Why “Managing Your Manager” is One of The Most Important Career Skills You Can Have

Whether you’re at a Big Four firm or a tiny startup, you have a boss (yes, even you sole contributors or independent consultants report to someone, even if they are a client). 

And these bosses hired you for a reason. Chances are, it’s to either take responsibilities off of their plates or to provide expertise that they don’t have. 

And while a good boss will hopefully manage you, provide you with coaching and mentorship, and be your biggest cheerleader, the “management” aspect of this relationship is a two-way street: While you rely on your managers for guidance, they rely on you to keep them informed and ensure they meet your project’s needs.

In this post, I outline some (of the many) ways you can “manage up,” or “manage your managers,” that will be extremely helpful not just for your bosses, but for building your own set of career skills. 

Tell Your Boss What They Need To Do

The initial thought is often “my boss will tell me what to do.”  And there is always some truth to that, especially early in careers. However, one of the biggest parts of managing up is telling your boss what you need them to do for you. 

A common example in accounting could be that your manager needs to review a certain work paper for an upcoming deadline. Or your boss needs to reach out to a client contact because the client has a question that you cannot answer. 

In each of these cases, you can’t just tell your boss what needs to be done and never bring it up again. They’ve probably added it to an already overstuffed to-do list, chalk full of all the other stuff they have to do on all their other projects (most of which don’t involve you). They’ll forget about your need and never do it, or find out about it after the deadline. 

With that in mind, it’s up to you to keep reminding your boss what you need them to do for you. 

They might not complete the task right away (it’s up to them to determine where that task falls on their priority list), but if you keep managing your bosses by reminding them of what is needed, you prove to them that you are reliable because you won’t let that task or project fall through the cracks.

And they’re now reassured that you have everything under control. 

Now, you have to use some degree of judgment of how often to remind your boss of a task (you don’t want to be a pest or annoying), so use your judgement based on your individual relationship with your boss to determine what’s appropriate (see below for some ideas).

Proactiveness is Key

Ask any manager, and they’ll likely say one of their biggest pet peeves is finding out about things last. Whether it’s a project status or (and especially) project issues, they want to know about them from their team before finding out about them from someone else. 

That’s where you come in. Being proactive is the very essence of managing up. Take initiative to give your boss a status update. Tell your boss about issues early, even if you’ve already solved the problem, so they have a head’s up before they find out about it from someone else (worst case being from a client). 

If your boss knows you are proactive, they can rest assured that you’ll tell them what they need to know before they need to know it. This reassurance will allow them to dedicate their limited capacity elsewhere and not have to worry about your projects, thus removing a huge burden from their plates.

Adapting Communications to Manager’s Preference

A couple weeks ago, I posted about being adaptable in communication styles, focusing mostly on dealing with other departments, clients, or outside parties. 

The same rules apply to your boss, where I encourage you to figure out their preferred communication methods to foster a more effective relationship.

Maybe your boss is in meetings all day and prefers email summaries to open or close their workdays. Maybe they prefer hearing everything face to face either in-person or over zoom. Some bosses prefer to meet with employees daily, while others, just weekly.

Figure out what their preferences are and adapt to them. If you happen to have suggestions to improve those preferences (or they differ from your preferred communication styles), don’t be afraid to mention your ideas or preferences to your boss, and you two can determine the best style that meets both of your needs.

Getting aligned on preferred communication styles and cadences usually leads to a much more pleasant and effective boss-employee relationship.

Why Does Managing Up Matter?

Your boss is busy, and they have responsibilities beyond what you are working on. And if you’re in client services, they likely have entirely different clients and projects that you don’t even know about. 

And while in a perfect world, we would be the center of our boss’ attention, it’s never the case. So with that in mind, the less brain space your manager needs to dedicate to you, the better. 

That’s why managing up is so important. If they know you are keeping them informed of project statuses, deadlines, issues, and what they need to do, they can minimize thinking about your projects and focus on other tasks. 

And while it may seem counterintuitive, the less your boss has to think about you, the better it is for you. It means you are clearly demonstrating the ability to take ownership and accountability of your work, which is every manager’s dream. 

Usually, managers are stuck thinking about their “problem” employees and worrying about what unforeseen issue might come from these individuals. So if your boss isn’t thinking about you or our projects, you’re proving your value and worth to both them and your company.

Lastly, managing up also enhances your ability to speak to higher level employees or executives. At some point in your career, you may report directly to a CFO or a CEO, where “managing up” means managing your organization’s leaders. Starting your “managing up” journey earlier in your careers helps makes these conversations much easier later in your careers.

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A quick note: This is expanding on a guest post I wrote for Beyond Discovery Coaching last year. I highly encourage you to check out Nadia’s content!