If you did not read last week’s post on Managing up: What is it and Why do it? , you may find it beneficial to do so before reading this post.
Another way to understand managing up is to reframe it as managing the relationship with your supervisor. Your goal is to have an understanding of and actively work toward aligning your different styles.
The first step to managing up to create a better working relationship with your supervisor is understanding your supervisor’s work and communication styles and preferences, as well as your own. Review the below dynamics to better understand your working relationship with your supervisor. Remember this series goes through March, so stay tuned next week when we discuss how to have a conversation with your supervisor.
No. 1: Introvert or Extrovert?
Whether you and your supervisor are introverted or extroverted can really impact the success of your relationship. Introverts tend to draw their energy from within, thrive on internal processing and prefer interacting in smaller group sizes or one-on-one meetings. Extroverts tend to draw their energy from others and the external world. They tend to prefer external processing and to move, act and communicate quickly. Many of us have both introvert and extrovert qualities, so be mindful of your supervisor’s preferences and tendencies as well as your own.
When working with someone who shows introvert preferences, try the following:
- Be proactive. Don’t wait for them to ask you for a status update or ask how your day is going. It’s not that they don’t care or aren’t interested, they simply thrive from within.
- Allow plenty of time . Give them a heads-up of what you might bring up at your next meeting so they can process it first. If you ask a question and don’t hear back right away, try adjusting your expectations for how long you should expect to hear back.
- Share your needs . If you are more of an extrovert, share with them what you need in the relationship and invite a conversation of how you can each thrive in your work and communication together.
No. 2: Task-oriented or Relationship-oriented?
If your boss is task-oriented and you are relationship-oriented, you may not feel overly supported by your supervisor, but you may have the motivation and accountability to thrive in your work. This could be good for your career, but hard on your stress level. Conversely, you may feel a desire for things to be more efficient, and at the same time you may feel supported as an individual at work. You might feel great to be a part of a cohesive team but be frustrated by how slowly things get done. If you are both relationship-oriented, you may reinforce each other’s tendencies and delay work product from being completed. However, you will probably feel supported in your relationships at work and on your team. If you both are task-oriented, you may not be able to easily resolve conflicts when they occur due to the lack of relationship. However, you may set records in your ability to accomplish work tasks.
The moral of this exercise is to be mindful of your tendencies and the tendencies of your supervisor. How do those tendencies support your ability to get work done and have a supportive work environment? Consider opening up a conversation with your supervisor to discuss how you can get work done in a supportive manner, so you each can be successful.
No. 3: Independent-style or Collaborative-style?
The last thing to consider is how each of you approach work. Do you thrive with autonomy and independence or with a collaborative team? Does your supervisor check in with you on your work regularly or give you freedom to do what you need to do?
It is important to discuss what you need with your supervisor and at the same time be willing to listen to their needs. You may find that you don’t have the autonomy you need because the supervisor needs to see more to trust you. Alternatively, you may not be getting the support you need because your supervisor has an overflowing plate of responsibilities.
Consider discussing your needs with your supervisor. If you need more autonomy, let your supervisor know and ask what you can do to earn more autonomy. If you need more collaboration and support from your supervisor, ask them if they would be willing to provide more support or mentorship for you on certain projects and what that would look like.
Next week, we will discuss how to have conversations with your supervisor that focuses on these three dynamics to set up both of you for success. Between now and then, I invite you all to spend the next week reflecting on the three dynamics and on these below questions.
Reflective questions for the week:
- Which of the three dynamics discussed in this post are out of sync with your supervisor and could improve?
- Which of the three dynamics discussed here are you in alignment with your supervisor and is working well?
Luke Wiesner is the UC Merced Conflict Resolution Coach , a private resource for staff members who are interested in having a partner to support workplace challenges or conflicts. This service is voluntary, and you can partner with the coach by yourself or with fellow university employees.
