One way to manage upwards is to bring solutions to your boss rather than problems
me and worked with clients on their own.
To help this situation I asked them one day how they would like me to handle a big mistake on their part. Not that I anticipated any but I wanted to be prepared. What I did not want as their manager was evasion, half truths, and fear and anxiety on their part. Mistakes are bad enough to deal with anyway without that mistake affecting our working relationship adversely.
One of the team wanted me to give it to them ‘on the chin’, no beating around the bush. Another wanted to be told what they were doing well before I launched into what was not going well, and so on with everyone wanting something different in order to cope with the problem of discussing errors that I may not have seen at first hand.
This done, at our next line meeting I asked each of them how they would like to handle a situation where they believed that I had made a mistake or I had let them down. Not surprisingly, they asked me what would be OK but we eventually got around to having a feedback contract which worked well at our monthly line meetings. I also got my boss to give me the same arrangement.
My individual team members and I, and my boss and I, all strived to have regular monthly line meetings lasting between 30 minutes and two hours. We allocated half our time to progress reporting each other’s work - where we assessed performance against expectations of clients and of each other.
The other half of the meeting was spent on each other’s career or professional development issues. During this period we would make appointments for coaching and mentoring, we would also discuss succession issues and expectations of each other in that regard.
After very little time we were able to be very open, honest and supportive of each other whilst dealing objectively with
all work realities rather than just giving each other reassurance and/or compliance.
10. Help Your Boss to be Better
One way to manage upwards is to bring solutions to your boss rather than problems. If you have a problem that needs their attention, then be careful to explain it calmly and concisely, but indicate in a confident manner that you have three solution options they can pick from.
If it is more appropriate to the situation you can, instead, suggest a well thought out process for attacking the problem that they just needs to sign-off. Once the solution option has been decided then you can start on the process, but remember to keep your manager up to date with progress.
Try to link your specific ideas and solutions to a wider business benefit e.g. cost savings, quality, profitability, so that your boss can relate to what is going on and keep their boss in touch with developments. This will reflect well on them and in turn it will reflect well on you.
If your staff have done really well or made a sacrifice at a time of difficulty, draft a ‘thank you’ letter to them for your boss to sign - so they are appreciated at all levels of the organisation. Make each letter different so that that your boss is seen not only as successful but also appreciative of individuals.
It is likely that if your boss is seen as successful by senior management then you and your team will also be seen as successful.
In the next issue Frank will look at how to manage ‘multiple’ bosses i.e. ‘Managing Upwards: Boards and Committees’.
If you would like to attend one of Frank's highly interactive and enjoyable courses organised by
Pitchcare.com, or if you have an urgent question about managing upwards, you can contact Frank either at
Pitchcare.com or via the ‘Contact’ tab of his personal website
www.franknewberry.com
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