Manage Up

How to manage your manager and work with them more effectively.

The What

As your career progresses, you will collaborate with team leaders, managers, senior managers, and executives. The most effective approach to engage with your manager is to communicate openly, address issues with solutions, and maintain regular check-ins.

The How

Deliver messages in a clear format

Avoid short messages that lack context, prefer simple and clear writing, set context, clarify assumptions, and share your rationales with the reasoning process.

Highlight: Recommendation, action item, or question

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Context: Bring a bit of background and your thought process

Identify potential issues and provide solutions

• Identify an issue -> Situation

• Clarify the impact -> Impact

• Recommend solutions with pros and cons -> Options

• Loop in your manager -> Allow them to weigh in

Keep your manager in the loop

• Share things on your radar

• Clarify your focus area and provide the rationale behind your prioritisation

• Make sure they know the good, the bad, and the ugly

📜 Tips

• Over-communication until they tell you to dial it back

• Manage up to avoid micro-management

Refs

• 15 principles for managing up by Wes Kao