19th February, 2012
By: Girdharee Saran
The boss employee relationship is fundamental of any organization. A healthy relationship is important to foster a better working environment, job satisfaction and growth. Its always rewarding for everyone involved; i.e. the employee, boss and company as well.
Whenever, we think of managing, the first thing comes to our mind is managing our subordinates. But in the web 2.0 environment, it is also important for an employee to manage his/her relationship with boss for better productivity, performance and peace at job.
The concept appeared for the first time, a few years ago in a Harvard Business Review article written by two well known socio-psychologists. In their article, they argued that the relationship is now of interdependence and both needs each other’s support
The DMI-ADOPTED, is abbreviation of the first letters of 11 rules which can help an employee in managing a healthy relationship with his boss.
1. Decisions:
Boss is always under pressure, and he is accountable and responsible for any decision which is taken with his consent. He has lots of decision to make, the easiest option in any decision making process is to say “no” and if the pressure is to decide quickly, you are more likely to hear no from him.
Following tips will help you avoid hearing that “no” or procrastination
Managing you is just 1% of his entire job responsibility, so don’t over-expect. He has some other problems, issues to focus on which may be more important and most probably a high business priority.
• Don’t confuse on frequent problem and important problems.
• Be prepared with all the options when going for a meeting
3. Information: It’s different from the data.
You are paid to convert grapes into wine: boss love executive summary which are well prepared and gives true pictures, don’t expect him to read a 300 page document on market survey. Give him crux of it.
4. Assumptions:
5. Delegations: Constantly test the waters.
The principal of subsidiary says you can do everything else except this, the concept of delegation says you need to do this, everything else is out of your domain. Determine which principle your boss is applying.
6. Opinion:
If you ask for his opinion, he will always have one and it does not always be a genius or a visionary one!
However, once given, the opinion becomes a constraint: was it an order? So, if you don't want your boss's opinion to thwart your achievements, to slow the speed of decision-making, or cloud the viewpoint, then don't ask for it. Best of all; don't ask if you don't need his opinion.
7. Problems: Don't just come with problems, come also with solutions.
Good bosses hate two kinds of behavior. The courtesan who always comes to tell you how great you are and the pyromaniac/fireman who comes to tell you "there is a huge problem" and then says "but don't worry, I will solve it!"
There is also a third kind, the monkey transferor. If she has a problem and she puts it on your shoulders, rather than bringing a solution or at least some options.
Problems usually have several aspects. It is usually a gap between an objective and the result; there are options to close the gap; there is a choice of one option to be made; key tasks, dates, people and resources needed must be defined.
On which of those steps in problem solving do you want your boss's input? Just be clear on what input you want rather than come with the stressful -- "I have a problem…" and throw the monkey.
8. Promises: Do not promise what you cannot deliver, and avoid surprises, trust is at stake.
Trust does not develop overnight and depends a lot on the predictability of the other person: Do you live up to what you say? Does your boss live up to what he says? Avoid being seen as an unreliable person, don’t give last minute surprises. Estimate properly before committing on a date.
9. Empathize:
Boss is also an average human being; he is struggling with the same kind of issues which you are facing in your life. He has a boss to report to; his job performance is measured the same way. In fact, your performance sometimes, determines his pay; your mistakes make a difference to his life more than it does to yours.
In other words, he is also an employee of the company, just as you are. His job is to get the work done from you. It is better to sometimes, get into his shoes, to understand his prospective. It will help you in reducing the negative opinion you formed about your boss.
10. Trust: Don't be sloppy in your documentation. It undermines trust.
By making the assumption that he will check what we write or say anyway, and that he will make changes, we sometimes tend to be sloppy in our writing. Tables are not finished, text is not re-read, places we are going to are not visited beforehand, spelling is not checked, and information is missing...
By not finalizing your facts, arguments, memos, spelling, supporting documents, etc., you can be sure some things will get changed, mistakes corrected. And soon you will be asked to show more facts and figures, and you will see more changes, more amendments. Soon all the delegation you had will be gone.
11. Differences: Manage differences in culture.
Your culture and upbringing defines your personality and the values you cherish. Every person is different and so do you and your boss! Always keep in mind the four kinds of bosses and determine your boss falls into which category:
While managing your boss it is important to know his personal inclination, as well as your personal bias.
For example; if you are process oriented, you will tend to present issues in a systematic and orderly fashion, with pros and cons, chronology of tasks, etc. and If your boss is the action type, he could be bored. So in that case an executive summary, emphasizing the key actions and results would be a handy starting point.
Conclusion
Better work between a boss and his subordinate is not just a matter of leadership. It also has to do with boss 'management', which can stimulate better performance, faster decision making and accomplishment of more by both parties.
Whenever, we think of managing, the first thing comes to our mind is managing our subordinates. But in the web 2.0 environment, it is also important for an employee to manage his/her relationship with boss for better productivity, performance and peace at job.
The concept appeared for the first time, a few years ago in a Harvard Business Review article written by two well known socio-psychologists. In their article, they argued that the relationship is now of interdependence and both needs each other’s support
The DMI-ADOPTED, is abbreviation of the first letters of 11 rules which can help an employee in managing a healthy relationship with his boss.
1. Decisions:
Boss is always under pressure, and he is accountable and responsible for any decision which is taken with his consent. He has lots of decision to make, the easiest option in any decision making process is to say “no” and if the pressure is to decide quickly, you are more likely to hear no from him.
Following tips will help you avoid hearing that “no” or procrastination
- To avoid the 'no' give him a hand.
- Remind him of what was discussed in the last meeting, where you left it,
- Focus on objective behind the decision rather than the process.
- Remind him of the problems likely to occur if the decision is not taken.
- Quickly tell him the options you considered; the criteria you used to zero down on one option.
