Member-only story
The Art of Managing Up: Making an Impact in Your New Job
Strategies and behaviors to effectively manage Your manager
As you start a new job, it’s natural to want to make an impact as soon as possible. However, this can be challenging when you have to navigate the dynamics of managing up. Managing up involves effectively managing your manager to ensure you do your best work and get the recognition you deserve.
In this blog post, I will share some essential behaviors and tactics to manage up successfully.
Over-communicate
To manage up effectively, consistent communication is key. Start by sending a weekly “State of Me” email to your boss. This email should include things they can help you with, your current priorities, and things on your mind.
Over-communicating enables your manager to have a clear understanding of what you are doing and how they can help you.
Set expectations
When taking on work, set realistic expectations around time, resources needed, and quality. This ensures that your performance is judged based on how it compares to your manager’s expectations. Be ambitious, but also be realistic.
For instance, if you’re assigned a new project with a tight deadline, you might discuss the resources needed to complete it and suggest a more feasible timeline that ensures high-quality work.
Share the trade-offs
When your manager asks you to make changes to a plan, be transparent about the trade-offs. Explain what will suffer, what will benefit, and what you recommend.
For example, if your manager requests that you complete a project by a certain date, but you know that the quality of the work will suffer as a result, you might explain the risks involved and propose an alternative timeline or approach.
Partnering with your manager to make the best decision is critical. Being transparent about trade-offs helps build trust, and your manager is more likely to trust you with more significant responsibilities.
