Getting on with your Boss: A Guide to Success
2 min to read
TLDR: Get to know your manager as a person, align communication styles, provide solutions, have a no-surprises policy, create clear expectations and build trust.
One of the most important relationships you can have in the workplace is that with your line manager and his or her equivalents and higher. It empowers individuals to influence decisions, gain support for initiatives, and advance their careers. By building positive relationships with those higher up than ourselves, individuals can gain visibility, recognition, and create opportunities for growth. By contrast, in a recent Gallup poll a poor relationship with a direct manager or senior leader was second only to remuneration as a reason for voluntarily leaving a role.
Five Practical Strategies for Managing Upwards:
Understand Your Manager's Preferences: Take the time to understand your manager's communication style, preferences, and priorities. Pay attention to their preferred methods of communication, decision-making processes, and areas of focus. Adapt your approach accordingly to encourage effective communication and collaboration.
Provide Solutions, Not Just Problems: No manager likes to hear a procession of issues, especially when they have multiple direct reports. When presenting issues or challenges to your manager, come prepared with potential solutions or recommendations. Demonstrate initiative and problem-solving skills by offering constructive suggestions. This proactive approach showcases your ability to think critically and adds value to the decision-making process. Leaders need to be self-starters - what better way to demonstrate your capability than by being perceived as a problem-solver?
Communicate Effectively and Transparently: Facilitate open and transparent communication with your manager. Keep them informed of relevant updates, progress on projects, and any obstacles or challenges you encounter. Be honest about successes and failures, and seek feedback to continuously improve. Clear and honest communication builds trust and strengthens the manager-employee relationship. Pursue a policy of 'no-surprises' - no manager likes to be surprised, whether it be good or especially bad news.
Manage Expectations and Priorities: Clarify expectations with your manager regarding goals, deadlines, and deliverables. Discuss priorities and seek clarification if needed to ensure alignment with organisational objectives. Be proactive in managing workload and commitments, communicating any potential conflicts or constraints early on. Don't be afraid to negotiate on priorities - the reality of modern workplaces is that you will often have competing task priorities and deadlines.
Build a Trusted Relationship: Take the time to understand who they are as a person, showing authentic interest. Take accountability for your actions, including mistakes. Be consistent and reliable. Talk honestly and constructively about others. Be respectful and assured in conversations, especially more robust challenging ones. Be appropriately vulnerable, sharing thoughts and feelings that can build a bridge between you and they. Asking for help is a sign of strength not weakness if contextually appropriate.
Having a great relationship with your line manager and other individuals higher up the career ladder than you can make the workplace a more pleasant, more productive and ultimately more successful place to be. If you would like assistance in navigating your own personal circumstance, then please reach out for a free 15 minute initial strategy chat.
