10 Rules To Manage Your Boss

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10 Rules To Manage Your Boss

• faster decisions, better decisions and more
  trust.

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Decisions if you dont want a no, give him/her a
hand.

• Remind where left it last meeting
• Remind the objective rather than the what and the
  how
• Remind past problems because no decision.
• Summarize options and your reasons for selecting
  your option
• Tell him/her what you expect from him

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Tell him what you expect

• Simply to inform
• To decide jointly
• To share the risk
• To add one criterion
• To re-examine the option
• Focus on the points where you need help
• Be prepared with backup data
• After your meeting, summarize in writing to make
  sure of the understanding
• Once decision is made do not criticise externally

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Manager his/her time

• You may represent only 1 of her problems dont
  make it as if it is 100
• The more simple the problem the less time you
  should need.
• Do not confuse more frequent problems with the
  most important ones.
• Book your manager for several meetings in advance
  so you dont have to wait

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3. An opinion If you ask for one, he/she will
always give you one.

• Once given, the opinion may become a constraint.
  Was it an order?
• Dont ask if you dont need.
• Choose the right moment to avoid procrastination.
• Prepare for your meetingfirst because the
  advantage is to the one who is prepared, second
  because thepreparation helps you reduce the time
  taken to come to the central issue.
• Show the forest before the trees in a discussion.
  If you want to avoid spending a lot of time on
  going back to basics before she is at full speed
  with you, start with the basics yourself. Remind
  her of the objective, where you stand today, and
  what you want her opinion on.

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4. Information It is not data

• Dont be the mailman passing the thick document
  of endless stats to the boss be visualgroup the
  data, bring out what is essential. Data overload
  creates stress, which creates denial, rejection,
  and numbness.
• As a manager, you are paid to collect grapes and
  turn them into wine (useful info)

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4. Information, grapes cont.

• Dont give only bad news. Give good news, too.
• Or, little by little, you become the bad news,
  too.
• Dont minimize the good news because you want to
  focus on the problems by doing that you
  contribute to creating a bad atmosphere.

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4. Grapes cont.

• Make sure he does not get the info from others
  too often we may not think it relevant
• Others, however could do it before you
• I heard thatWhy didnt you tell me that

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4. Grapes not souring cont.

• Trade off between info overload causeing boredom
  and restlessness or information starvation.
• Round off do you tell him 79.27 vs 21.73 or 80
  vs 20.
• Participate contribute to his informal network.
  Provide him with the extra that you believe would
  give greater understanding of the environment.

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5. Problems come with solutions

• Good bosses hate 2 kinds of behaviour the yes
  person who says everything they do is great and
  the pyromania who comes running in to say There
  is a huge problem..but dont worryI ll solve
  it!
• Third problem the monkey transferor.
• She has a problem and she puts it on your
  shoulders, rather than bring a solution

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6. Assumptions

• Please help, you are the expert.
• You spend all of your time and your team on the
  issue you live with the data, pressure points
  and levers, your boss does not.
• Most senior people dangerous when they get
  involved in making micro-decisions their point
  of reference is not the current one (outdated)

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Delegations test the waters

• Either you play it safe and always asks for
  her/his opinion lead to paralysis, bottlenecks
  and your own demise (boss will think you are
  unable to take responsibility)
• Or, you assume too much, take decisions and learn
  after the fact that it was not yours to decide.
• In between, there is the test the waters strategy.

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8. Promises

• Dont promise what you cant deliver.Trust is at
  stake
• Trust not develop overnight depends on the
  predictability of the other person
• In the same way, you will not fully trust your
  boss if she changes her mind too often or says
  things contrary to what you were told the last
  time.

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Promises cont

• Avoid being seen as unreliable by not delivering
  on what you promise
• If you think you are in too deep sit down and
  re-discuss priorities before proceeding. Involve
  your boss in the process, so it becomes a common
  priority

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9. Our differences

• People who like to control, introduce processes,
  develop more the now
• People who are more concerned with people,
  develop more the impact on people.
• People who are more concerned with getting things
  done, start with key actions
• People who are more concerned with ideas, frame
  proposals in concepts

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Know your boss..

• And try to present accordingly.

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10. Trust

• Dont be sloppy in your documentation. It
  undermines trust.
• Dont erode trust by not doing your homework,
  mistakes in spelling, grammar etc.

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11. Make your boss laugh

• Humour bonds!