Never Make Your Boss Ask or Wonder What You are Doing!

If taking the Initiative is the most important aspect of Managing Up, this one is the most basic. If you are the boss and you have to wonder what a member of your team is doing, something is wrong. If your boss has to ask you what you are doing, something is missing.

Right off the top, this is an important issue when managing up. If your boss is wondering or asking what is happening or what you are doing, you have a problem. That is not the state of mind or the state of the relationship that is best for you, for the boss or the organization. The boss does not want to spend his or her time wondering – he or she has plenty to think about. Never make your boss wonder what you are doing! Don’t even make them ask. If they are asking, somewhere there is a lack of Initiative on your part to make sure they know.

Proactively communicate with your boss. As a boss, I appreciate this so much. Yours will too. And if you are communicating too much, you’ll sense it or they will tell you. Make sure the boss sees the value of your contributions, your leadership, your products, the productivity of your staff and the key relationships you bring to the organization. Never make them wonder.

Oh, one last point – if your boss has to think of and remind you of what you are supposed to be doing (your job), the boss is doing your job for you.

Next in Managing Up – manage expectations around deadlines.