Want to Be More Effective? Try Managing Up

Some say that people don’t leave bad jobs, they leave bad bosses. Your relationship with your direct manager impacts how satisfied and engaged you feel with your job — but the relationship shouldn’t be one-sided, with your manager always leading the way. 

You and your manager must both do the work to form a strong, mutually beneficial partnership. While it’s important for them to be a good boss, there are also ways you can “manage up.” That means “managing your manager” — making their job easier, and you a more valuable employee.

Let’s explore why it’s important to manage upward, and how to put this into practice to benefit you, your manager and your entire organization.

Why everyone should be managing up

Just because you have a manager doesn’t mean you have less power or agency.

Managing up requires building a strong professional relationship with your manager. This includes helping them succeed by anticipating their needs and offering support. Doing so also teaches your manager about your strengths, and demonstrates how you’re able to contribute. 

While most of what we hear about management in the workplace tends to focus on top-down leadership, there’s a lot of value in learning how to manage relationships from the perspective of a direct report. Managing upward benefits both you and your boss and is an important skill to hone in your career. 

Mary Abbajay, author of MANAGING UP: How to Move Up, Win at Work, and Succeed with Any Type of Boss, says that because we live in a society that is “hyper-focused on leadership” we’re less likely to discuss how to be the best “follower” — conflating this with powerlessness and submissiveness. But Abbajay says this connection couldn’t be further from the truth. After all, the majority of people will spend most of their lives reporting to someone. Even CEOs have bosses, and just because you have a manager doesn’t mean you have less power or agency. 

Besides, not everyone wants to be — or should be — a manager. According to Abbajay, leadership in the 21st century is much more about influence than authority. Learning to work well with people with different working styles and perspectives will help you become a more effective employee and hone your own leadership skills, even if you don’t plan to take on a management role. 

Managing up involves understanding and helping your boss, using your strengths and building rapport with your manager to become a more valued employee. Now, here’s how to put these principles into practice, along with some examples of managing up. 

Do your job well

The first step to managing up is to simply do good work. Consistently getting assignments done, meeting deadlines and helping with new projects makes you a reliable and collaborative team member. In turn, this reflects well on both you and your manager, freeing them to focus on higher-level work.

In addition to being a reliable employee, you can also offer to help your manager with tasks that lighten their load and proactively solve problems as they arise. This shows your boss that you’re a self-starter; reduces demands on their time and energy; and helps build trust. In turn, when your boss trusts your opinions, they’re more likely to give you projects that are higher visibility and require more responsibility. 

Familiarize yourself with your manager’s style

Observe their behavior and adapt how you work to better fit their style.

To effectively manage up, you need a good understanding of the way your manager works and communicates. Observe their behavior and, where possible, adapt how you work to better fit their style. During meetings, do they like to chat, or do they get straight down to business? Are they detail-oriented, or do they tend to look at the big picture?

If your manager prefers to see the data before making a decision, for example, you should gather all relevant information before meeting with them about a new initiative. If your manager is more of a “people person,” set up meetings with them instead of sending lengthy emails to help communication flow more smoothly. 

Understand and anticipate their needs 

To understand why people do what they do, you need to know what they care about. Learn your manager’s goals and priorities, and align your work with their needs. If you can offer your manager a solution before they even ask, they’ll appreciate you for it.

For example, if you know one of your manager’s goals this quarter is to drive sales, you can bring data to your meetings that prove the work you do is generating leads. Likewise, if your boss has expressed concern about the performance of a new campaign your team launched, keep them in the loop with regular updates on how the campaign is doing. 

Proactively provide updates and feedback 

If your manager requests feedback from you, offer it honestly.

Practicing upward communication, or keeping your manager in the loop through proactive communication is an important way to manage up. This can be especially helpful when dealing with a micromanaging boss. Providing frequent updates on what you’re working on, and the status of your projects before they even ask, builds trust that can help you gain greater autonomy.  

Just like you get assessments from your manager, feedback can and should be a two-way street. If your manager requests feedback from you, offer it honestly. If you have suggestions on how they can improve, frame this feedback politely and make sure your points are reasonable and constructive.

Make sure to provide positive feedback, too. Tell your manager when they’ve done something that was particularly helpful in you reaching a goal. This shows that not only do you want them to recognize your efforts, but you also recognize theirs. 

A mutually beneficial concept 

Managing up involves doing your job well, understanding how your boss works, knowing their priorities and proactively using upward communication to keep your manager in the loop. 
Managing upward helps create stronger relationships, contributing to a better work environment and keeping you more engaged. This positively impacts both you and your manager’s careers—so everyone wins.