Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Jul 13, 2026

How to get along with your boss while working remotely

How to get along with your boss while working remotely

There's one person at work you need to have a good relationship with for the sake of your career: your boss.

But not all of us do.

And working remotely could cause additional strain to an already-tense relationship.

"If the conflict is around work, then working remotely may actually make things worse or at best, create a certain amount of confusion," said Marie McIntyre, a career coach in Atlanta and author of "Secrets to Winning at Office Politics."

If you found your boss to be annoying, working separately might actually improve the relationship.

A change in work settings could also be a good opportunity to redefine your relationship with your boss. Here's how to get started:

Determine the problem


Figuring out what the issue is between you and your boss is the first step toward mending the relationship.

There are usually three reasons that cause a rift between a boss and a worker: work quality, loyalty or team player issues, and a difference in personality or work style, according to Steve Arneson, author of "What Your Boss Really Wants From You."

If the problem is your performance, then making an effort to improve will go a long way. Look for ways to go beyond expectations, hit deadlines early and help with other team projects.

Start taking on more responsibility, raise your hand for new projects and ask your boss for ways you can help ease their workload.

If the issue concerns loyalty or being a team player, Arneson suggests showing support to the boss and company and trying to be more supportive and collaborative with your colleagues.

"Lean in to this issue in a very positive, public manner so they see you turning this around," he said.

If it's a difference in work styles, take some time to self-reflect and try to be more adaptable to other people's work preferences.

If you can't determine the root of the problem on your own, Arneson suggested approaching your boss and saying something like: 'Our relationship isn't at a point where I'd like it to be, can we chat about that?'

Hopefully that gets the ball rolling. If not, ask a trusted peer with the same boss about what they think the root cause might be.

Know their work style


If your boss prefers emailing over meeting and you are constantly calling them, that's going to cause an issue.

If you don't already know your boss' work preferences, use this new world of remote work to your advantage.

"This is a great time to have a conversation with your boss and team about how they prefer to work," said Mary Abbajay, president of Careerstone Group and author of "Managing Up: How to Move Up, Win at Work, and Succeed with Any Type of Boss."

Take a look at what has and hasn't worked while working remotely over the past several months and use that to guide the conversation. Maybe your boss prefers longer weekly check-ins instead of short daily ones or would rather hop on the phone to chat real quick than discuss an issue over Slack.

Set expectations


If you don't know what your boss wants, it's going to be hard to meet expectations.

At the start of a project, McIntyre suggests talking to your boss about how often she wants progress updates, how much she wants to be involved during the process, who else needs to be kept in the loop, along with her priorities and deadline expectations.

If your boss tends to be more hands off and you need more clarity, McIntyre recommends framing the request like: 'It would be helpful to me if we had regular meetings about project XYZ' or 'Can we agree on a time every week to touch base?'

"Initiate the request and put it in terms of how to help you get the work done. Not in terms of how you never communicate with me," she said.

Avoid trust issues


Don't give your boss a reason to think you aren't working hard.

Trust is a big part of working remotely, and some bosses, particularly micro-managers, have a hard time with the shift to not knowing where their employees are.

Many workers have competing priorities working from home right now and many companies are offering flexible schedules, but don't leave your boss guessing about when you will and won't be available.

"Make sure they know your schedule," said Abbajay. "If someone is trying to reach you and they can't, they often assume the worst."

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
World Cup Visitors Turn American Big-Box Stores Into Souvenir Stops
Netflix Weighs Always-On Channels, Bundles and Short-Form Video
Passenger Is Pulled Partly Outside Ryanair Jet After Window Fails Mid-Flight
The AI Invoice Shock: Layoffs Didn't Save Managers Money — They Cost Them More
Concern: Sexually Transmitted Bacterium Among Men Develops Antibiotic Resistance
Following Massive Investor Demand: SK Hynix Raises 26.5 Billion Dollars on Nasdaq
Passenger Partially Pulled Out of Ryanair Jet After Cabin Window Fails Mid-Flight
After Four Years, and Under a Heavy Veil of Secrecy: King Charles Meets His Grandchildren, Harry and Meghan's Children
Severe Heatwave Drives Dangerous Ground-Level Ozone Pollution Across Two Thirds of European Union
Westminster in Freefall as Farage's By-Election Gamble Triggers Broader Systemic Crises
Institutional Fractures and Political Volatility Reshape Britain's Domestic Landscape
Deadly Fire, Health Emergencies and Political Upheaval Shape a Volatile Global News Cycle
Flight Instructor Jumped to His Death — Student Landed the Plane: "You Know What You Need to Do"
The Physical and Electronic Barriers Disrupting Domestic Wireless Networks
France and Morocco Open World Cup Quarter-Finals as Collina Defends Refereeing
Prince Harry Suffers Major Court Defeat in Legal Battle Against Daily Mail Publisher
Bonnie Tyler, Welsh Singer Behind Total Eclipse of the Heart, Dies at 75
Tech Pulse: The Future of AI and Screen Culture
Global News Briefing: Escalating Geopolitical Tensions and Corporate Shakeups
Global News Brief: Escalating Conflicts, Public Health Crises, and World Cup Drama
Federal Financial Framework Shifts as Treasury Launches Universal Savings Program for Minors
French Court Allows Le Pen to Run for Presidency, but with an Electronic Tag: "I Will Appeal, and I Will Run"
$1.4 Trillion: The Lawsuit That Could Crush Meta
Europe's Growing Struggle with Extreme Heat and Air Conditioning
UK Daily Briefing: Legal Developments and Social Issues
Political Turmoil and Rising Costs
Anthropic Reengineers Agentic Architecture to Shift Autonomous Workplace Automation to the Cloud
Logic Flaw in Windows 11 Permission Architecture Silently Consumes Hundreds of Gigabytes of Local Storage
Apple Advances Late-Stage Operating Systems with Fourth Beta Deployments
Global Crisis Alert: Escalating Middle East Tensions and UK Political Upheaval
Deep Purple Has Released Its Best Album in Decades
Microsoft Lays Off 4,800 Employees and Xbox Suffers the Hardest Blow
Morocco and France Advance as 2026 FIFA World Cup Enters Quarterfinals.
Historic 2026 Tour de France Opens in Barcelona With Revamped Team Time Trial.
Global Mergers and Acquisitions Approach $4 Trillion Defying Geopolitical Tumult.
Negotiators Advance 20-Point Framework for Gaza Ceasefire and Demilitarization.
OECD Warns Middle East Conflict Will Depress Global Economic Growth.
Ukrainian Drones Strike Major Oil Terminal in St. Petersburg.
World Meteorological Organization Issues Urgent Alert Over Rapidly Intensifying El Niño.
United States Commemorates 250th Anniversary With Diplomatic Summits and Global Flotilla.
Iran Begins Days-Long Funeral for Supreme Leader Khamenei Amid Strait of Hormuz Standoff.
Technology giant reports surging carbon emissions driven by artificial intelligence infrastructure demands.
Artificial intelligence adoption accelerates workforce reductions across the technology and financial sectors.
Global technology and financial conglomerates collaborate to launch a new stablecoin standard.
United States regulators lift export restrictions on a major frontier artificial intelligence model.
Luxury bags take over the World Cup: style, status symbol, or just showing off?
×