In an ideal world, managers would manage, meaning they would lead employees to complete what needed to be completed for a business. However, as we all know, this often is not how work life plays out.
In some cases, that’s because a manager doesn’t know how to do the work of those they supervise. Or they may know a version of that work dating back a few decades, but don’t know how the work is done today with modern computer and artificial intelligence technology and social media marketing.
In other cases, the boss does know how to do everything those they supervise do, but their work style is chaotic and unrealistic, with unattainable goals and due dates, so the employees they manage find themselves spending a lot of time negotiating with the manager to “right-size” their assignments and department goals.
Over the course of my career, when I had to “manage up” my boss, I thought of it as an organizational failing and something I should hide.
However, an article I saw last week in HR Brew by Mikaela Cohen notes that employees who manage up are doing something that is good for the organization, so it should be encouraged.
Managing Up Creates More Successful Employees
“…Managing up…is about creating the conditions you need to be successful, whether that’s negotiating your workload, giving feedback and having it be heard, advocating for the resources you need or the advancement you want. It’s something you should do for your own benefit,” Cohen quotes Melody Wilding, author of “Managing Up: How to Get What You Need from the People in Charge,” as advising.
The alternative to NOT managing up is an employee who stays quiet, agreeing to the details and parameters of every assignment and new work protocol, no matter how unrealistic, impractical, or damaging to their work-life balance.
For example, I had to manage up a now-retired boss more than a decade ago who was surprised that I was not checking work e-mail on the weekend. I explained that I typically don’t check work e-mails on the weekend, and that if necessary, I would rather put in an extra hour or two on a workday rather than give up personal time on the weekend. I had gained a reputation as a person who always delivered on her work, putting in extra time whenever necessary during the week, so the issue was dropped.
In another instance, I had a manager who, despite countless spreadsheets, had a chaotic work style. She constantly tore up plans and work at the last minute so assignments that were not time sensitive could be accommodated. I would joke to myself, “What? Are you breaking Watergate here? What’s so important and urgent?”
I started letting her know in advance what the deadline structure was for the work I managed, and, for the most part, was respected—with some push-back. The alternative would have required me to live with anger and frustration and deliver work that was rushed at the last minute for no reason, lowering the quality of our product.
What Can Trainers and HR Managers Do?
When an employee is first promoted into a managerial role or promoted to a higher level of management, they should have a meeting with the person who will be their boss, in addition to a trainer or Human Resources (HR) professional. The people the newly promoted employee will manage also should be part of the meeting.
The manager of the newly promoted employee should ask the people who will be managed by the promoted employee to describe their work routines, including any idiosyncrasies of how the work gets done.
The promoted employee’s manager then can see how the promoted employee responds. Is there immediate push-back and dismay? Is there immediate commentary about an alternate way of doing things? If so, that’s when a trainer or HR specialist could come into play.
They could help the promoted employee and those they will supervise figure out how they will go forward in a way that allows the employees to continue working productively and in peace. The trainer or HR specialist, in other words, would be helping the employees with a new boss manage up. They would be facilitating a conversation that elicits from employees what they want and need from their new boss, and which ideas from their new boss may not work, or will come at a steep work-life balance cost.
Do you train, expect, or at least tolerate, employees who manage up? How do you prepare employees to manage up when necessary?