Managing Up Will Make You Happier at Work. Here’s What It Looks Like.

Quite often, in a workplace, employees feel disillusioned when they fail to understand the expectations of the managers. This creates challenges for the team as a whole in the long term. This is where the idea of managing up comes into the picture.

This article delves into what is managing up, effective ways to manage up, and more.

So, let’s get started.

What is Manage Up or Manage Upwards?

In essence, managing up refers to understanding your manager’s habits, preferences, goals, and expectations and working in a way that helps them achieve the objectives. It means focusing on the tasks necessary for them and completing the assigned activities on time so that their goals are not hampered. In other words, managing up refers to changing your behaviors and practices at work in a way that is beneficial and works well for your managers and the organization as a whole.

Effective ways to manage up

While there are countless ways you could help your managers, some great ways to manage up include:

Be aware of workplace priorities

Sometimes you might have a wonderful idea to implement. However, the workplace situation may require the strategies suggested by one of the teammates to be executed. In such cases, you must emphasize workplace priorities and stall your ideas for the future. This indicates your regard and concern for the workplace’s betterment.

Be transparent with your manager

You must be clear to your manager about your goals and areas of interest. That way, managers can ensure that they assign and allocate the appropriate tasks and responsibilities to you, which help your growth, and enable them to coach you as well. This would be ideal for your career path and for the company itself. 

Be clear and concise in messages

Managers may be bombarded with lots of work every day, including meetings, emails to respond to, and more. In case you wish to convey something important to them, keep it simple and straight. Don’t write a three-paragraph email that wastes their time and increases ambiguity. Write clear, crisp, and concise emails stating your problem/concern in a few lines in simple language.

Conduct thorough research before presenting an idea

To present an idea to your manager, thoroughly research first. This will help you in case your manager has doubts or questions about the feasibility. You will have detailed answers and can address their concerns. That way, your manager could decide quickly whether the idea can be implemented.

Balance your conversations on work-life balance

Besides the professional areas, spend time with your managers discussing personal interests, as this would create a stronger and more positive relationship. An example is when you ask the manager about their work, you may also enquire about their family or how they spend the weekends.

Wrapping up

Managing up is a vital philosophy that any employee needs to be conversant with. Adopt the ways outlined in the article to effectively manage up and build a long-lasting professional relationship with your managers.

About the Author

BCjobs.ca is Western Canada’s largest job board, and host of “Innovators” a weekly podcast interviewing top recruiters in BC and across Canada. Check out our recent interview with Inga Jonsdottir, Engineering Manager at Wealthsimple (Podcast link) and DataDome’s Chief Marketing Officer, Aurelie Guerierri (Podcast link).

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