There may other ways than simply quitting. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a good boss. There are some bosses who practice favouritism at work, and there are others who seem to have just stepped out of the set of Devil Wears Prada - toxic and at times, abusive.

Instead of being focused on work as you should, you drag your feet to work every morning, not anticipating the barrage of emails and yelling at meetings.

Difficult or toxic bosses may be one of the hardest factors to deal with at work. Not only do you have little power to stop this from happening, your team mates may not even be standing on your side.

And if you feel your salary isn’t worth the bad experience, consider these strategies before throwing in the letter.

1. Consider your boss’ actions

Is the bad behaviour a one-off incident, and if so, what is it caused by? Think from his or her point of view, if the incident is truly your boss’ fault or something he or she can’t control (i.e. more pressure from higher ups). If this isn’t an isolated incident, try to identify the triggers that make your boss tick, and avoid it if you can.

2. Talk to your boss about it

Instead of waiting for things to get worse, talking to your boss about the situation may help. This may work if your boss is open about communication too. Once you’ve set up a meeting, remember to choose your words carefully. You don’t want to make this personal. It is after all about how you both can do your job better. Frame it in a way that you are having this session to help the team or the company improve, and focus on work only.

Don’t expect your boss to understand every point you bring up. Even worse, he or she may get defensive. If things heat up, schedule another appointment, or steer the conversation to a topic where you can both work on mutually.

3. Consider your own actions

Ask yourself if this situation could’ve been helped by your actions. If you know and are sure that you have taken responsibility for your work and your actions, then now is a good time for self-reflection.

4. Take notes during conversations and meetings

You don’t want to miss any instructions your boss may have for you. Keeping a record will also help clear any confusion, and having documentation on his or her behaviour will help you if you do decide to call him or her out on his behaviour.

5. Go a step ahead and deliver

Toxic or difficult bosses don’t care whether you like them or not as long as you deliver. So try to anticipate any tasks and get them done. This especially works well for micromanagers.

6. Set boundaries

Distance yourself if you can from bad behaviour. Whether you are performing or not, bad behaviour, especially toxic behaviour that can affect your work, is never encouraged.

7. Avoid them in future

When moving to a new organisation or team, ask the right questions, to make sure you’re not jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Try to take notice of signs that you may be headed to another toxic environment. Ask around, and see if you can get a sense of the culture and management style, before moving on.

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