Manage Up: Take Charge of Your Own Growth
Tags: Personal Development, Management, Startup, Self Improvement, Programming

How Do You Manage Up Effectively?

Photo by the author.

The thought of managing up could be intimidating. How do you manage your own manager?

How about rephrasing it as “choosing to communicate effectively upwards”? Notice the word “choosing,” which makes us feel powerful through autonomy and a sense of control. So, next time the thought of managing up gives you the creeps, simply rephrase it as “choosing to communicate effectively upwards.”

The key to managing up is in the decision to act by taking charge of building your relationship with your manager, behaving in ways that build trust, aligning your priorities with their priorities, and doing work that shares their goals and mission. It requires opting out of the drama triangle and taking on the role of the creator instead of acting as the victim.

So, while we cannot change others, let’s do our best to influence them by practicing these seven strategies for managing up effectively.

1. Manage up to build trust

Spend time understanding your manager by learning about the challenges of their job, what motivates them, what keeps them occupied, what they care about, and what their priorities are. A simple way to gather this information is to simply ask.

You don’t need to approach it as a formal one-on-one or define a meeting agenda to learn this information about your manager. Use informal chats to inquire and gather this data on a regular basis, show curiosity, and ask questions. While talking to them, ask some of these questions:

Why is this important to you?

What are your top priorities?

What’s one thing that’s at the top of your mind?

What about this bothers you?

I am curious to learn about the challenges of your role. Would you be open to sharing some?

What about your work inspires you?

This information will enable you to establish a better line of communication with your manager by doing work that aligns with their goals, sharing your concerns in a manner that highlights a potential risk to their plan, and collaborating together to find better solutions to problems.

Managing up in this manner will build trust by enabling alignment on ideas and a desire to do better through openness to constructive conflicts.

2. Manage up to define success

We are so focussed on our individual goals that we fail to recognise what success as a team looks like. Without an understanding of what it means to succeed as a team, you may achieve your individual goals but still fail as a team.

By knowing the success criteria of your team, you can realise and contribute to opportunities beyond your own goals. Once you understand what success looks like, you can be part of that success by:

Negotiating and setting your own priorities.

Seeking clarity in your work.

Questioning the effectiveness of your work.

Identifying and taking on additional responsibilities.

Saying no to work that does not align with the success of your team.

Managing up by being part of your team’s success as opposed to focussing on your individual goals can supercharge your growth.

3. Manage up to get the support you need

Want more responsibility and autonomy? Be your own advocate and ask for it.

You may also need support to do your job better. Unless your manager is deeply involved in your day-to-day activities and takes time to connect with you outside work, it may not be possible for them to identify what kind of support you need.

If you do not take charge of your own effectiveness and efficiency at work, you will be limited in the outcome of your work and the impact it can generate.

So, take the lead to identify the support you need by discussing:

What prevents you from achieving your goals.

What you can do to overcome these obstacles.

How they can help.

Managing up by recognising your own needs and finding the best ways to fulfil those needs can make you effective in your job, enabling you to do more, better.

4. Manage up to make your work visible

Your manager may know your intent, but unless you show them the impact of your work, they may not realise the value you bring to the team.

Expecting your manager to pull updates from you can leave you at the mercy of their time and willingness to show interest in your work. By utilising a push model, you can provide them with necessary updates at the right time — including both good as well as bad news.

By keeping them in the loop on important issues, you not only build trust but also provide them with an opportunity to attend to issues before it’s too late.

Isn’t push more efficient than pull for both you and your manager?

By taking the initiative to showcase your work and seeking help on important issues, you can get your manager’s support to do more forward-looking work.

5. Manage up to help them see their blind spots

Most managers are oblivious of how others perceive them in the workplace and the impact their behaviour and actions have on others. These blind spots can make them take certain decisions or act in ways that are detrimental to the growth of the team.

By helping your manager see their blind spots, you can enable them to recognise and make changes in their way of working with others.

Be careful, though. While conveying the message is crucial, it should not be disrespectful. Your manager will engage in a constructive discussion as long as it doesn’t hurt their ego.

Let’s take an example. Instead of saying, “You micromanage,” try, “I think I am now ready to have less supervision and guidance on my work. I hope you can trust me to update you when there’s significant progress and reach out for any support I may need. Meeting multiple times during the day distracts me from my work and prevents me from making progress on my tasks. What do you think?”

The first message can make them defensive, while the second one allows them to think and reflect on the intent.

Managing up by sharing feedback is not only beneficial for the manager, but it can be highly useful for the team, which benefits from the changes that such feedback can provide.

6. Manage up to align on work preferences

Do you need to work from home on a specific day of the week, be home by a certain time in the evening to look after your child, or have any other work preferences?

If your manager does not ask about your work preferences, which they won’t in most cases, it’s your responsibility to communicate them.

Without keeping them apprised of your situation and how you plan to manage work, you can cause confusion, misalignment of expectations, and prevent them from helping you do your work effectively.

Openly discuss your work preferences and learn about your manager’s expectations.

Seek advice as opposed to being demanding.

Discuss how meetings can be organised for maximum participation.

Discuss how and when you will be available to your team members.

Discuss how you plan to manage other dependencies.

Your manager won’t anticipate your needs and cannot help you unless you talk to them about the subject. They may have work preferences too. So, remember to ask them about it and be flexible to agree on a common solution that works for both of you.

Managing up by being transparent about your specific needs can shift your mind to focus on the work as opposed to worrying about its implications.

7. Manage up to communicate effectively

Not knowing your manager’s preferred mode of communication for different kinds of issues can be highly ineffective for the team. You may end up sending an email for an urgent issue without knowing that your manager only checks their email twice a day or send them a text update on information that’s best conveyed through email.

By using the preferred mode of communication, you can get their attention on the right things at the right time.

Managing up by learning your manager’s preferences and aligning on communication guidelines can help you to be highly productive by utilising the right channels to communicate and get the desired attention.

Imagine a team in which everyone communicates upwards effectively and makes an effort to take charge of their own growth. You can be the one to bring about this change in your team. Make the choice now.