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None of your business. HE is the boss. What he does and does not do is absolutely not your concern.
that my idiot boss has said or done that are just plain insane.
None of your business and not your call.
I also have been keeping track
None of your business.
of the long lunches and slip out the back door early episodes.
As you are not his boss, this is absolutely none of your business and his time is not your business.
I also have been tracking the incredibly stupid directives
Not your call.
he has given me that are illogical, against standard operating policy and inefficient and wasteful.
Not your call or decision.
I want to meet with his boss and tell him about all the problems. How should I approach the meeting?
Yes, go complain to your boss' supervisor about how stupid your boss is. You can word it something like this:
"Hey, remember that person that you probably approved for promotion to manager/supervisor. Well, I think they are an idiot so I don't know what the hell you were thinking. Now that I think of it, this really reflects poorly on your judgement more than anything else. Huh, how about that?"
I certainly wouldn't get involved with this. Your boss may come in every Saturday (when it is quieter) and work a full day in "exchange" for his long lunches and leaving early. Or maybe, most of those long lunches are business related. Or your boss does a few hours of computer work at home after his kids are asleep. You don't know.
I agree with this 100%. You really have no idea what your boss is doing. Your boss has different priorities than you, and many of the things you might think is 'wasteful' might be necessary to job duties that have absolutely nothing to do with anything you know about. Many, many people today don't work the stereotypical '8-5' schedule with an hour for lunch. The higher up the food chain you get, the more you work on weekends, evenings, etc., and so the more you take time during the day to compensate for it.
Yes, go complain to your boss' supervisor about how stupid your boss is. You can word it something like this:
"Hey, remember that person that you probably approved for promotion to manager/supervisor. Well, I think they are an idiot so I don't know what the hell you were thinking. Now that I think of it, this really reflects poorly on your judgement more than anything else. Huh, how about that?"
I do that all the time to my boss about my predecessor. Of course we have that kind of relationship.
If the company has a performance review process that allows direct reports to evaluate their supervisors, save the issues for that... don't talk to his supervisor about his performance unless you're asked to.
HOWEVER, if you are unable to do your job because your supervisor is giving you conflicting instructions or isn't available for clarification or directives, you should schedule some time with THEM to discuss your difficulties... POLITELY. Sometimes it's difficult for people to communicate, especially if they have different styles, so it just might be something getting lost in translation and your supervisor needs you to help him work with you better. (Even if you're 99% sure this guy is a useless waste of carbon, you have to give him the benefit of the doubt since he outranks you.)
If the odd/unproductive behavior continues, especially if they are VERBAL instructions, send an interoffice email to your supervisor confirming what he's asked/told you, and keep those (and any responses) handy just in case you ever find yourself needing to defend yourself. Something like "Bob, I'm just confirming that during our conversation in the hallway an hour ago, you asked me to..... Is that correct?)
The only time you should ever go directly to your boss's boss or to HR with any kind of complaint is if your boss is doing something illegal and you can prove it without any reasonable doubt. In the event that your boss's boss and HR are in on it, then you'll get fired... but you'll have legal recourse if it becomes necessary.
But, honestly, it's probably better to start looking for another position (in or out of the company) if you absolutely cannot tolerate working under your current supervisor. Life is too short to be miserable at work.
We cannot assume that the OP is stalking his superviser or failing to complete his own work satisfactorily because he's "minding his supervisor's business". If they share office space or are co-located, observing the comings and goings may be unavoidable. If the OP is routinely blocked in his function or reprimanded for failures that are a direct result of the incompetence or absence of his supervisor, then observation of the supervisor's actions & inactions may be unavoidable.
Since we don't know the organizational structure, we also cannot assume that the "Big Boss" hired or promoted the supervisor, he could have been inherited from a predecessor or been "gifted" to him by someone else in the company who outranks him. We cannot assume that the "Big Boss" would have already terminated the supervisor for poor performance if such was the case, because the supervisor could be tenured or otherwise untouchable for some reason. We also cannot assume that the supervisor is even remotely qualified for or performant in the position he is currently holding. Lots of companies have problems with nepotism, cronyism, Peter Principle and Dilbert Principle which force subordinates to "manage upward" despite the fact that managing their boss is not in their official job description.
The only thing that we know is that the OP's thought to go over his supervisor's head to the Big Boss, or do an end-run through HR, is the wrong way to go about things unless his supervisor is actively doing/asking for something illegal. If discussing the issues with the supervisor directly doesn't resolve/improve the situation, and the OP doesn't want to/can't seek other employment, another option would be to discuss the situation with a mentor (either a peer or a peer of his supervisor) to see if they have any suggestions on how to handle the situation so everyone can be productive.
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