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How do you Manage Up?

Hulda112·Aug 11, 2021

Posted in:Advice Management and Leadership Career Growth

If I got a penny for all the times I've been told to 'just manage up', I'd probably be in a position where I didn't need to. But since I am, I'd love to hear success stories on how YOU have managed up. Everyone loves to give this advice but they never tell you how.

emilybond·Aug 11, 2021

Hi Hulda112I am curious about what situations bring on the advice to "Manage up"?Do you struggle to gain influence on an important topic or struggle to advocate for yourself (for many women it can feel like bragging) or something else entirely?There is a great book by Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith called How Women Rise. It speaks to the 12 habits that hold us back from being promoted, taking on bigger roles and generally advocating for ourselves. It's often deeply rooted in our belief systems and systemic biases. She offers some great advice for how to break free.

Ruthe72·Aug 11, 2021

It will always be easier said than done. I think is the concept we should accept first when managing upward. Lay out your expectations and check if its realistic. I feel, questions like this, only you alone could answer. I hope you might find these questions below as a guide on how you can move forward. - can you speak comfortably with your boss? - what can you and cant tolerate?- how’s your privilege, do you have an option to quit if it turns out to bad? - are you willing to adjust to your boss’ wants and needs- what are you expecting as an outcome? Do you think its realistic? Best of luck! Feel free to DM if you want to talk more about it :)

eliciatedrow·Aug 11, 2021

My first mentor and manager told me to "manage up" and that it was one of the most valuable skills to develop. I don't know the context here, but this is what helped me in that situation: 1. Send a weekly status report or use a project/task management tool so no priorities are missed and we're all on the same page.2. Do a weekly or monthly check-in to talk about career goals and company/project goals. If my manager missed a meeting, which happened, I made sure to get it rescheduled. It's also nice to be prepared with an agenda or just bullet points that you would like to discuss and leave the meeting with next steps or action items.3. If I had questions about a project that I couldn't answer on my own, I'd ask to schedule a time to answer those questions or I'd send an email with all the questions at once, so it's mindful of their time and your own. Most of it was just communication and being organized and proactive. I was lucky because my manager was very open to communication. Managers are just people that probably have a lot going on in their professional and personal lives, like everyone else. They forget things, have off days, etc. A great manager might have these bases covered, but managing up is kind of like saying - how can I help? It's also good prep for moving into management/ senior roles.

DanaZellers·Aug 13, 2021

Managing up is a tricky combination of understanding what your manager might need and making sure you and your team deliver. But almost more importantly making sure your manager has a real sense of what's going on with your workload. Having regular standing meetings is definitely a good start. Getting on the same page as far as objectives, priorities, and workload is key. And lucky for you those managing skills will never not be needed so it's a good investment. I did a recent quick video on managing up, that you might find helpful: https://youtu.be/HA3PT7y9r0EPlease feel free to reach out if you want to talk more specifically.