Mastering the Art of Managing Up

It is time for some straight talk today about managing up.

Some people view managing up as a negative and that the people who do it are using that time to gain favor over other team members.

The truth is anyone has the opportunity to build a stronger relationship with their boss. If someone else is doing it well, then learn from them instead of seeing it as a bad thing.

Here is what it really is – Managing your relationship with your boss

• Developing and having a productive working relationship with your boss.

• Learning more about your boss’s management, leadership and communication styles and preferences.

• Based on the conversations, you will increase your awareness of your own work and communication style and preferences.

• Build a stronger productive working relationship centered around growth and understanding, work productivity and career development.

Managing up with your boss is a strategy to employ that will help you do the following:

• Have regular meetings with your boss to let them know what you (and your team) are doing to create visibility that they may not have otherwise.

• Hear from you directly on accomplishments and results.

• Leverage the conversations for alignment or to raise issues/risks.

• To understand more about how they think and hear their point of view on things. You need to know if you are aligned with them or if you need to challenge their thinking.

• To escalate an issue that you need their help to resolve or that they need to get more involved in. (sometimes it is necessary to leverage their title or position to get things done.)

If you don’t feel like you have this kind of relationship with your boss, then the time to start is now. Your boss has a significant impact on the work that you do, the relationships that you make, and your career advancement. Having a strong working relationship with your boss can make or break your success and satisfaction in your career.