Guest Post
By: Corinne O'Connor

Whoa.  I know.  Telling your boss what to do!? Well believe me, if you want to forge a relationship with your manager that is built on trust and respect (not dictatorship and being assigned menial tasks) then take my advice.  When I first entered the work force fresh out of undergrad I had no idea what the term “managing up” meant.  Then at my first formal annual review, I heard that I hadn’t done enough of it.  What the hell is managing up? I thought I was the one being managed!  To put it bluntly, you must manage your manager.  This goes above and beyond grabbing them coffee and handling their schedule.  By following these 5 tips of effective managing up, you can enhance your working relationship with your superior and build credibility in your workplace.  These are in no order of importance.  In my opinion they are all equally imperative to increasing your effectiveness and efficiency:

1: Have the talk
It may seem scary to think about bursting into your boss’s office and demanding you be allowed to manage them.  It’s not exactly what I had in mind.  It’s more of a dialogue.  I remember first having the talk about how this managing up process would look to my boss.  Basically it came down to effectively managing my priorities for her but also helping her manage her priorities for the organization.  Helping her get things done is just as valuable as my getting my own work done.  You will find that the conversation you have about what managing up will look like in your specific context will give you great headway in forging a stronger relationship with your manager.  Managing up can really be equated to managing expectations; six one, half-dozen the other.  Just as your manager expresses what is expected of you, it is also important to express what is expected of them.  Having this talk up front will be very beneficial.

2: Set aligned goals
A kin to setting like priorities, the goals of your manager and you should be aligned with the organization’s goals, as well as your own personal development goals.  It is increasingly important to engage in ongoing feedback.  This feedback process should be paramount when setting your goals for the quarter, the year, or a project.  After several iterations of doing this, you will see that your work, and your relationship with your boss will become flawless, like a well-oiled machine.

3: Create value for your manager
In the ever-changing world of business, it is increasingly important to remind your organization of the value you create for them in working there.  It is also important to show your manager specifically the value you create for him or her.  But, it’s not enough to remind them.  You must actually do it – create value every day.  This will enhance your marketability, your skill set, and your resume.  Taking on new projects, tasks, and workload can always be beneficial to you.  Also, keeping yourself challenged will alleviate boredom in the workplace.  This boredom often leads to complacency.  Complacency is the antithesis of creative value.  Don’t let that happen to you.

4: Ask questions, plenty of questions
When you ask questions, you get answers.  If you begin an activity by asking questions, and gathering information, you will obtain and retail this information upfront.  This will decrease mistakes down the road, and will also decrease requests for extensions on deadlines, or revisiting instructions.  Having to repeat oneself is inefficient.  A manager would much rather spend time on their work than repeating instructions for a project you should be done with. Important Disclaimer: Ask meaningful directed questions and be an active listener.  It’s not about building a rapport or being conversational, it’s about acquiring information.  You will see that this essential task will help you in the long run.

5: Reinforce the fact that your priorities are their priorities
Work.  The Real World.  The Daily Grind.  There are many different monikers the day-to-day routine fall under.  What makes the daily routine much less routine, and much more fun is knowing that you’re challenging yourself and being appreciated.  Even if your relationship with your manager is not the best one (could be personality conflicts, could be different working styles…), the work must get done.  At the end of the day the tasks at hand will not complete themselves.  Effective managing involves working collaboratively.  Aligning priorities is a must if the goal is to better oneself and the organization.  Aligning priorities is also a must if, let’s be honest, you don’t want to be on a wild goose chase all day, every day.
 
At the heart of the matter, it’s all about building effective relationships so that your professional development will be of use to you in the future.  Building strong ties and close connections to your manager is essential in securing your development as a member of any organization.  Managing Up is a very important tool in increasing your efficiency and effectiveness – and for increasing your value to your employer.

* Corinne O'Connor is currently finishing her MBA in General Management Marketing at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. To connect feel free to email her or stalk her via the usual channels-- Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter.