How to catch hold of a disorganised boss to resign?

Email: Dear Boss, I had hoped to catch you in person but this has not been possible. This letter is to inform you I am resigning with four weeks notice. I intend XXX to be my last date with the company. Add something about enjoying your time with the company but good opportunity etc here if desired. local formal sign off, glache You can always email and put a dated hard copy on his desk if desired, but just the hard copy option would be a bit dickish if he might not see it for a week.

Or just tell HR or his boss and let them tell him. If your boss is impossible to reach, that is his problem to sort out, not yours.

I would submit a letter of resignation (hard copy, not e/mail) with a cc to the HR department and, of course, a copy for yourself. If there is some sort of 4 weeks notice requirement, you'll want to be able to document the dates.

I worked remotely in my last job, and my boss tended to miss meetings or reschedule them. I IMed him, which was our usual mode of communication and said "Hey, I know you're probably swamped right now, but I really need to talk to you for a couple of minutes today. When are you available?" It was vague, but obviously important, and while he didn't ask, he was not surprised when the meeting came up and I tendered my resignation. So, obviously I tipped my hand, but that's fine. It doesn't matter. What matters is that you manage to tell him, and if he guesses what's up by the way you request time to tell him, that's not actually a problem. So, don't worry about tipping your hand -- the whole point is to let him know.

yea, e-mail is fine. And it gives you the chance to put everything down as diplomatically as you like, and is then a record of your intentions - his disorganization can't interfere with your giving proper notice.

Yep, email. First to set up the meeting ("I need to speak with you about an urgent matter") and then when it doesn't work, to resign per the script above. I like to enclose a PDF for their records. Not having free time isn't an excuse. I'm pretty sure this is a higher priority than any other work you have (assuming you aren't actually saving lives). And just to clear, you've formally accepted the other offer and everything, right? His flakiness isn't your problem anymore. Just quit.

You could also just physically walk up to him while he's sitting down and say "Hi Bossname, can we catch up for a second?" Walk him into an empty conference room and tell him. If he says no or "let's wait til tomorrow/Thursday" say OK and then email him.

My first step would be to email him about your scheduled meeting. "Boss, something's come up that I'd like to talk to you about sooner rather than later. Are you sure we can't fit that meeting in today?" If he says Wednesday for sure, then hold him to it; talk to him Wednesday. If he sends you an email Wednesday afternoon saying he needs to wait till Thursday, you send him biffa's email. If he replies to that initial email with "what's up?", I would make an attempt to contact him in person, swing by his office (or call) and spend 60 seconds to tell him in person that you'll be resigning and when you expect you last day to be. "That actually takes care of the urgent part of the meeting. We should still talk at some point about what I need to do for the best transition for the team. Is Friday good?"

Accept the job now. Inform HR of your resignation after you have accepted - see if you are able to negotiate a shorter notice period, because you have nothing to lose by doing so. Given them a written resignation letter - http://ask.metafilter.com/271003/How-to-catch-hold-of-a-disorganised-boss-to-resign#3934367 is good. Email a copy of your resignation to your boss, with an offer to discuss the issue when he has time.