If
you work outside the home, you know the importance of getting along with the
boss. Perhaps next to the nature of the work itself, nothing so much determines
how much you like your job – and how well you do – as whether you and the boss
see each other as chums or bums.
All other considerations aside, since you may spend more time with your boss than you do with the family, the relationship had better be a good one, for the sake of sanity above.
In business schools and among human relations experts, the subject of how to deal with the boss is being studied and discussed. The area has become known as “Managing up”. Here are some tips from the experts on how to hone your boss-managing skills.
1.Talk to the Boss – Be willing to communicate. Ask dumb questions instead of making dumb mistakes. Volunteer information before the boss asks for it. Be candid even if it means relaying bad news. Managing up means having the moxie to speak up when the boss’s intentions aren’t clear. “Sitting and waiting produces the most stress and the least results. It’s a fact of life that the squeaky wheel gets the grease,” says Mary Ann Allison, a manager at Citicorp and Coauthor with her husband, Eric, of Managing up, Managing Down.
2.Know the Boss
You must possess highly sensitive social and psychological antennae. This means literally diagnosing your boss, finding out what his personality traits are and mapping out a common ground between his style and yours. Whatever their likes and dislikes maybe, humor them, says Dr. Darling.
3.Know Thyself - The smart subordinate recognizes his or her anger and backs off before boiling over. The biggest mistake is failing to know yourself and failing to recognize the emotional elements in a professional relationship.
4.Keep Personal Issues at Home
You have to separate how you feel about your life, about your family, your career, from the specific boss/employee relationship. You can get into awful trouble with your boss if you are defensive or angry about something that has nothing to do with work.
5.The Boss is Human
According to human relations experts, the reality mature subordinate understands - above all else - that bosses themselves are fallible, that they are concerned about their own performance and that they welcome all the support they can get from their staff.
Being predictable in performance is important, too. The successful employee delivers consistent results, not results that are brilliant one day and mediocre the next.
A neat appearance and a well-organized office also help build the image of a rising star.
Ultimately, the best argument in favor of managing up is that it makes life at the office less stressful, makes the boss trust you more and supervise you less, and offer the satisfaction of being appreciated by an authority figure.
All told, proper managing of the boss is probably going to be worth all the effort you put into it.
