58% of managers said they didn’t receive any management training according to a 2011 CareerBuilder.com study.
This means that the majority of our managers have no idea how to do their job of managing. They were likely great employees, and their hard work got them noticed and therefore promoted. But that doesn’t mean that they are great leaders or know how to manage a team. It simply means that they are good at the job they now have to help others do.
A 2016 Grovo study revealed that 87% of middle managers wish they had received more management training when they first became a manager. So not only are new managers not offered training, they desperately want it.
We all know how important it is to have a boss that we like. The quality of their leadership is often more meaningful to you than your workload, work environment, and sometimes even salary and benefits. According to a study by positive psychologist Michelle McQuaid, 65% of people said they would choose a better boss over a pay raise.
Pardon our interruption—this is Career Contessa. Join us for this episode of The Femails where we interview managing up expert, Jackie Ross, and get her tips for manging up with any type of boss.
Listen to the full episode over on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts. A full transcription of the episode can be found here. Now, back to the article.
You’ve heard the phrase before; people quit their bosses, not their jobs. So as employees, how can we help our managers be better at their job so that we can be better at ours? The key lies in managing up. The business world has been utilizing the term managing up for years, but what exactly does it mean?
What is Managing Up?
Managing up is anticipating your boss's needs to learn how to be a true source of help. It means knowing what makes your boss tick, something that will benefit you when you're seeking buy-in for new ideas or projects. It also means knowing how to navigate sticky situations in a productive way when problems inevitably arise.
Essentially, managing up is managing your manager. Just as our manager's job is to manage employees, their responsibilities, their growth, and development, managing up helps us help our bosses be better at their jobs. Our job as an employee is to make our manager's job easier. This isn't to be confused with sucking up to your boss, but more so doing the best job you can as an employee to add value to your team and your company.
Why Managing Up is Important in Organizations
Managing up is crucial to the success of an organization. If our job as employees is to make our boss’s job easier by being a successful and productive employee, then your team and boss will be more successful, and therefore your company will be more successful. Doing your job to the best of your ability helps your manager become their most productive self so they can do their job (i.e., manage)
Managing up also provides an opportunity for two-way communication amongst teams. Employees want the opportunity to communicate up to their managers just as it’s essential for managers to communicate down to their employees. When both sides trust each other to communicate openly, it will make the entire team’s job easier and, therefore, more effective, leading to more growth and opportunity.
Types of Managers
Determining how to manage up depends on the type of manager. Types of managers range from those new in their role to those difficult to work for to those who have developed a more hands-off approach. That doesn’t mean one is necessarily better than another. It means we need to learn what makes our bosses tick (and what ticks them off) so we can learn how to assist them as employees.
The important thing here is to be observant and learn your boss's tendencies, work style, and preferences so you can determine how to work with them best. Love them or hate them, no boss is perfect. But if we know how they work, we can tailor how we work with them to make the workplace a better place.
The New Manager
The new manager is someone who is completely new to the role either because they were recently promoted or because they’re new to the company as an outside hire, or maybe even a combination of both. They need supervision from their boss or superiors to help them get acclimated to the role just as much as they need guidance from their employees to learn how to do their new job and work together as a team. There can be give and take in this relationship because as uncomfortable as it is to be new at something, you can establish workplace best practices together before any bad habits are born.
The Remote Manager
Working and managing remotely is a unique skillset. For the completely remote manager or even semi-remote, establishing relationships can be difficult. If your manager is remote, it’s crucial to create strong lines of communication and collaboration, as well as trust. Since this can’t be accomplished in a typical workplace setting, try regular check-ins via video conference or phone, and even team bonding events like virtual happy hours. Having a conversation about how you can work best together will be key to the success of both of your jobs. Establish regular communication relating to your responsibilities to keep priorities on track. We even have an email template to help you out.
The Insecure Manager
We all have insecurities. Be it from lack of experience or lack of confidence; this type of manager is not the most fun to work for. You may have to constantly reassure them that they are doing a good job or the “right” thing. You may even end up acting more like the manager than they do. If you learn through working with this type of boss what you can say or do to help boost their confidence, the time you spend at work will be improved not just for yourself but for your entire team. While this can be perceived as annoying to have to reassure your boss when you feel it should be the other way around, your efforts will surely be appreciated.
The Hands-Off Manager
This type of manager is both good and bad at the same time. The pros: if you function best doing your own thing and can accomplish your tasks with minimum supervision, you’ll thrive in this environment. The cons: it can be difficult to get time with your manager when you actually need it because they assume you can figure it out.
The Manager Who’s Really a Director or Partner
Some managers, while still technically managers, are more at the director or partner level. This means that they’re almost so high-level that it can be challenging to get time on their calendar because they’re always in executive meetings or doing things that are, in the grand scheme of a lower-level employee’s role, a lot more critical. This type of manager would benefit from having a middle manager on their team, but due to budget constraints or workload, it’s just not in the cards.
The Manager Who Sends Mixed Messages
One day they want one deliverable, and the next, they completely change their mind. They say they want you to sit in on a meeting, but they never send you the calendar invite. For the manager who sends you more mixed signals than your last Bumble date, it’s easy to find yourself frustrated and spending more time deciphering their instructions than actually working, which, if we’re honest, is beneficial for no one.
Regardless of the type of manager you have, the imperative thing is to have the self-awareness to know how you work and the inquisitiveness to learn how they work, so you can learn how to work best together and how you can improve the relationship by managing up.
How to Manage Up
The concept of managing your manager can sound intimidating, but we promise it’s easier than you think. Once you identify what type of manager you have, you’ll be able to easily implement these managing up tips into your day-to-day in the workplace.
Know What Makes Your Boss Tick
The longer you work with your manager, the more you’ll learn about them and how they work. Once you have a better understanding of their work style, you can learn how to work best together. Learn things like their preferred communication style (i.e., email, in-person meeting, phone call, etc.) and how they spend their lunch break (i.e., work right through lunch vs. taking an hour to hit the gym). Understanding the intricacies of how your boss functions at work and accommodating their style as much as possible will be greatly appreciated by your manager because you’re making their life easier.
Anticipate Your Boss’s Needs
You know what your responsibilities are, and for the most part, you probably know what’s on your boss’s plate, too. Stay ahead of the curve by anticipating what your boss will need before they ask for it. Do you usually provide your boss with a report every week? Send it to them before they inquire about its status. Working on a project? Take the initiative to move it forward and provide your boss with more than they asked for by the deadline. By anticipating their needs, you’re taking something off their plate. Plus, you can show your boss how valuable you are.
Learn How to Communicate Effectively
There’s a vast difference between communicating and communicating effectively. If you say one thing and your manager thinks you mean something entirely different, the miscommunication can lead to big problems down the road. If your boss prefers to communicate via email, make sure you are as thorough and direct as possible when you’re corresponding. If you have to discuss an issue with a project, get ahead of the problem and tell your boss before it escalates. Even if you have to give your boss feedback, it will be better received when you’ve established open lines of communication and trust. Communicating clearly and concisely will ensure you and your boss are operating at the highest level of effectiveness.
Be a Genuine Source of Help
When you position and prove yourself as a valuable employee, you'll gain your boss's trust. Once you establish that trust, they'll seek your help when they need it. Your efforts to go above and beyond to be the best employee for your boss and your team will not go unnoticed.
Genuinely caring about being of service to others will pay off tenfold when it comes time for promotions and pay raises.
