Tag Archives: Manager

Mar28

Managing Up: How To Help Your Manager Help You

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Managing Up: How To Help Your Manager Help You

If you want to show the company that you are a team player and an outstanding employee, you have to learn to “manage up’. Now what does the term “managing up” mean? It means to help your manager meet their expectations and needs. It entails making your manager’s life easier. 

Now, you might be thinking: “I’ve already got a pretty heavy workload, why would I want to do that?” In basketball, every assist is crucial and appreciated in order for the whole team to score and win. If your career objective is to move up, you could do so by providing that much needed assistance and proving that you are, in fact, a true team player. Aside from showing the team that you can work well with others, it also shows that:

  • You are intuitive and can anticipate gaps in awareness

The ability to spot and cover/address blind spots is a unique and rare quality that employers always appreciate. While most employees would rather wait and see if management can identify holes and critical issues in the business because “that’s their job,” they would certainly appreciate someone who can tell them where to look.

  • You have foresight

This shows that you are prepared for any changes – a characteristic that comes in handy for disruptions that could upend business processes like, for example, a global pandemic. No business can be complete disaster or risk-proof, but it pays to have someone on the team who, to some extent, has the future of the business in mind.

  • You are reliable

If you bring problems to your manager’s attention (again, instead of waiting for them to catch it), they will know that you’re dependable and will most likely remember you for future projects.

Managing up helps you move forward in your career by providing a win-win situation for you, your boss, and the business. It also keeps you front and center for the biggest projects and gives you visibility over the best ones. Furthermore, it shows management that you have the leadership potential, and that gives you access to most learning and development opportunities down the line.

Managing up is not about sucking up to the boss. It is all about good relationship building – an important foundation of any harmonious environment. So, how do you build a good relationship with your boss? The key is to understand your boss’ goals, advocacies, challenges, and objectives. You do this by getting to know them and showing interest in their work. This might take some proactive work on your part as opportunities to get to know your boss’ human side might not always present themselves in the daily work setting. However, if you make the conscious decision to keep an eye out for relationship-building opportunities, you’ll easily find them. Watch out for: coaching sessions, opportunities to give and get feedback, catch-up calls, social events, team building activities, team lunches, etc.

We all are interested in tips for career development. What other relationship-building opportunities should we look out for? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

Jun7

Bosses Experience Burnout Too

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Bosses Experience Burnout Too

There’s a running joke among employees about reliving the same day over and over for over a year – a lot like groundhog’s day but in a pandemic setting. COVID – 19 has surely caused major disruptions in the way we live and elevated stress is one very clear sign of the times. 

With many people still working from home, the lines between personal time and time for work have become blurry. This is why a lot of remote workers feel overworked. But it’s not just the employees who feel this exhaustion, whole companies feel the dip too. With that, managers, bosses, and business owners feel burnout as well. Leaders have to make changes in order to improve the company’s resilience to stress and burnout. Bring back focus and clarity and avoid burnout with these 4 tips for managers:

1. Create a dialogue

Leaders should create an atmosphere where all parties feel comfortable speaking up about their challenges and experiences without judgment. Not only should managers provide a forum for employees to air their grievances but also a venue to share best practices, experiences, and triumphs as well. Good communication and respect for others will go a long way towards reducing burnout for both you and your employees.

2. Be specific

Make it easier for yourself and your employees to accomplish goals and hit deadlines by establishing clear processes, coherent instructions, and straightforward guidelines. Having clear instructions works well for both employee and employer. In case something falls through the cracks (as is bound to happen to even the best companies), both staff and/or manager will be able to catch it, flag it, and address it at any point in the process.

3. Let go

Let go of the command and control business model that defines old, traditional work styles. The future workplace should be more flexible and fluid. To enable that, leaders should advocate for autonomy and give their employees control over how to get work done. Employees who are given more autonomy over their work feel more trusted and are happier in the long run. Happy employees stay with the company for longer, saving the company a lot of resources. This is a huge contrast to companies with high turnover and attrition rates who need to constantly invest time and money in training new employees.

4. Minimize distractions

Sure, technology makes work easier. But sometimes, having a lot of tools available makes it harder for staff to focus. There’s getting over the learning curve, then having to choose which tools will be best for the job, then there’s tracking the tasks, and finally, there’s actually using the tools to do the task. Make it easier for everyone to do their work by using agile tools that can streamline employees’ work management processes, therefore eliminating a significant chunk of busywork. 

How about you? How do you, as a manager, prevent or minimize instances of stress and burnout in the workplace? We’d love to hear your tips. Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp