays how little they understand about your work, for example – this gets harder again. Trying to stay out of their way may just pique their displeasure.

In this case, my advice is to start documenting the evidence of nastiness and incompetence.

The one small upside to this horrible situation is you’re not going through it alone. Your peers are experiencing this manager’s D-grade performance and also agree that it’s intolerable. Band together and make sure, whenever possible, you have a witness to any major action or decision that is beyond the pale.

The idea is that if the worse comes to worst, and you find that your own reputation seems to be diminishing according to people who can vouch for your work, you don’t have to meekly accept their judgment. You can have a reasoned conversation with them and back it with proof (not hearsay) that you’ve been acting under extreme duress.

You mentioned you felt like you were phoning it in at work now. Understandably so. I don’t think trying to change that will help – you can’t sweat your way out of this. A poor manager won’t change their ways because of others’ hard work. And even if they did, you would be rewarding them (and your employer) for applying the worst possible “motivational” tactics.

The only time between now and when you find a new job that you should be worried about going through the motions is when it comes to job applications.

I hope that period is very short for you and all your workmates looking to leave.

Send your questions through to Work Therapy by emailing jonathan@theinkbureau.com.au