Managing Your Manager

Managing up was not something I had previously been aware of or knew anything about. But when I stepped into leading for the first time I found very quickly the need to manage my manager as well as my team.

I would state this is something that is entirely different to when you are an IC where you have work set and catch up with your manager. Yes you still need to manage up but not to the same extent or even the same intensity sometimes.

As a new manager what exactly is managing up?

Managing up is where you ensure that your manager and you are aligned on the goals and objectives as well as ensuring they have all the information they need to discuss with their manager or work on key projects.

You may well think that managing up is not something you think is worthwhile or a waste of your time. Think this at your peril, the reason that managing up is important is:

• Improves communication flows

• Good for your career advancement

• Builds trust across the team

• Improves efficiency

• Improves team dynamics

Your ability to manage up is going to be a huge key to success not just for you but for your team overall.

Let’s jump in and look at some tips for being able to manage up well.

If you are a founder some of these tips will also help you if you are managing the board too.

How to manage up effectively

To manage up effectively I think there are five key things you need to ensure that you are doing.

1. Understand your managers goals: This may well sound basic but this is fundamental. If you know what your manager is trying to achieve then being able to link your work to theirs gives greater understanding and clarity. To do this well you will need to spend time with your manager and ask them what their goals or objectives are. This should be clear but if it isn’t just ask.

2. Communicate Proactively: I have spoken previously about the key part communication plays in management and leadership, stressing it again here but in this space you are getting ahead of questions and challenges. Some examples of this would be if an issue arose communicating this with your manager as well as what you are doing, then keeping them up to date on progress. Working on a project make sure that they get weekly updates as well as status updates too.

3. Anticipate Needs: This can often be a challenging but if you understand your managers goals and through you 1:1’s you will start to understand how they operate. Once you know this you can begin to see and understand their needs.

4. Get Feedback: Ask your manager is the information that you are sharing relevant and useful for them. Also worth asking whether this is helpful to them. If it’s not ask how this can be improved. If you are presenting to something to them ask how they like this information. With all feedback make sure that you actually apply this feedback to the work you are doing.

5. Build Trust: This part will take time but if you do all of the above you will start building trust. Or as I say start adding to the trust jar. The trust jar is hugely important as it helps to know that once full you can start to make withdrawals. As what trust gives is the ability and flexibility to have more control and influence. This doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want but you might see those weekly update meetings move to bi-weekly or monthly. Why because your manager trusts what you are doing and knows if something comes up they can defer to you for the answers in a format they like. This also means you are now getting more time to invest in your team or take some stretch goals for you.

Did you know that up to 60% of new managers fail within 12 months of taking on the role?

And yet companies are not investing in their new managers or people leaders enough. This is where I come in and help.

I help new managers (and existing ones) get all the training and support they need. Subscribe to this newsletter to get tips and guidance.

By subscribing you will also be the first to know about my incoming ManagerOS training program.

Applying the guidance

The best thing you can do is connect with your manager and get to know what their objectives are. By knowing this it will help you:

• Set your team objectives

• Work on your own objectives

• Set your team for success

Once you know the objectives focus on communication and how you update on key things your manager wants to know.

This all starts with communication. Learning how your manager likes to communicate will make your life easier as well as creating a significant amount of career opportunity for you.

In next weeks edition I will be looking at the different types of leaders and tips for looking at how you can ensure you deliver success in your role.

Book recommendation

Managing Up: How to Move up, Win at Work, and Succeed with Any Type of Boss by Mary Abbajay

Sorry for the lack of newsletters but I have been busy within my new role and young family and needed to focus on self-care. But I am back and building a regular flow of newsletters. To give me some additional time to complete I will be trialing Saturday newsletter.

PS Liked this newsletter then its worth checking out my other content and store here

PPS If you are a new manager would highly recommend you checking out my free course here