How to Manage Up At Work (and why you should do it!)

Have you ever found yourself nodding in agreement during a meeting with your boss yet internally puzzled over their expectations? You’re not alone. 

Managing up refers to building relationships with those above you in the workplace hierarchy. It leads to harmonious collaboration, crystal-clear communication, and a boost in job satisfaction for you and your boss. 

Like any other relationship, the boss-employee connection is a two-way street, and grasping your supervisor’s work style and expectations is the key to a fruitful professional partnership. 

What Does It Mean to “Manage Up?”

Managing up refers to developing relationships with those higher than you in the workplace hierarchy. When you manage, you work with a manager or boss’s expectations, comprehend their work style, and proactively address their needs to cultivate a harmonious and productive professional bond. When you manage well, you’ll become the best employee they never want to let go of.

As Mary Abbajay, author of the book Managing Up, says in this interview with Forbes: 

Managing up allows you to practice navigating and influencing people who approach work differently than you. Learn how to look beyond your own needs and perspectives and consider the needs and views of others. By managing up, you will learn what kind of manager you want to be and what type you don’t want to be.

Clearing misconceptions about managing up

Before we dive deeper, let’s clear up some myths concerning what managing up is and is not.

Managing up does not mean:

• Trying to remold or manipulate your superior into a picture-perfect leader
• Taking charge of or directing your boss
• Sidestepping your superior to their boss to ensure your perspectives are validated

With those misunderstandings addressed, managing up is fundamentally about:

• Fostering a positive and progressive relationship with your superior
• Building a collaborative rapport with them
• Understanding the unique ways your boss communicates, leads, and decides
• Understanding your communicative tendencies and how those might impact your connection with your boss
• Becoming an all-star employee who your boss wants to keep around

A good relationship with your boss is crucial, given that managers account for up to 70% of the variance^{1https://www.gallup.com/workplace/236570/employees-lot-managers.aspx} in job engagement.

McKinsey & Company^{2https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/leadership/why-effective-leaders-must-manage-up-down-and-sideways} conducted tens of thousands of surveys looking for the causes of business impact and career success, and they concluded that “senior executives should pay more attention to mobilizing their bosses (managing upward).”

16 Actionable Tips on Managing Up

Managing up is about creating a symbiotic and productive relationship with your boss.

But the reality is you may have a boss who is just plain difficult, and no amount of communication skills will make the relationship healthy. If so, this may be a better article for you.

But if you have a decent relationship with your boss already, here are some tips on managing up effectively, creating more synergy between you and your boss, and aligning your efforts with their goals.

What’s their communication style?

We all have our unique way of getting our message across. What’s yours? And how does it vibe with your boss’ communication style? Answer these questions:

• Does your boss prefer email or phone? In-person or video?
• Does your boss respond to emails in the morning, afternoon, or evening?
• When is your boss most productive and creative?
• …and do these answers match with yours? Can you align them to fit your boss while still having your needs met?

As a personal example, I prefer sharing emotions when they come up in relationships. If I feel anxious, insecure, or upset, it helps me to let it be known.

However, I recognize that not all managers want emotional processing to be part of the relationship. So, I’ll tend to toe the water. I might test out sharing a smaller insecurity and see how it lands before opening anything more vulnerable.

Action Step: If you’ve had multiple managers in your life, take a moment and reflect on the following questions:

• What were some similar challenges I faced with all of these managers?
• What do I know about my communication style as a partner or friend, and how might that come into play with my manager?

Anticipate their needs

Think of how nice it is when a restaurant server fills your water before you realize you are thirsty. Or if your partner were to buy you new socks right when you realized the cotton was wearing thin.

There is an art to attuning to someone else’s needs and giving them what they need before they ask for it.

This also applies to managing up at work.

For example, a few years ago, I was volunteering in a kitchen with a friend named Eric. Eric is a successful entrepreneur with very high business acumen and hasn’t had a boss for many years. 

While we were chopping vegetables and washing pans for the chef, Eric tried to be as attentive to the chef as possible. He would study where the chef was walking and try to guess if he should chop onions next or move the crate of watermelons. 

While Eric didn’t always guess right, sometimes he did. And after our time volunteering, the chef tried to get Eric to come back.

This principle applies to more than kitchens. You will become an irreplaceable asset if you can guess your boss’s needs before they know it.

What might your boss’s needs be? Ask them! Tell them you want to work on supporting them and predicting their needs.

Action Step: Think about the past several requests your boss has made of you. Then, consider how you anticipate when similar requests might come up.

Set up regular check-ins.

Catching up over coffee or a quick chat can work wonders. It keeps everyone in the loop and is way better than a long email thread.

The more you check in, the more you’ll both feel the pulse of the relationship.

Action Step: Propose a weekly catch-up session to touch base on how work is going.

70% of employees^{3https://hbr.org/2022/09/why-your-team-members-need-daily-check-ins} want more check-ins with their boss than they get, so take it upon yourself to ask for the frequency that you want.

Understand their motivators

Ever wondered what gets your boss ticking? It could be quarterly goals or the thrill of a new project. Align your work with what jazzes them up to be on the same page.

If you need more time, ask them! Tell them you want to align your motivations with theirs.

Action Step: Jot down your observations about times you noticed your boss was excited, and brainstorm how you can do more actions that create that feeling in them.

Give and get constructive feedback.

Ask your boss for constructive feedback, and then…ask if you can offer some to them! Being an all-star employee doesn’t mean setting aside your critical thinking abilities and agreeing with everything that comes your way.

