Sunday, February 24, 2008

Five Ways To Mange Your Boss (without Him Or Her Knowing It!)

Five Ways To Mange Your Boss (without Him Or Her Knowing It!)
by Jack Forrest

With spring around the corner, many young men and women are preparing to graduate. Many of them will enter the business world for the first time. If they are like me, there will be certain lessons they will learn to be successful. One of the most important lessons is how to manage your boss. Read on below to find 5 simple steps to managing your boss.

Give your boss regular updates, even if he or she doesn't ask for it. Yes, this is just another form of "communication". Some bosses will demand regular updates, while others don't. But all bosses want to know that progress is being made, especially on high-profile projects. Don't save bad news or problem issues for later. The sooner you let your boss know there is a problem, the faster the two of you can work together to come up with a solution. I know, this can be scary, and some bosses don't take bad news well. But it's better to get the issue out on the table. Trust me, you don't want to wait until the day a project is due to tell your boss that the deadline was impossible to attain!

Don't be disorganized. Whether you have a set meeting with your boss or not don't treat it like a social event. Show up prepared. Be organized. Written notes are a good idea unless you have a killer memory. For the boss who just likes to surprise you with surprise visits at your desk, a list you update daily is a good idea to make sure that he or she can't get the better of you.

Most bosses, if asked, will say they don't want to be interrupted. But there is a fine art of following up with your boss on important issues. You don't want to bug him or her but you do need to get attention when you need it. Be persistent but not pesty. Be courteous of their privacy and knock before entering their office and never enter when they are on the phone unless you have a prescheduled meeting and they wave you in.

Do what you can to make the boss look good. At the very least, do what you can to make her job easier. We would all like to get credit for every bit of work we perform, but sometimes doing the work and helping your boss look good for that big meeting will pay you more dividends than getting the immediate recognition. And yes, some bosses are better than others at giving credit where credit is due. But if your boss learns he can rely on you to make him look good, chances are he'll eventually ask you to make that next big presentation instead of him.

Be grateful for the job and be respectful of the burdens your boss is carrying. All to often all we see is a person who's making more money than us and, perhaps, we are a bit envious of them. We start expecting them to be more intelligent, more mature, and more subject to our needs. But think of the impact you will create when you let your boss know that you are happy to have your job and respect them as a person. I'm not advocating being some sort of overly optimistic happy Harry or to kiss up to your boss at every turn. No it's a quiet gratitude and gentle respect I'm advocating.

I assure you that if you follow these five steps not only will you see greater success in the business world than do those who don't, you'll end up being happier as well. And that's just goodness no matter how you look at it.

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