- In other words, if you decide jointly and share the risk occurring from a potentially wrong decision, the trust between you and your boss is going to increase and the chances of you hearing “no” reduce significantly.
- Clear your expectation at the start of discussion and come straight to the point.
- Be prepared with facts/data for potential disagreements. Help him out with graphics and visuals so that the situation is grasped faster;
- Document the minutes of meeting and share with him.
- Once the decision is made, be a brand ambassador for it, even if it is not as per your choice, don’t criticize your boss in front of other employees and avoid back-biting.
Managing you is just 1% of his entire job responsibility, so don’t over-expect. He has some other problems, issues to focus on which may be more important and most probably a high business priority.
• Don’t confuse on frequent problem and important problems.
• Be prepared with all the options when going for a meeting
3. Information: It’s different from the data.
You are paid to convert grapes into wine: boss love executive summary which are well prepared and gives true pictures, don’t expect him to read a 300 page document on market survey. Give him crux of it.
- Don’t be a conveyor of bad news; else you yourself will be a bad news.
- Keep him informed on timely basis to avoid last minute surprises.
- Remember, bosses has many sources of information, so never try to hide anything, the same information will reach to him from some other sources, may be your colleague which is not good for you, better keep him informed. You would not like to hear him saying "I heard that", "Why didn't you tell me that"
- How much information is enough, there is no straight answer to this; look at the history of your communication with your boss, find out what metrics he considers important and modify your report accordingly.
- Go beyond your formal network to gather right kind of information, this applies more to the people who are into marketing and business development roles.
4. Assumptions:
- Do not assume that your boss knows your project the same way you do, but he can understand for sure, so educate properly.
- Don’t try to knock him down with technical jargons. It may work once, but it may become a barrier in communication leading to lack of trust.
- Simplifying is the best tool for educating; use easy to understand language.
5. Delegations: Constantly test the waters.
- Can you draw a hard line and say “This is not my job” or do you end up doing what you are not supposed to do? In both the cases, you are in confrontation with your boss and its natural; it’s very difficult to draw a line, so keep tasting the water, stop when you hear an alarm!
- Two common principle of delegation are principle of subsidiary and principal of delegation.
The principal of subsidiary says you can do everything else except this, the concept of delegation says you need to do this, everything else is out of your domain. Determine which principle your boss is applying.
- If you ask for your boss’ opinion for everything you do, he will questions your power of decision making, moreover, it may delay the process or lead to bureaucracy.
6. Opinion:
If you ask for his opinion, he will always have one and it does not always be a genius or a visionary one!
However, once given, the opinion becomes a constraint: was it an order? So, if you don't want your boss's opinion to thwart your achievements, to slow the speed of decision-making, or cloud the viewpoint, then don't ask for it. Best of all; don't ask if you don't need his opinion.
7. Problems: Don't just come with problems, come also with solutions.
Good bosses hate two kinds of behavior. The courtesan who always comes to tell you how great you are and the pyromaniac/fireman who comes to tell you "there is a huge problem" and then says "but don't worry, I will solve it!"
There is also a third kind, the monkey transferor. If she has a problem and she puts it on your shoulders, rather than bringing a solution or at least some options.
Problems usually have several aspects. It is usually a gap between an objective and the result; there are options to close the gap; there is a choice of one option to be made; key tasks, dates, people and resources needed must be defined.
On which of those steps in problem solving do you want your boss's input? Just be clear on what input you want rather than come with the stressful -- "I have a problem…" and throw the monkey.
8. Promises: Do not promise what you cannot deliver, and avoid surprises, trust is at stake.
Trust does not develop overnight and depends a lot on the predictability of the other person: Do you live up to what you say? Does your boss live up to what he says? Avoid being seen as an unreliable person, don’t give last minute surprises. Estimate properly before committing on a date.
9. Empathize:
Boss is also an average human being; he is struggling with the same kind of issues which you are facing in your life. He has a boss to report to; his job performance is measured the same way. In fact, your performance sometimes, determines his pay; your mistakes make a difference to his life more than it does to yours.
In other words, he is also an employee of the company, just as you are. His job is to get the work done from you. It is better to sometimes, get into his shoes, to understand his prospective. It will help you in reducing the negative opinion you formed about your boss.
10. Trust: Don't be sloppy in your documentation. It undermines trust.
By making the assumption that he will check what we write or say anyway, and that he will make changes, we sometimes tend to be sloppy in our writing. Tables are not finished, text is not re-read, places we are going to are not visited beforehand, spelling is not checked, and information is missing...
By not finalizing your facts, arguments, memos, spelling, supporting documents, etc., you can be sure some things will get changed, mistakes corrected. And soon you will be asked to show more facts and figures, and you will see more changes, more amendments. Soon all the delegation you had will be gone.
11. Differences: Manage differences in culture.
Your culture and upbringing defines your personality and the values you cherish. Every person is different and so do you and your boss! Always keep in mind the four kinds of bosses and determine your boss falls into which category:
- Some bosses are processes oriented, they will always talk of ‘now’.
- Some bosses are people oriented, they are interested in how something impacts people;
- Some boss are action oriented, they talk about key actions;
- Bosses, who are more concerned with ideas, always try to find out concepts in proposals.
While managing your boss it is important to know his personal inclination, as well as your personal bias.
For example; if you are process oriented, you will tend to present issues in a systematic and orderly fashion, with pros and cons, chronology of tasks, etc. and If your boss is the action type, he could be bored. So in that case an executive summary, emphasizing the key actions and results would be a handy starting point.
Conclusion
Better work between a boss and his subordinate is not just a matter of leadership. It also has to do with boss 'management', which can stimulate better performance, faster decision making and accomplishment of more by both parties.
