Manage Your Boss

💌 237 words ⌛ 1 minute

Build a good relationship with your manager. You need to know what your manager expects of you, and they need to know what you expect of them. You need to align your goals to support each other.

Why it matters: Your manager greatly influences your career and the progression in your current role. They can make your job easier or harder. They can give you direction or block your path. Whether you like your manager or not, build a productive relationship. It will benefit both of you.

Dig deeper:

• Align on your goals and the strategy to reach them - so you don't pull into different directions. Think about how you can support each other.

• Document your mutual expectations and validate them regularly.

  • What expectations does your manager have towards your role?

  • What expectations do you have towards each other?

• Align on your communication style, tool, and format.

  • Is it async or synchronous?

  • Do you use Slack, mail, a letter pigeon, …?

  • With this make sure you keep your manager up to date, without being annoying.

• To build that relationship have small talk as well. Talk about your hobbies, your family - whatever is important to you. Relationships come from being relatable.

What comes to your mind? How can you use those tips to improve the relationship with your manager?

— Daniel

P.S. If you want to talk about expectations, here is my FREE template.