Over the course of nine years, The Office had seen ten different managers, and they all had different strengths, even if they were hidden behind their over-the-top personalities. However, Andy and Deangelo are possibly the two most inadequate managers that Dunder Mifflin has ever seen.
One of them literally took a months-long unauthorised sebatical, and the other literally segregates the men from the women. However, both of them do have certain qualities that make a great manager, and there are a select few who even think that Andy is an amazing manager.
Andy: His Priority Is To Make His Employees Happy
Whether it’s singing “Closing Time” at the end of every work day or promising to get a tattoo on his butt just to incentivise his staff, Andy might worry about figures from time to time, but his heart is mostly in the right place. First and foremost, he is always trying to make sure his employees are happy doing what they’re doing.
And though his incessant need to please people might stem from his relationship with his father, he means well. At one point, he even had the whole office leave just to go to a pub quiz, even if it was to use the winnings to make up for the company’s losses.
Deangelo: He Doesn’t Waste Time People Pleasing
On the complete other side of the spectrum, Deangelo doesn’t waste his precious time trying to please people. Deangelo isn’t the most likeable manager, but sometimes a manager shouldn’t be the colleagues’ best friend, and as much as his need to make his employees happy helped Andy, it also set him back in several instances too.
Deangelo makes his employees try to please him. However, having said that, he does try ridiculously hard to get Dwight to like him. But even then, Deangelo stops tolerating it when he screams at Dwight in a way that would instill fear in even Stanley.
Andy: He Understands Sales Better
Though his sales aptitude is still quite weak, Andy had been working on the team for years. He might not be the best on the team, but he proved to everyone that he was much better than Deangelo when they went on a sales call together, as Deangelo almost lost one of the company’s biggest clients.
And on top of understanding sales better, Andy is more stable too, as he had worked in the same sales role for 10 years straight. That surely can’t be said for Deangelo, as it seems likely that he jumps around a lot.
Deangelo: He Doesn’t Look Weak In Front Of His Employees
Employees look up to a manager who is strong-minded, and they worry when that isn’t the case, which explains why the office was always in disarray for the first seven seasons. Even though Deangelo is foolish, he never appears that way when in front of his staff.
This is clear when he plays down the embarrassing incident that happened between him and Michael when they first met and bringing his barber into the office, which was an absolute power move. It’s only when he comes in contact with cake or chocolate that he first appears weak.
Andy: He Isn’t Scared To Stand Up To Higher Management
Though he won’t always stand in agreement with his employees, Deangelo is pretty much a “yes man” when it comes to higher management, and he won’t question them about something he doesn’t agree with.
Andy, on the other hand, has shown that he can stand up against higher management on several occasions, not for anything unjustified, but to protect his employees’ rights. He confronted Robert California, the self-proclaimed lizard king himself, which is something so few of the characters would ever do.
Deangelo: He Speaks His Mind
Deangelo might not be the smartest manager, but his time is still clearly very valuable, so he doesn’t have time to go to the barber, and instead has the barber do an office visit. So it’s no surprise that Deangelo is so blunt when it comes to the time he gives to his employees.
It might be rude, but he hilariously tells Pam and Jim that he doesn’t care about their baby, and he’s quick to turn down Michael’s management advice until he realizes that he actually needs it.
Andy: Doesn’t Succumb To Childish Showmanship
Andy has definitely shown how self-conscious he is and how much he wants to be respected in the past, but he has never gone to the lengths that Deangelo did, and he certainly wasn’t one to show off. Unless it came to a cappella singing, obviously.
During his brief stint as manager, Deangelo claimed to be a master juggler, and he wanted to prove himself so much that he showcased his juggling routine without any actual balls. And at the end of the day, it was his childish showmanship that was Deangelo’s very downfall, as he was crushed by a basketball hoop when he tried convincing the staff that he was one of the best ballers there is.
Deangelo: He’s Entertaining
Though Andy tries to be entertaining, there’s a massive difference between trying and actually being entertaining. Whether it’s juggling with no balls or his ice-cream analogies in meetings, Deangelo is entertaining enough without extending himself too much that the employees take advantage of him.
And ironically enough, Deangelo seems to be the only one who finds Andy entertaining, as he labeled the salesman as the office “funny man.”
Andy: He’s More Confident
Fans don’t have to look much further than when he co-hosted the Dundies with Michael Scott to see that Deangelo not only has no public speaking skills but also isn’t remotely confident. However, even though he probably shouldn’t be, Andy is oozing with confidence.
Whether it’s his background at Cornell or his unique elite upbringing that made him that way, Andy can surprisingly get the attention of an entire room surprisingly well.
Deangelo: He’s A Competent Leader
There were a lot of things wrong with the character, such as his relentless sexism, his inability to control his vices, and not being able to speak to large crowds. But he was commanding and there weren’t actually any work-related issues when he was in the manager’s seat, unlike there was in every episode when Andy was manager.
Though many fans believed that Deangelo was sometimes too similar to Michael Scott, they were very different in a lot of ways, most notably in that Deangelo was actually a competent leader.