Managing Up key takeaways

This post is simply a list of the key takeaways i got out of Harvard Business Reviews book Managing Up.

How does your boss like to communicate? Over email or in person? How regular and detailed should your updates be. Develop a sense of how much your boss likes to know. In general no boss likes to be surprised or seem ignorant of something she should know.

Voice support and well as disagreement. If you only speak up when you disagree you will curry less influence.

The essence of building trust is to negotiate what you both mean by “do the right thing”.

Ask clarifying questions. Do you both see the current situation the same way?

Managing expectations and getting on the same page. Do you agree on goals. A plan is critical. Do you have one. Have you reviewed it with your boss? Does it make clear what is to be done by whom when? Your boss should agree with your plan, ideally, she would have had a hand in creating them.

Do you negotiate expectations when you are given an assignment? Don’t let your relationship be one in which you simply accept whatever is passed down without discussion. If the expectations are unrealistic, you will have no one to blame but yourself when your team fails. Reach agreement on the results you are expected to produce, what will happen by when. What do you need from your boss, resources, support from other groups, relief from distracting responsibilities, clearer direction? Do this at the beginning, and update expectations periodically. Warn your boss of potential risks, and play out various scenarios of how you might handle them.

Do you see and understand your boss as a person? Do you know enough that you are able to see the world through his eyes? It’s important you have empathy for your boss.

Do you understand your boss as a manager? Your boss has goals, plans, and pressures, as well as managerial strengths and weaknesses, preferences, and foibles. Do you know them? What’s your boss on the line for? Whats her boss telling her to do? Do you know how your boss prefers to make decisions, and do you work within that pattern? Does he prefer lots of analysis and data? Does he need time to reach a conclusion? Does he want everyone’s opinion before deciding? If you must depart from these preferences, do you first negotiate explicitly what you will do?

Can you identify your bosses strengths and weaknesses then use that knowledge to do your job more effectively.

If most of your past bosses have frustrated you then you must be aware of these feelings so they don’t master you.

What are your bosses blind spots?

Where your needs and your bosses way of managing diverge, talk through the differences.

Have you discussed with your boss your own growth, development and aspirations.

Take responsibility for, and play an active role in, making it a partnership that benefits both of you. Avoid seeing yourself as a passive, powerless subordinate.

You will need to understand quickly and in detail exactly what you have been brought aboard to do, what key stakeholders you’ll need to please, what resources you can command, and how your performance in the job will be measured.

Ease into the relationship. Think incrementally. Pick only a few vital issues to cover early on.

Don’t share your bosses comments with others unless he asks you to and beware of carrying tales from your peers back to him. People won’t share information with you if you have loose lips.

A teams essential discipline includes these characteristics.

• A meaningful common purpose the team helps shape.
• Specific performance goals that flow from the common purpose.
• Strong commitment to how the work gets done, meaning well-defined process.

Build a better network using these steps

• Analyze — Identify the benefits each of your existing network connections now provides. Does one person give you valuable information?
• De-layer — Weed out connections that are not helping you, such as people who burn to much time.
• Diversify — Fill the fresh openings in your network with people who can deliver the additional benefits you and your team need to accomplish work.