You can disagree and still be on the same team. If you bring your alternative views to the table in a friendly way that focuses on the bigger picture, you can challenge your boss to be a better version of themself.

Action Step: Take a few minutes and imagine that you had your boss’ job. With this perspective, what changes would you make to the current strategy and tactics?

Consider sharing any ideas with your supervisor in a way that invites collaboration.

Practice being hyper-reliable

You know that feeling when someone’s got your back? It feels so good to have people around you that you can trust, depend on, and rely on.

And you can be one of those people! 

Action Step: Be very careful with your words. Do your best to stick to a deadline the next time you commit to a deadline.

And, of course, stuff happens. If you can’t hit a deadline, give a heads-up as soon as possible. Then, acknowledge your hiccup and brainstorm how to avoid the same slip-up.

Educate on your role

Your job duties might seem straightforward, but does your boss understand all the nuances? 

Even if they know the broad brushstrokes of your work, give them a detailed tour of your day-to-day schedule.

Action Step: In your next one-on-one, propose walking them through your daily process. Open yourself to feedback.

Celebrate wins

If you, your boss, or your team hit a milestone, celebrate it together! 

Shared successes are like glue for working relationships.

This can either be a win you were a part of or some significant achievements your boss had on their own. Just make sure to send them some love. 

It’s the same principle at play of sending someone a text on their birthday or congratulating a friend for publishing a book.

Action Step: If your team or boss has a win, shoot a friendly email to your boss to celebrate and appreciate everyone’s input.

Clarify before sprinting ahead

If something’s fuzzy about an assignment, ask about it. Clearing the air upfront saves loads of time and missteps down the road.

Action Step: If you receive an assignment from your boss that you don’t feel 100% clear on, report back to them what you heard the assignment to be. If they don’t make any corrections, then this ensures you are on the same page.

Honor your capacity

You’re dedicated, but you’re not a superhero. If things get too much, communicate what’s doable and what’s stretching it.

You can only fit so much on your plate. The more you communicate your time boundaries and work capacity to your supervisor, the more they can understand how much they can give you in the future.

Action Step: Create a pie graph of your workload based on time and energy. Notice how much of the pie is open space. When you get a new task, share this chart with your boss, and make sure you can fit the new task in your available space (ideally, leaving a little buffer room for uncertainty).

Seek out feedback

Receiving feedback can be gold. It can help you fill your blind spots and quickly improve your career growth.

Sometimes, feedback can be a bitter pill to swallow, but once digested, there will be plenty of nutrients. If you’d like tips on how to receive feedback (or criticism) gracefully, you can try this article.

Otherwise, here are some tips on inviting positive feedback and constructive feedback from your boss.

Action Step: Ask your supervisor one of the following questions:

• Do you have any feedback for me?
• Any thoughts on how I handled that?
• What am I doing well, and how could I do my job better?

Align your goals

You both are on the same team, after all. See if you can harmonize your goals so you’re pulling in the same direction.

Action Step: When setting goals for the next quarter, ask your boss about their plans. Both write down your goals, see which line up with each other, and see if you can do any jerry-rigging to line them up even better.

Understand their priorities

It’s all about syncing up. You can better align your actions if you get what’s at the top of their list.

Action Step: During one of your catch-ups, ask what they think about priorities and what’s at the top of their list.

Bring solutions, not problems

You will inevitably make mistakes and find problems.

But instead of getting stuck, bring a potential fix to the table. 

Even if your solution isn’t the best one, it creates a proactive energy if you don’t just report a problem to your supervisor but attach it to five possible answers.

Action Step: The next time you encounter a problem, glitch, or mistake in your workflow, brainstorm five solutions before bringing it up. 

Follow-up thoughtfully

Every time I throw a party or host a gathering, I’ve made a habit of sending everyone an individual text the next day, thanking them for coming to the event. This closes a loop, shows appreciation, and increases the likelihood that they might come next time.

You can use a similar approach with your boss. If you experience a spark of connection or a moment of inspiration in a meeting or coffee, then it can go a long way to shoot them an email later thanking them for their time and possibly for their mentorship.

Action Step: The next time you have an impactful moment with your manager, email them later that day to thank them.

Ask about their career trajectory

It’s commonplace for a manager to know their employee’s career goals and plans. But it can be quite valuable to know this about your boss too. Where do they want to be in 5 years? How does this role fit into their bigger picture?

This is helpful to understand your life and career trajectory and to align your efforts with your manager’s goals.

Action Step: In your next one-on-one, ask your manager about their career goals and how their current role fits into their grand plan.

Clue them into your goals

Do you know your career goals? Share these with your boss or manager! Goal setting is an incredibly valuable skill. If you’d like to learn to set better goals using science-backed tips, you might enjoy this free goodie:

Frequently Asked Questions About Managing Up

Takeaways on How to Manage Up

Managing up is another crucial social skill to add to your career toolbelt. Here are a few key tips to remember:

• Anticipate their needs: It’s like refilling a friend’s drink before they even ask. Tune in, and you might find you’re one step ahead of the game.
• Set up regular check-ins: It’s like grabbing coffee with a friend to keep the connection strong. 
• Seek out feedback: Think of it as a career growth superfood. It might be a tad bitter, but it is so nutritious. 
• Bring solutions, not problems: Stumbled upon an issue? Serve it up with a side of potential fixes.
• Ask about their career trajectory: Flip the script and get the lowdown on where they’re headed. 

If you want other ideas on boosting your career development, here are 13 training strategies for tremendous success.