The Art of Managing Up

5/24/2018 The Art of Managing Up

1/3

21 Defense AT&L: March-April 2007

Turk is an independent management consultant. He is a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and defense contractor. He has supported information

technology projects, policy development and strategic planning projects for DoD, other federal agencies, and non-profit organizations. He is a frequent

contributor to Defense AT&L.

M A N A G E M E N T

The Art of Managing UpWayne Turk

About 45 years ago, a satirical play (later a movie)

calledHow to Succeed in Business Without Re-ally Trying opened on Broadway. It offered amethod of moving up in the executive suite thatincluded a little murder and a lot of mishap.

There are better ways (even if you do have a boss youvefantasized about murdering). One of those methods ismanaging up. According to Thomas Zuber and Erika James,managing up is the process of consciously working withyour boss to obtain the best possible results for you, yourboss, and your organization. This is not political maneu-vering or kissing up. Rather, it is a deliberate effort to bringunderstanding and cooperation to a relationship between

individuals who often have different perspectives.

Management or Manipulation?Managing up or managing the boss sounds good in the-ory, but isnt it just another term for manipulating theboss or being the bosss toady? No! Managing the boss isa way to have a win-win-win situation where everyone,including the organization and project, wins. Failure tomanage the boss can result in misunderstandings aboutexpectations and cause wasted time and effort on tasksnot in line with organizational goals or the projects needs.And looking at it from a purely self-serving perspective,

career progress rarely happens if you dont manage yourboss successfully.

Team member, project manager, or program manageryou have a boss, or in most cases, multiple bosses. Youhave to worry about those bosses and their needs. Hav-ing more than one boss makes work more difficult be-cause you have to consider the needs or preferences ofeach of them. But its still doable.

If you are a manager at any level, you have to think aboutmanaging both up and down. Some managers pay at-

tention to managing either their own bosses or those peo-ple who report to them. It is the managers who only man-age up who give managing the boss a less-than-stellarreputation. They appear to be the suck-ups or toadies;subordinates assume they dont care about them andmay withhold their respect or slack off in their work. Onthe other hand, the ones who only manage down cantadvocate for their team or gain buy-ins for the projectsendeavors from those up the chain. Successful managers

pay attention to managing both directions and commu-nicating with their peers.

In this article, I will deal with managing up. If you are cu-rious about successfully managing down, see 10 Rulesfor Success as a Manager (Defense AT&L, August-Sep-tember 2004).

Guidelines for Managing UpCommunicate. And make sure the communication is two-way. Most of the guidelines in this article are related tocommunication. Good communications skills are the basisfor being able to succeed in almost every situation. Com-munication with the boss can be verbal or written. Somebosses are readers, meaning they prefer to receive infor-mation in written form. Others are listeners, meaningthey prefer to get their information verbally. In DoD, get-


2/3

ting information to your boss may be a briefing from youto him (and others). Listeners need to hear the informa-tion first, then they can consume a written version. Read-ers want the story on paper first so that they have sometime to digest and understand the issue before meetingto discuss it. If you want your ideas to be heard, under-stood, and acted upon, make it easy for your boss bycommunicating in the manner with which he is most

comfortable. Youll be meeting your bosss needs as wellas your own. But make sure that the communication istwo-way. You have to understand the bosss wants anddecisions. Listen and ask questions if you arent sure.Then it is a good idea to feed it back to confirm that yougot it right.

No surprisesdont surprise the boss. Even good sur-prises can backfire on you. Most readers can cite exam-ples of bringing the boss what they thought was goodnews, only to find out later that it that it wasnt so goodafter all. Let her know what is happening with the pro-

ject on a regular basis so that she can brief her boss. Itmay be a quick meeting in her office; a daily, weekly, ormonthly e-mail; or some other exchange. Full-blown in-terim progress reports (formal meetings to discuss theproject status) on a regular schedule can help make surethat neither of you is surprised.

Provide solutions, not problems. There are going to beproblems with your project. Every project has them. Butwhen you let your boss know about those problems, givehim your proposed solution(s). That shows him that youhave thought the situations through. There are supervi-

sors who seem to want to hear only good news; they dontwant to hear about problems. Those bosses represent aparticular challenge. It is up to you to help your boss faceproblems head on with courage and innovation. For thegood of the project and the organization, you must com-municate problems and failures with the successes, butdo so delicately and appropriately. Thats when provid-ing him proposed solutions to the problems can reallypay off.

Be honest and trustworthy. Dishonesty, covering up prob-lems or failures, and trying to sweep things under the rug

will only hurt you and the project in the long run. Thetruth will come out eventually. Bad news doesnt get anybetter with age. A key element in managing your boss isbuilding trust by being trustworthy. Most people are de-pendable, hardworking, and have a desire to do a goodjob, but because of misunderstandings or mismatchedpriorities, some end up inappropriately labeled as prob-lem children. To avoid that label, maintain your honestyand dependability. One way of doing this is honoringcommitments, project schedules, constraints, and sus-penses. The best way is just honest and forthright com-munication.

Defense AT&L: March-April 2007 22

Be loyal and committed. Shes your boss and you oweher your loyalty and commitment, and she owes you hersupport. If you dont do your part, chances are that shewont do hers. And thats bad for you and the project.

