I stumbled across this recently, and even though it's old, I enjoyed it & have a couple of additions:

Procurator Passivus
AKA the ?I?ll get back to you on that? manager

This manager is similar to P. Absentia, except he is physically present. This manager gives work assignments without understanding them, and cannot answer any questions about the effort. Usually he will have experts on tap that he will rely on and/or refer you to for actual answers and advice. He is actually good at building these networks, which is a plus.

Another characteristic is that she refuses to make any decision that could be controversial in any way, turning instead to her superior and then passing along that decision to you. Note that this means there will be a delay in getting your answer, so plan accordingly. Be prepared to remind this manager that you are waiting for a response; odds are that he will forget to pass along the question.

This manager is mostly harmless but irritating, as long as she manages senior staff that are basically self-sufficient. However, God help you if you have one of these between you and P. Psychoticus in the management chain, because he will not stand up for you should P. Psycho?s wrath fall upon you.

Procurator Psychoticus
AKA the Multiple Personality

This manager appears to have multiple personality disorder. One personality may be pleasant, competent, and great to work with or for. The other personality, however, will readily shred you at length and in detail over seemingly small provocation. With unbridled anger, this manager will tell you exactly where you are wrong, and what you should be doing instead. Note that this is not necessarily reality-based ? while in a rage, this manager will not ask questions about what is going on, or attempt to elicit your side of the situation. Indeed, she will already have made up her mind about all of that, and any questions she DOES ask during her tirade are biased and rhetorical.

And then, the next time you see him, he acts perfectly normal, like all is well. He will be heard to say that people know to ?take him with a grain of salt?. Which means you should not expect to ever get an apology for sitting and taking one of those abusive torrents, or expect him to change.

Needless to say, this is not an effective coaching technique, and can permanently destroy good working relationships. This manager often loses really good employees who refuse to be treated in this manner, at least not more than once.