They Are Incapable of Making Their Mind Up

We like to call them ‘flavor of the day bosses’. In the morning you have one task list to focus on but by the time lunch rolls buy you’re supposed to start on a new project. Obviously, this kind of behavior can seriously affect a team’s productivity, but there are things you can do to help!
First off, don’t ask your boss for permission to do your job in a certain way. If they have a problem with it, they’ll come to you, in which case you can begin explaining why your approach is preferable. Not being dependent on your boss can prevent you from having a multitude of useless, false starts.
Secondly, start asking questions when a change of plan comes around. Don’t just ask ‘why’ but instead focus on how the new task list will be beneficial for the team, ask about why it’s more important than the previous project, etc. You’ll likely make your boss think twice about their agenda so they’ll be less finicky about their plans in the future.