What Is Managing Up (and why you should do it)?

Making your manager’s life easier is what managing up is all about. 

Why would you want to do that?  An all-star employee and true team player with goals of moving forward and up in their career would do it. Why? Because whilst your superior may make the final goal, there are points for assistance and the whole team wins when the manager scores.  The boss looks great and so do you.

“It is about learning how to work well with somebody who may work differently than you” says Mary Abbajay, the author of Managing Up: How to Move Up, Win at Work, and Succeed with Any Type of Boss.  Managing up means that you understand your manager’s goals, position, blind spots, and objectives and you help them to meet their expectations and needs.

Examples Of Managing Up in the Real World

Say you are working on a task however your boss is so tied up with their meetings and planning that they have no idea of the status of the task you are working on. Managing up is intuiting this gap in their awareness and provides an opportunity for you. Instead of faulting them for not being aware of the status of your task, if you give them a simple and quick update to keep them informed, it removes any blind spots or surprises. 

If their superior then asks them about the project, they will be able to communicate the results.  When they look good and informed on daily tasks, despite everything else in their workload, it will reflect well on them, their team, and you.  You will be the employee who had the collaboration skills, communication and foresight to keep your manager abreast of “behind the scenes”.  Your manager will know that you have their back and that knowledge will not be forgotten in future situations.

Perhaps you may anticipate a problem. Managing up is to make your manager of aware of the potential problem instead of waiting for the problem to become obvious to them because that’s part of their job, not yours.  You could even suggest some possible simple solutions.  Going beyond the call of duty in this scenario results in your boss being in a position to inform upper management of the issue and provide solutions.

Am I just helping my boss?  How does managing up benefit me and my career?

The concept of managing up is a win-win for you, your boss, your team, and your organization. It will boost your career. It will build relationships with your superiors.  Don’t forget that your superiors are likely to have a role to play in your career trajectory, your autonomy, your purpose, your engagement at work and your workplace happiness.

Your boss has the ability to put you on better or worse projects.  They can mentor you to become a leader like them.  The can help you shine like a star in the workplace. They can teach you to think more critically, how to set career goals and meet them.  They can assist with fine-tuning your skills to help you find more purpose in your work. The best leaders can help you recognise your personal strengths and weaknesses as well as see areas that could be improved. 

They can also do the opposite.

It is important to improve your relationship with your boss

The stark reality is that, regardless of how you feel about someone, they probably feel similar about you. Or they may guess how you feel about them.  Some animals, like dogs, can notice whether you are happy, sad or mad.  Likewise, humans are also highly intuitive and humans are much smarter than dogs and can usually sense your vibe instantly.

Ask yourself the question: If I don’t want to help my manager by managing up, then why should they want to help me by managing down? If you don’t have a great relationship with your superior, it isn’t doing you (or your career) any favours, particularly if they have they have the influence with upper management as to whether you remain employed.

Having a bad relationship with your manager will damage you.  Your manager may be challenging to work with, however they may be trying to teach you something.  Each of only can only change ourselves and our reactions to others – we cannot change others.

Managing Up – The Do’s

• Do Get To Know Your Manager

Learn more about the person behind the position.  What do they like and dislike?  What do they value? What are their goals? How do they work best?

• Do An Honest Self-Assessment

How do your managers and colleagues view you? Do you conduct yourself well at work? Are you a team-player? Are you engaged, hard-working and positive? Can you be challenging and disengaged at times? Take a moment to consider how others in the workplace view you see what you derive about your role in the team. 

• Do Adapt 

Work with your boss, rather than against them. You cannot change your manager or colleagues however you can change yourself and how you react to others.

Let go of any negative feelings you may have and gain the understanding that, like you, they are probably doing their best. Use your own self-assessment and what you know of your manager’s goals to adapt how you work with them.

• Do Be Proactive

Effort and proactivity on your part is require to manage up. Be proactive!  

Managing Up – The Do Nots

Do not forget that managing up is helping your manager and making their work life less challenging. Anything that goes against that is probably a “don’t” do. 

• DO NOT Manipulate The Situation Or Others

Manipulating a situation for your own personal benefit is not what managing up is about. Do not go above your boss to share your wins and don’t throw your colleagues under the bus. Managing up is not managing above your immediate boss.  You do not want to appear as though you are trying to become your boss or that you are on a mission to prove how under-qualified they are in comparison to you. Managing up is about assisting them.     

• DO NOT Keep Doing What Frustrates Your Manager 

Once you know what your boss likes and does not like, you can stop doing the things you know frustrates them. E.g. If you know arrive to the office late and this upsets your manager, you will know that they value punctuality so do your best to be on time. Use your knowledge and power to remove any obstacles that may be blocking you and your manager from having a positive relationship.  The goal is to assist them rather than challenge or frustrate them unnecessarily. 

• DO NOT Add More To Your Manager’s Plate 

Managing up effectively does not mean adding more work to your boss’ plate. Do not bend over backward to take on your boss’ work when you may already be struggling you’re your own workload.  You may frustrate them if you take on more work to assist them yet don’t fully understand the task or have the bandwidth yourself.   

Knowing your manager’s strengths and weaknesses and working with them

Your manager is only human and they don’t have superpowers. However, just like you, bosses have strengths, weaknesses, good and bad personality traits, and personal goals. Like you, they want to have a nice working relationship with their colleagues and work together for success.  Being part of a team allows everyone to bring their strengths to the table and you can all work together achieve more.  Help them help you.