5/02/2006
Manage Your Manager?
I’ve read several articles and books where individuals give tips on how to manage your manager. I found this interesting. Wrong, but interesting.Rule #1 in “Good” Management: You Do NOT manage other people, you manage your work.
This is what I think when I read these “tips” on managing your manager: It sucks that managers try to control their subordinates but hey, it’s okay for you to stoop to their level and control back. What? Are we in grade school here?
I have 3 words for you folks: Listen. Relax. Think.
Listen to what your manager is actually saying to you. They’re going nuts because they have a deadline to meet, right? Okay… so it’s not about you. Get over that. Relax. If you’ve worked with this individual long enough you know the shots they’re going to call. If you don’t yet know what those shots are, then pay attention and find out what they will be. Think. If you know how they operate and what they need, then be one step ahead of them and give them what they want! Then later on you can pat yourself on the back for being a hero.
Of course, this is provided the manager isn’t out to sabotage your career. But there are ways to get around your manager’s incompetence or negligence.
First: Put in writing any project or request you are required to do.
Second: Follow up on progress (1: So they don’t freak out and/or 2: So it gives them a clue as to what is going on).
Third: Deliver what you promise!
This is you managing your work. You cannot control other people. You can only be responsible for how you react in certain situations. So be in control of that!
© Copyright 2006 Pied Piper Consulting
