I am spilling the tea on one of the most asked questions I hear from clients...
"How can I improve my relationship with my manager?" Have you ever felt like your manager was this fast moving object that you can't quite catch? If you are lucky, you have a great working relationship with your manager and you can anticipate their needs and finish their thoughts. I have been fortunate enough to have experienced both. The manager/employee relationship is no different from any other in the sense that you have to work at it and get to know one another. In my experience, the best way to do that is one INTENTIONAL conversation at a time.
Intentional? Yes! Here are a few tips that have helped me along the way:
1. Know their work habits-You should know if your manager is a morning person or if they do their best work in the afternoons. How do they prefer to communicate? Is it best to add yourself to their calendar if you need some time with them or, should you just "pop in" to meet with them? This is all-important information to get the most of your time with your busy manager.
2. Establish a regular 1:1-If you don't have a bi-weekly or monthly meeting with your direct manager, establish one right away. Help your manager to understand that this is YOUR time to get and provide updates, ask questions to remove obstacles, and receive feedback. If you do have these meetings, is there room to improve the quality of the time that you spend together? Be careful that these precious moments don’t become status updates.
3. Do what you say-This seems like common sense, and unfortunately, it’s not. We may sometimes agree to deadlines or projects that are not realistic or feasible. Not meeting a deadline or having mediocre outcomes will damage trust quickly. Don’t sign a check you can’t cash. If your manager is insistent that you meet a deadline that you don’t agree with…let them know what’s currently on your list and ask what should be prioritized. In the end, that will gain you more respect than inconsistent outcomes.
4. Know what’s important-Oh, this is a big one! There is nothing more frustrating for a team member to work on a project only to later learn that priorities have changed and their work is in vain. On the other side, it is frustrating for a manager to be deep into high impact work only to learn their employee is spending time designing a flyer for an event that’s not for months. This one is personal for me. Know what is important to the organization and to your leader. If your work is not in line with those things, check with your manager to make sure you are working on the right things.
5. Ask for feedback-If you are not sure where you stand on your performance or your deliverables in your role, you should ask. There is no need to wait for a performance review to get this information. Yes, feedback should be driven by your manager, but ultimately your professional development and growth is up to you.
What have you done to improve relationships with your managers? Remember, relationships are built one conversation at at time!
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