This checklist is for those who wish, or need, to manage the relationship with their boss more effectively.
The relationship a manager has with his/her boss is of fundamental importance to their ability to perform and develop well within their role. This relationship needs to be planned and developed. It is not simply a case of being pleasant or getting along well together--it has to be a conscious act. Essentially then, what you are managing is the relationship--not the individual.
Management Standards
This checklist has relevance for to the MSC National Occupational Standards for Management: Key Role C--Manage People.
Definition
A good working relationship between you and your boss should enable you to develop your skills, knowledge and career and combine:
* fairness
* mutual respect
* trust and rapport
* openness and honesty in communication.
Managing your boss is about constructing a relationship of mutual trust, respect and support. It means acknowledging who is boss but maintaining the freedom within this relationship to do the best for the organisation, the team and yourself.
The key word here is "manage"; it implies an active on-going process and not a one-off activity.
Advantages
There are great advantages to managing your relationship with your boss:
* it's the most important working relationship you have--make the most of it
* it creates a productive and communicative working relationship
* it ensures each of you knows what is possible and feasible, en route to achieving the results that matter to you both
* a good working relationship improves your self-esteem
* it aids your personal development
* it helps you overcome problems or conflict when they arise.
Disadvantages
There are no real disadvantages to managing the relationship, but there are disadvantages to not doing so. Fail to manage the relationship with your boss and it:
* can create a manipulative relationship where office politics or personal style dominates the way you and your boss work together
* can hinder open communication
* can make you lose self-esteem
* can make problems or conflict harder to solve
* can lead to feelings that you are on opposing sides--or at least not on exactly the same team.
Action checklist
1. Communicate properly...
...on time, in adequate detail and regularly; make sure formal communication works, but also ensure you simply talk and compare notes from time to time. Prevention is better than cure, and effective communication prevents a lot of misunderstandings and breakdowns in relationships.
2. Identify any blockages
Examine your current relationship with your boss. Identify where the blockages to a good working relationship lie--perhaps you have trouble communicating, or find it hard to express your own opinions or have discussions about workload. Identify what triggers these problems. Also think about parts of the relationship that work well. Build upon these and work on cutting problems in other areas.
3. Identify your boss's leadership style
It is important to be able to recognise the way, or ways, that your boss typically acts or behaves towards you. The following are typical leadership styles: bureaucratic, charismatic, dictatorial, consultative, laissez-faire, abdictatorial. A specific style or mix of them will require different approaches from you. Think too about your boss's `thinking' style. It's no surprise that we get on well with some people but others rub you up the wrong way. Try to figure out if your boss is one for the minutiae, for the `big picture', reactive or proactive, likes or hates change, is a right-brain or left-brain boss.
4. Identify your boss's key objectives and values
Think about what is important to your boss and work hard on these areas. The two main areas to pay attention to are:
* his/her objectives--what, in the eyes of your manager, are the key objectives and what support can you give towards achieving them?
* what personal values your boss holds dear--for instance customer care. Work on supporting these values and don't do things that are contrary to them. Be wary, however, of evidently self-interested values, such as personal status.
5. Clarify boundaries of responsibility
Sort out with your boss exactly what decisions you can make
* after discussion with your boss
* on your own but reporting to your boss afterwards
* on your own with no need to report.
Lack of clarity can be a major source of conflict and friction.
6. Tackle the simple issues
Look through the problems you have identified and decide which are the simple issues to solve. Can small administrative problems be solved by introducing a simple new system? Discuss minor sensitivities (e.g. opening the office window, working in silence or with background noise) with your boss and try to reach a compromise. But don't relay your mastery of trivia when your boss would expect you to deal with them as routine--don't waste time reporting unimportant successes.
Work overload is often a common cause of conflict. Don't take on work you can't manage--be honest but remember your manager's objectives and always suggest an alternative solution. Don't underestimate yourself or your point of view. If you don't have faith in your ability to do a good job and develop in your role, your boss certainly won't.
