4 tips to win over your boss and live better. Trust in the chain of command prevents leaders from hearing the truth. Your input could help your boss see himself as others in the company see him , and help make critical adjustments to his behavior.
A good manager spends much of their time and energy trying to understand the people on their team, for example, offering them the kind of support they need, and helping them develop their full potential. In the same way, a good team member should try to understand their leader, as well as discover how to get the best out of them. This “bottom-up” management will help to strengthen the professional’s relationship with his boss on a day-to-day basis, and to create mutual trust.
We offer you 4 tips to win over your boss:
Find out what their motivations
Finding out what motivates your manager will go a long way in building a successful and lasting working relationship with them. How you prefer to communicate, how you like to receive feedback or what annoys or irritates you…
Adapt your own behavior to your work style to make your life a little easier. In this way, you will benefit from a more positive relationship, your efforts will be appreciated and the daily work will flow much better.
“Sometimes we report more than one person. In these cases, it is important to understand how each of them works to get the best out of their individual management and your own work. If you manage to manage these professional relationships successfully, everything will be easier for you”. By knowing their motivation and paying attention to their behavior, you will understand what levels and methods of communication they prefer to use.
Stay ahead: keep them up to date
Again, part of your job is to make your boss’s job easier . Increase the visibility of your projects and tasks, even more so if you are teleworking. It’s not about filling your inbox with constant messages and updates (what we’d call reverse micromanagement).
“ By keeping your boss informed of the progress you have made in your work, he will not feel the need to constantly ask you about the status of each project. This way you will show responsibility and initiative, and you will free him from one thing to worry about, being able to invest that valuable time in matters that add more value to you and your teammates ”.
Build trust through your actions
Building trust is essentially based on integrity.
“No one is perfect all the time and there are many things that are beyond our control, but something as simple as ‘doing what you say you are going to do’ is one of the things that team managers value most, as there are professionals who they promise to carry out or manage issue X and then they don’t fulfill it” .
By turning in your work on time, being realistic about what you can accomplish, keeping your promises, and making yourself available to help with additional projects, you will show your manager that you can do your job independently and that you don’t need to be ‘micromanaged’. Micromanagement is frequently the result of a boss’s misunderstanding of her/his team or of some of its members; the conviction that they will not carry out their work without their control or help.
Find the right time and place to offer your feedback
Your boss does not have the ability to read your thoughts. If you don’t agree with a decision he’s making or have a suggestion on how something could be improved, it’s up to you to speak up. Do not let it seem that you are complaining, on the contrary, look for the right time and place to express your opinion, but always with respect and in a constructive tone. By doing so, you show that you are involved and care about your work, your team and your organization. A good manager will respect and value alternative points of view.
Conclusion: Good communication can bring great results and job changes.