At Work Newswire

By Karen McHenry

As with many things in life, working well with your boss is a two-way street. You expect your supervisor to manage you and to give you direction. However, managing your boss can actually be a good way to advance your career.

What does it mean to manage your boss? Sometimes managing your supervisor is also referred to as “managing up.” Managing up is really all about creating and maintaining a relationship with your boss. When people have a strong rapport, they are more likely to work cooperatively and productively. Relationships tend to flourish in situations where people have complementary personalities. However, personality is only part of the equation. There are specific actions that you can take to start building a stronger relationship with your manager. Here are two things you can do:

• Take time to understand your manager’s perspective. It’s important to take the time to understand who your manager is. What are his or her qualities and characteristics? From a business perspective, what does your manager need to achieve? This information will give you good insight into how you can help your manager succeed and also what to expect when working with him or her.”Managing upwards must be an active process,” says Steve Miu, director of technical marketing at Signiant, a software company. “To expect it to happen automatically or easily is unrealistic.”
• Work on developing trust. All strong relationships are built on trust. By delivering your work dependably and demonstrating your integrity, you can show your manager that you are a trusted partner. Having a trustworthy and dependable team is invaluable to managers, when the pressure mounts to meet deadlines and goals.

Once you have started the process of cultivating a healthy relationship with your boss, there are particular work styles that help to maintain that connection. Best practices include the following:

• Confirm expectations. Before embarking on an assignment, be sure that you have a clear understanding about what your manager expects. No one likes surprises and there is nothing worse than spending time on a project, only to find that your assumptions about what was needed were incorrect. Communicating openly with your supervisor definitely can help in this area.
• Learn about your manager’s work style. As you spend time with your boss, you will learn how he or she prefers to work. Perhaps they prefer to communicate through e-mail, or maybe they like to have brief status meetings early in the morning, before the rush of the day begins. With this knowledge, you can tailor your interactions with your manager to best meet his or her preferences.
• Understand what is important. For different assignments, your manager may be looking for different types of information or presentation styles. It is important to understand what format will be most useful for a deliverable, such as a quantitative analysis, an executive level presentation, or a written report.
  
  Steve Miu notes, “Be sure to understand all the information that a manager needs. He or she may want data on all the parameters of an ongoing assignment, so it can be reported up the management chain through status reports or other vehicles. Every company has different standards, based on its technology and market. These factors can influence the types of information you need to communicate to your manager.”
• Respect your manager’s time.In today’s hectic business environment, time is perhaps the most constrained resource. Respect your supervisor’s time by saving the most important questions for him or her, and handling as many issues independently as possible. If there are tasks or duties that you can assume for your manager, it is likely to be much appreciated.
• Provide positive feedback.As employees, we value positive feedback and the same goes for our managers. If there are certain things that you feel your manager is doing well, let him or her know. If your feedback is sincere, you shouldn’t fear that it will be perceived as empty praise or an attempt to curry favor.

By following these guidelines, you will be on a path to forging an improved and more productive relationship with your manager. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule and you may run into difficult supervisors from time to time. Bear in mind that there will always be circumstances and attitudes you cannot change. Don’t take it personally and realize that the best thing you can do is to bring a positive attitude to the situation.

You may be thinking that this managing up business seems like a lot of work. If you are wondering whether it’s worth the trouble, consider the possible benefits. By becoming a trusted employee who understands and meets your manager’s expectations, you are more likely to receive positive performance reviews. In addition, you are more likely to receive interesting and high-visibility projects. If and when the time comes to consider another job, the relationship you have built with your manager will translate into positive references. Given these facts, can you afford not to manage up?

Karen McHenry consults to the software industry on strategy and new product development, writes on business, technology and career issues, and teaches at Endicott College.

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Copyright © 2008 Karen McHenry

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