Working with Bosses

The most significant factor impacting your job satisfaction is your relationship with your direct manager. The value of a good relationship is that it gives you a solid foundation when stressful times arise. Without one, you don’t have the open communication and sense of trust needed to resolve issues between you quickly.

If they go unaddressed, these are issues over which you could grow fatigued and frustrated and eventually, quit. Instead, you should have a strategic plan to “manage up” and figure out how to work with it more effectively. No matter how good or bad your manager may be, it’s vital and, honestly, it is your job to make this relationship work.

Why leave the quality of that relationship solely in your manager’s hands? Here’s what you can do to change and start managing up.

1. Embrace the Mission: Your job is to support your boss’ success. That’s what you were hired to do. Managers don’t want people on their team who drag them down. They look for people to make them look like rock stars. Understand and accept this as your mission.

2. Develop a Positive Relationship: If you think about it, you spend more time with your manager than with nearly any other person in your life. Yet so many people leave the nurturing and tending of this relationship to chance or neglect it completely. Instead, intentionally get to know your manager as a person. Am not saying you need to become pals (probably not going to happen) but get a sense for who he or she is as a person. Where did she come from? How did she get to where she is now? What are the lessons she learned along the way? Simple questions that help you to get to know one another can go a long way toward helping you understand your manager’s goals, perspective, and behaviour and respond accordingly

3. Understand His or Her Goals: All employees should know their direct manager’s goals, objectives, and desired outcomes. If you aren’t clear on those things, now’s the time to set up a one-on-one meeting to fix that. Why? Because everything you do is directly tied to that. By understanding his or her goals, you’ll be able to see how your work ties into the group’s success.

4. Anticipate His or Her Needs: Once you understand your boss’ goals, you’ll be better equipped to anticipate his or her needs. For example, if you know that your manager’s goal is to sign contracts with six new clients over the next month, notice when there are high priority prospect meetings on his calendar and ask what he needs from you to be prepared. By asking for what your manager needs before he thinks to ask you for it, you’ll make a welcome contribution without looking lost.

5. Never Let Him or Her Get Blindsided: You know bad news is coming. There’s a miserable customer or an unhappy business partner poised to escalate over your head. That means your boss is going to get the call. There’s only one thing to do: Let your manager know before that call comes in. There’s nothing more annoying to a manager than being caught off guard and knowing nothing about the situation at hand. When you know that call is coming, get your boss the details of the situation and the corrective action that’s already in play (because you’ve already taken care of that, right?) so he or she is prepared and confident when that phone rings.

6. Do Your Job Well: One of the best ways you can manage up is to manage you. Stephen Covey of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People fame said, “Effective people to do two things: They strive to do excellent work, and they prioritize.” So, do both. When you do your job well, you give your manager something to brag about in staff meetings. It's professional and a point of pride for him or her. What better way is there to man up?

7. Tell Him or Her the Best Way to Use Your Talents: What are your strengths? How do you deal with pressure, conflict, deadlines and time management? What assets do you bring to the table and how do they complement your manager’s strength? Once you have a firm grasp on these things, have a conversation about how best to leverage what you bring to the organization. Managing up is a process of combining the best of you both to create success for everyone.

8. Honour Your Boss’ Time: You may be on the same team and pulling for the same result, but that doesn’t mean your boss’ time is yours for taken. Learn the most opportune times to collaborate with your boss—when he or she is going to be the most focused on what you need—and plan your meetings for those times. Honour your manager’s time in other ways, too. Keep commitments for meetings and phone calls. Begin them promptly and end on time. Prepare and send an agenda ahead of time so your boss knows what points you’ll be covering, and you don’t get off track. Expect to lead the discussion, capture decisions and follow up accordingly. You’ll show your boss that you value and appreciate his or her time.

9. Align Your Needs with His or Her Goals: Long ago someone said, “If you’re going to ask somebody to do something, tell them why its good for them.” Words could not be truer when it comes to asking something of your manager. Want to work on that new marketing project? Need her eyes on a presentation you’re working on? Want an introduction to a connection of hers? It’s far easier for her to say “yes” when you connect those action to her professional goals. Tell her how the project will help you become a liaison for her team, how your presentation will impact the team’s success, or how that introduction will boost her reputation as a manager and mentor.

10. Under-Promise and Over-Deliver: This almost goes without saying. If your manager needs to keep checking in and worries about you delivering on time, you’re not doing it right. Keep your commitments. Meet deadlines ahead of time. Keep your boss in the loop about the progress you’ve made before she asks. These devilishly simple strategies make you look like a Rockstar—and an expert in managing up.