If you are dreading the return to work after the holidays, you're not alone. In fact, it seems like the complaints against managers are on the increase. But there are ways you can deal with the situation, however, and this piece by Nancy Halpern – aptly entitled Help! I Hate My Boss - has some useful suggestions.
First off, Halpern looks for clarification over what kind of boss you have. Is your boss a "Monster" or a "Cretin?" Perhaps your boss acts like "Genghis Khan" or, worse yet, a little bit all of all of the above.
Whichever trait they possess, Halpern suggests learning to "manage up" your boss, in order to make the working environment a better one to live with.
Halpern has a list of suggestions and specific things you can do to try and make your situation at work better. First and most obviously, don't deliberately push any of your boss's hot buttons. Second, learn what your manager's favorite method of communicating is and then use it. Third, pay attention to the style of how your boss communicates and emulate that.
The final solution is to "manage your boss" by learning when to give them information, knowing what kind of information they need and how to deliver that information.
In the end, the best way of dealing with your boss is to study and learn from your boss. It may not make the work any better, but it may make the workplace situation rather more easy to deal with.