Understand your bosss perspective and agenda. Thatway, you can align your priorities with your bosss prior-ities. Put yourself in his shoes. While many people think

that they have an understanding of their bosss goals andpressures, they dont always understand the strengths,weaknesses, aspirations, and work styles of their super-visors, or the pressures and constraints on them. Exploringthese will help you identify commonalities you neverknew existed and gain a little insight on how to better in-teract effectively with your boss.

Understand your bosss preferences and try to conformto them. If she wants a daily report on what has been ac-complished, give it to her. If she wants the big picture andnot the details, give it to her that way. If she wants some-

thing in a specific format, give it to her. That doesnt meanthat you cant try to show her a better way, but remem-ber to use tact and diplomacy. If you get crosswise withyour boss, even over something minor, you may neverbe able to undo the damage.

One of the worst mistakes you can make is to assumeyou know what your boss expects. Many bosses dontspell out their expectations, and the burden of discoveryfalls to you. If he doesnt give you the information thatyou need, initiate one or a series of informal discussionson our objectives. This can help your boss clarify and

communicate his ideas, plans, and needs to you; and itgives you the chance to communicate your own ideas aswell. Together, set realistic expectations that you bothagree on. They include expectations on schedule, costs,and the final product. The emphasis is on realistic. Dontset expectations too high or you will ruin your credibilitywhen they are not met. Dont intentionally set them low.That wont help you either.

Understand your own management style and take re-sponsibility for its effect on others. Developing an effec-tive working relationship with your boss requires that you

understand yourself and your management style. Rec-ognize your own strengths, weaknesses, goals, and per-sonal needs; how you respond to being managed; andhow others respond to you. Be aware of the effect thatyou have on others and their reaction to you, especiallythose under you. If you dont, you could be in for a sur-prise when you meet with the boss, especially at appraisaltime. She probably talks with some of your people andhas an idea of their reactions to you.

Depend on your bosss strengths and use them. You needto determine his strengths. Whether those strengths are

communication, seeing the big picture, resource man-


3/3

agement, new ideas, or something else, go to your boss

for his expertise. Get him to use his particular skills forthe project. Remember, though, that time is a preciouscommodity for most managers. Effectively managingyour boss requires that you respect his time. Every re-quest made of the boss uses up his time and resources,so make sure your requests are necessary. Use hisstrengths, but if you can do it yourself, dont waste histime.

Recognize your bosss weaknesses and compensate forthem. She is not going to be good at everything. It is upto you to figure out where shes weak and provide your

support in those areas. You might just want to intention-ally try doing something to make life easier for your boss.Maybe you can build the slides for her briefings, track thefinances, monitor the schedule, or provide the supportthat she needs in some area. Perhaps your boss will spendthat extra time or effort that you saved her to advocatefor your projects needs.

Be aware of your managers hot buttons and pet peeves.Is it being late to meetings or not contributing, sloppymemos or e-mails, swearing, a loud radio? Sounds obvi-ous, but whatever they are, consider them land mines to

be avoided. Ignoring them (or not understanding them)can sour your relationship with the boss. And that canmean an unsuccessful project because you didnt get thesupport that you neededor worst case, it can be careersuicide for you.

Request feedbackand learn to accept it. Request peri-odic feedback if you arent getting it. Dont wait for theannual appraisal to find out the bosss opinion of you andyour work. If you get bad feedback, discuss your con-cerns, but do it on a mature level, not emotionally or con-frontationally. As in a marriage, the best approach is non-

adversarial. Listen to what he says and try to act on it.

23 Defense AT&L: March-April 2007

The author welcomes comments and questions. Con-

tact him at [email protected] or wayne.turk@

sussconsulting.com.

Dont go over the bosss head or behind her back. Thatis not the way to manage up and can permanently ruinthe relationship with the boss. Go to her first. If it is some-thing very serious and she does nothing, you might haveto go over her head. In some cases she may be the seri-ous problem and you cant confront her. But going overher head should be a last resort only if: Your project is on the line, and there is an urgent prob-

lem that your manager continues to ignore Your boss is doing something illegal Your boss has a serious physical illness, mental illness,

or substance abuse problem that you are aware of Your boss is doing something (e.g., sexual harassment

or contracting irregularities) that could lead to a lawsuitand/or bad publicity.

In such cases, be very careful to keep the informationhighly confidential, discussing it with only anyone whoneeds to know. Document your conversation with thatperson in an e-mail or memo for the record, and save a

copy for yourself. And always remember to tread care-fully. You could be mistaken.

Managing Up: An Essential Tool[Managing up] sounds simple, but managers, and every-one else, need to learn this basic concept, says RichardL. Knowdell, author ofBuilding a Career Development Pro-gram: Nine Steps for Effective Implementation. If we wantsomeone to understand what we have to say, we mustlearn to speak their language, rather than expect them tolearn ours. By learning your bosss language you canaccomplish what you need, help the boss succeed, and

make the project and the organization a success.

Adam Khan says in Self Help Stuff That Works, that theway to manage up is to treat your boss like your liegelord. He says that by making that your attitude, it changesthe whole environment. Your attitude toward a personcreates that person. Interact with someone with a chipon your shoulder and the person will usually respond de-fensively. Approach someone with friendliness and co-operation and the person is likely to respond in kind. Weplay a part in creating the way someone treats us. Ex-cellent advice.

Too many people perceive that managing up is brown-nosing or trying to curry favor with the boss. They con-sider it manipulative. But its not. Being rebellious or ad-versarial, or stonewalling the boss wont get you or yourproject anywhere. Managing up is one of the tools to en-gender success.

Documents

The Art of Managing Up