Having a good relationship with your manager is important. It will build your self-confidence and make you feel more involved with the company.
You can do a lot to create a good working relationship with your manager. Here are five ideas to help you.
- Learn What Matters To Your Manager
Do you know how your manager’s performance is reviewed by their manager? Without this information, you can’t be sure how to do a good job or make a good impression. This is why you should simply ask your manager about how their performance is measured. Then, you can make sure that your work helps to impress their manager.
- Tell Your Manager About Yourself
Make sure your manager understands you well. Tell them about your strengths, what motivates you and how you like to receive feedback or criticism. Always express yourself in a positive way. Tell them what you like rather than what you dislike.
The more you share with your manager, the more they are likely to share with you. This helps you to get to know one another so you can work together successfully.
- Stick To Agreements
Always be someone people can trust and rely on. If you make a promise, keep it. Act responsibly, avoid arriving late and be prepared for meetings.
There will be times when you have agreed to deliver something by a given date and discover there’s going to be a delay. Delays are normal and part of working life. But you must tell your manager as soon as you know you’re going to miss an agreed deadline.
The worst option is to do nothing and just hope things work out. If you keep your manager informed, they may at least be able to do something to reduce the effect of the delay.
- Avoid Nasty Surprises
Managers don’t like surprises, especially when things go wrong. When you give your manager bad news, they have to pass the bad news on to their manager. This isn’t what anyone wants to hear.
Bad surprises indicate a lack of control and communication. Whenever you discover a problem, let your manager know right away. If you notice small problems before they become big ones, either you or your manager may be able to do something to put things right.
- Manage Expectations
If you promise to deliver your manager ten options and you deliver eight instead, they will be frustrated. If you promise six and deliver eight, they’ll be impressed. One of the most effective ways to build trust with your manager is to deliver more than they were expecting.
Similarly, never put your manager in a position where they have to chase you for updates. This will lead to a bad working relationship. There are three ways to make sure this doesn’t happen:
- Keep your promises
- Ask, don’t guess the deadline
- Keep time on your side
Topic: Cool Confidence, Communication Power, The Leader In You, Sweet Teams Are Made Of This