7. Tackle longer term issues with assertiveness
Some blockages can't be removed overnight. Concentrate on building up a stronger relationship with your boss. This means being assertive but not aggressive. Express your point of view, respect your boss's opinions and work to find mutually acceptable solutions to existing problems. This will improve the value of your relationship and help you to handle difficult situations more effectively in the future. Don't loop the system by going over your boss's head--however attractive this may seem. If you feel blocked, tackle the issues directly to avoid creating other problems later.
8. Focus on loyalty and support
Concentrate on supporting the weak spots in your boss's make up without making it too obvious you are doing so. Find out what parts of the business they enjoy and are good at, and those s/he doesn't like doing or perhaps doesn't have the skills to deal with. Make yourself indispensable. Show you are keen to learn skills which complement your boss's skills. Win their trust by achieving things they value. Together you can become a winning team.
9. Think about how other people see you
People can assume a lot about your abilities from the way you look or the way you present yourself. They may think a scruffy, sullen looking person is disorganised, bad at their job and generally unreliable. Look smart. Smile and act positive. Celebrate your successes. Make sure your manager knows when you have done well and that your success is theirs too.
10. Seize on opportunities
Keep your eye on the big picture and not just the task in hand. Don't use an overload of work as an excuse to avoid activities such as attending conferences or meeting senior directors. Weigh up the short-term disbenefits against the potential longer-term value for the organisation. Think about what these opportunities do for your development and what you could learn.
11. Communicate your agenda
There's no need to be abrasive, but a modicum of repetition may be useful in making sure that your agenda gets heard. This may relate to specific projects or on-going work but think about the bigger picture too. What do you want to learn? Where do you want your career to go? Instead of always playing your boss's tune, develop joint objectives.
12. Review issues and actions, and plan future development
Appraise issues which are important to you and discuss them with your manager. They are actually important to them too, because if you fail, your boss fails. Discuss problems before they get out of hand and have some ideas for solutions ready to talk through.
13. When relationships are genuinely difficult
Most of this checklist holds good if you have a boss who is a fairly reasonable human being. Sometimes you may be faced with a boss from hell. Three of the worst types of boss can be the bully, the sexually harassing boss, and the glory-stealing boss. It is not easy to deal with any of these although there is some protection from employment law to draw on with the first two. Take a look at the further reading for ways of dealing with the glory-stealer--there are techniques involving keeping records, collecting evidence and bypassing your boss.
14. Nip conflict in the bud
If conflict breaks out between you and your boss--handle it. Don't run away from it or tackle anger with anger.
15. Review the relationship
Sit down from time to time and ask "How are we doing?" Focus on the relationship so that you both know where things stand, and can work to improve and maintain the underlying relationship between you. If a conflict--or a particularly successful joint approach--has occurred, use it as a vehicle for reviewing the relationship and work out what to do again in future and what to do differently next time.
Dos and don'ts for managing your boss
Do
* Make the time and take the trouble to talk to each other.
* Form an alliance--understand your manager's objectives and values.
* Remind your boss (and yourself) that you are on the same side.
* Learn to support the weaker areas of your manager's style.
* Be wary of gimmicks like encouraging your boss to think your idea was his/hers.
* Appraise and review your current work, future goals and the relationship.
Don't
* Be passive--always doing what your manager wants and not putting forward your own viewpoint.
* Be aggressive--fighting fire with fire rarely works.
* Go over your boss's head if you can avoid it.
* Ignore problems and avoid discussing them.
Useful reading
Books
Thought starters
* Are you clear about your manager's objectives and values?
* Are you clear where your relationship is already good and bad?
* Are you assertive with your manager?
* Successful relationships are based on communication--how good are your communications with your manager, in terms of timeliness, frequency, quality and coverage?
* Have you "classified" your boss into a "category"?
Further Information
Checklists are available in the following formats:
* Individual checklists.
* A complete set of 195 on CD-ROM or in hard copy.
* Checklists with permission to photocopy.
Full details of the range of checklists available can be obtained from:
Lavis Marketing, 73 Lime Walk, Headington, Oxford, OX3 7AD Tel: 0845 702 3736 (local rate call) Fax: + 44 1865 750079 or from Checkpoint on the Chartered Management Institute's website at www.managers.org.uk
From The Entrepreneur
