Managing Up
One inevitable truth starting your first job is that you will have a manager. Some manager’s will take you under their wing and show you the ropes, other managers will completely ignore you, and worst some will get on your case about that commit message from last week. What you will find between every type of manager you have is the ability to “manage up” will make the most out of this relationship.
What do Managers do?
It’s in the name, managers manage something, and it can vary based on the role and the person. That something can be 1. people 2. technology or 3. product. You should pay special attention to what they seem to talk about, as it usually is something that they are personally vested in, and by aligning your work with their interests, you can create a great working relationship. Managers will usually cover all of these to a certain degree. I just want to make a note that no focus is more important than the other, and they are all important to the success of the organization.
Managing People
This is probably what you thought when I first mentioned managers. Their goal is to focus on their people - are my people happy, are my people effective, and are my people working together good are some questions that they commonly ask themselves.
In my experience in the software industry is that managers don’t focus enough on this aspect, as they were promoted through as software developer for their technical prowess but not exactly great with people.
Managing Technology
This will probably be your most common manager, a developer who was promoted to manage a team. They are usually very hands on with the technical vision and roadmap of the team.
This type of manager can be your best resource or biggest pain when it comes to handling. Because they are so involved in the technology, they will have a good idea of where you are in the team and how you are doing. Also because they are involved with the technology they may have a expectations around how things should work, and I’ve been in positions where they want to get their opinions out more than they want to mentor you.
Managing Product
These managers will be focused on the business side of things, making sure that your team is delivering business features in a timely manner. They will probably focus a lot of the metrics and delivery process of the team.
What is Managing Up?
Now that you have a base understanding of what managers do, what is “managing up”? Managing up is simply the process of proactively working with your manager to align with their goals. When you learn to manage up, it’s like discovering a super power.
What are your Tools?
Here are some tools of “managing up”:
- Facilitating upward communication (Sending periodic updates to your manager)
- Actively listening to your manager’s focus
- Coming up with ways to help your manager
- Knowing how to communicate with your manager
Scenarios
Facilitating Upward Communication
Probably one of the easist solutions to a micro-manager is to simply manage up. Make sure that you give them updates before they ask. Over time the will learn they don’t have to ask you because you give them the feedback they want - at your own pace. Going into a little psychology, the reason most micro-managers exist is because they don’t trust others to complete work, and they feel that its on them to make sure things get done. If we view it from that angle, giving them the information they want wil fulfill that need and build trust between each other that things are getting completed.
Assisting your manager’s focus
Being proactive in the relationship unlocks opportunities that wouldn’t have been available otherwise. If you can pinpoint what your manager’s focus is, you can start to think of ways that would benefit both of you. Let’s give for example that your manager is a people person and talks a lot about how can prepare new developers for the organization. Your takeaway from this is that the organization needs a way of preparing developers better. You’re a new pair of eyes and are going through this process, this is a great opportunity to find how you can improve what your going through! Give them your feedback of your experience, which shows that you are actively thinking of ways to improve things, and also helps your manager out by aligning with their goals.