Want to make your work life a whole lot easier and more fun? Then learn how to get along better with your boss. Don’t worry this isn’t about becoming a brown-noser or suck-up. It is about understanding what your manager really wants from you and how to work with them more effectively. How? By using the same skills you would with a customer!
Here are some tips and thoughts inspired by Allison Green’s blog, The Fast Track.
Be clear on what your boss wants you to do. By paraphrasing what they have just asked of you. For example, with a customer you might summarize a conversation before springing into action ‘O.K., you need a pair of silver shoes, in a size 8, with a medium heel for your daughter’s wedding next week’. Use that same technique to avoid misunderstandings with your boss. Use your own words to clarify both requested actions and time-frames. ‘You need me to reset the sales floor and place the signs for the event next week before 4:00 today.’
Figure out what is important to your boss (Hint, it may be different than you think!) – For a glimpse into your boss’ brain use your active listening for what your manager seems worried about, pay attention to the questions they ask to follow their train of thought. Anticipate their needs, if there is a task your boss regularly asks you to do….do it before they ask you to. A sure way to your boss’ heart is to make their job easier by being a person they can count on.
Share your good ideas. If you see that something could be done better, don’t grumble about it, speak up! You can say ‘I’ve been thinking about the way we do _______ I think it could be more efficient and easier if we did X instead. What do you think?’
If you mess up – fess up! We all make mistakes occasionally, if you know you’ve made a blunder don’t ignore it, pretend it never happened or even worse try to cover it up. By confessing what happened right away and helping to come up with a solution, you’ll save everyone involved a lot of trouble. People will see you as honest and a problem solver instead of a trouble maker that they have to keep an eye on.
Use the communication style your boss prefers. If you send your boss detailed emails but they prefer to talk face to face, guess what, they aren’t going to bother to read the notes you’ve painstakingly laid out. Likewise if your boss likes to check on your progress via email don’t pester them by continually showing up in their doorway unannounced.
Don’t get defensive or take feedback personally. You don’t have to agree with everything they say, but be sure to discuss your difference in opinion calmly and be sure to keep your emotions out of it. It may help to remember that you are not on trial; you and your boss are part of the same team. Even if in the end your boss sticks with her original opinion, keep your fragile ego out of it, don’t pout, and take it like a grown-up. Nobody wins ‘em all.
Keep in mind that your boss is human too. Just like you, your boss sometimes has crabby days, feels insecure, upset or has stress in their work or personal life, and just like you, they appreciate being told when they are doing a good job. Show them the same compassion you would anyone else.