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I’m on vacation. So you will enjoy some guest posts! Today’s guest post comes from Cindy Jordan. She runs a recruiting consulting company peoplelogixconsulting.com, which assists small to medium sized businesses with the recruiting process. In this post, she discusses approaches to manage your relationship with your superior. You can follow Cindy on Twitter @cijordan.
The Story
I was speaking to a friend the other day about being effective in the workplace and she threw out the term “managing up.” I have heard so many thoughts lately on the term managing up and it’s a term that is so often misconstrued. Some people feel it means that somehow there is a role reversal and you actually get the opportunity to manage your boss. That somehow there is a magic wand you wave. That you and your boss magically trade roles for the day. Although I’m sure many people love to fantasize about that scenario, that isn’t at all the true nature of the term “managing up”.
What does ‘Managing up’ mean?
Managing up really involves the relationship you have with your boss. The easiest illustration of managing up that I can convey is a bull horn vs. a telephone. The bullhorn is the traditional form of boss/employee relationship, all the communication comes from the boss to the employee. Managing up is more like the telephone; the communication is free flowing back and forth between employee and boss.
The keys to managing up are threefold:
- keep your boss in the loop,
- go above and beyond, and lastly
- own your development.
Keeping your boss informed on what’s happening doesn’t mean you need to give them an hourly log of what you are doing. Rather, you should make sure you let them know about any challenges you faced and what you did to overcome them. It is important that you make them aware of your successes. Go ahead, pat your own back, toot your own horn. When setting goals for yourself, make sure you are setting stretch goals that are line with what your boss feels is important. Nothing impresses the boss more than taking on more of a challenge. Finally, if there are skills that you need in order to succeed don’t wait for your boss to train you. Take ownership of your development, create a plan and map how you are going to obtain these skills.
By effectively managing up you will make yourself a more valuable and promotable employee. And who knows, you may end up managing your boss after all.
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Comments
06.09.10
I love the example of the telephone. I think for me, what I've learned about managing up also includes identifying the most effective way they will hear the messages. It can be everything from phone vs. emails, reports in spreadsheets vs. lists, and tone of voice when on the phone.
06.09.10
Just to insert my two cents here: If you have a good manager, it's much easier to 'manage up'. But make sure you don't cross the line between 'managing up' and doing your boss's job for him. In that case, you need a new boss or a new job.
This may simply be a matter of opinion. For example, I feel it is the manager's job to set clear goals, not the employee. But that's just me.
06.09.10
Thank you for the comments Emily and Scott. It's true Emily, you have to find the most effective form of communication when dealing with your boss. I've had managers that were so behind on e-mail, they would only consistently check e-mails marked urgent. And its true that it is the managers responsibility to set clear goals but that doesn't always happen. And in this economy getting a new job is easier said than done. What's more important is being in control of your career and managing up is a way to do that. When a new opportunity does come along you are in a better position to get it.
06.09.10
Keys for me are finding out what's important to your boss and what he needs to do to be successful, then make sure you find ways to help them achieve those goals. You should also find out very early on how your boss likes to work and what their communication preferences are - no point sending an early morning email to an afternoon talker. A no-brainer but it often gets overloooked by people.
06.10.10
I’m going to rant here for a bit.
To me, “managing-up” is going above and beyond for a boss who is already a good boss.
That means catching the stuff that falls through the cracks. Your manager might set clear goals and communicate well, but it still a good idea to go the extra mile to help out when things get busy, or when he misses something important.
However, having said that, it is NOT acceptable to make up for his deficiencies. For example, a good manager should be a good communicator, regardless of the method or time of day. A good manager needs to work with the people he has, not the people he wish he hired. That means that a manager who would really prefer afternoon emails needs to learn to work with people who are early risers, late talkers, and all manner of communicators. A good manager can communicate effectively via email, phone, or face to face.
In other words, it’s one thing to catch stuff that falls through the cracks in the management floor. It’s another thing when there is no floor at all.
By enabling bad bosses to continue being bad bosses, then we are just going to end up expanding this idea of managing-up to basically encompass everything that managers are supposed to be doing anyway. This is why hazing on college campuses became accepted, because people said "well it’s what I had to put up with when I was a freshman, so I'm gonna do it to someone else".
I want less-effective managers to they are not up-to-snuff, so they will try to do better. I don't want them to rationalize their shortcomings by saying "well, my employees should learn to manage-up better."
Good managers are in charge. They communicate effectively with a wide range of people. They set goals, stay involved, and see all points of view. They are coaches, mentors, teachers and task-masters. They are out in front and take responsibility for others, and therefore accept more risk than the rest of us, but they are also paid more for that risk. With today’s flat organizations, managers have little time to work their way up the ladder, learning along the way. They are instead shoved into positions of responsibility over far too many people, with inadequate training.
They respond by shoving their responsibilities down to their employees, and this has become accepted.
This must stop.
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