Slacker Manager

The Secret Art of Managing Your Boss, part 4

by Bren on November 8th, 2004

So here we are: the final installment of ‘The Secret Art of Managing Your Boss.’ I hope the previous three posts were helpful (part 1, part 2, part 3). The previous two “things” (Know Yourself; Know Your Boss) kind of talked around the actual relationship with the boss. Now, in part 4, we can address it directly. I’m leaving the slide graphic out of this post, since it doesn’t really add anything—there were only four bullet points and they’re listed below.

Context and Content
When communicating with the boss (or anyone), there are two things to keep in mind as you consider what’s taking place (remember double loop learning?): context and content. Content is the actual message that is being communicated—thoughts and ideas. Context consists of the situations, feelings and environments that surround the content. Most folks only think about the content of the message without explicitly acknowledging the power of context, even though they are impacted by it. You’re wise to pay attention to both elements. Context, like perception, is a shifty devil. Situations and environments change in the blink of an eye, and what was once unthinkable, becomes standard operating procedure.

Problem Clarity
Irrespective of what type of boss you’ve got—a reader or a listener—you’ve got to be able to not only identify problems, but also to identify solutions, and other variables that impact the situation. The best way to do this is to pitch a proposal. And the best way to pitch a proposal is to adopt the classic three-part memo. Here’s a template for your use—it’s in Microsoft Word and you can just file it away and reuse it as needed. The basic idea, though, is to break apart the pieces of the message. There should be a block of text that describes the problem, a block of text that does a brief analysis of the problem, and a block of text that details the proposed solution. Each should build upon the other, in order to make a bombproof case for change. This way of organizing information is called “chunking” and “info-mapping.” Tech writers excel at this kind of stuff.  Learn more at infomap.com (no affiliation, I just admire their methods).

Goodwill Account
The goodwill account isn’t anything you can quantify or put your finger on, but it’s something to be aware of. Pretty much everyone keeps track to some degree of who’s done what for them. Those who have done something for me have a balance in my goodwill account. Those who haven’t, don’t. It’s much easier to say no to someone who doesn’t have a balance. The ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ book has a specific name for what I’m calling a ‘Goodwill Account,’ but I just can’t remember it. Actually, I can’t remember much from that book, aside from ‘Sharpen The Saw.’ What’s that tell you? Being aware of both your balance in your goodwill account with your boss, and being aware of how you treat your boss due to their balance, is a good exercise. It’s nothing that needs to be addressed explicitly (someone in a seminar asked me if they should keep a spreadsheet of the goodwill account—not a good idea), but you ought to check in and see how the account is informing your interactions with your boss.

Feedback
Here we are again, with our old friend Mr. Feedback. By now you ought to have a good grasp of feedback at both the task and process levels and how you can use feedback to keep your boss accountable. In my estimation, the two largest leverage points for managing your boss are continuing to seek to understand your own self, and becoming an expert at appropriate feedback interactions. Use appropriate feedback to help your boss help you.

Summary
I’ve really slammed through a lot of theory and tactics in these four posts. It’s my intention to revisit sections of them from time to time and expand upon some of the ideas. For now, though, feel free to drop me a note if you have any questions, or need clarification.

Share This

Related Stories

• How to be a better pitcher
• The top 24
• The Secret Art of Managing Your Boss, part 3
• The Secret Art of Managing Your Boss, part 1
• The advertising conundrum

POSTED IN: best of, management, tips and tricks