From Ebenezer Scrooge maltreating his clerk, Bob Cratchit in Dickens's A Christmas Carol, to the tyrannical Blakey making the lives of his bus crews a misery in the sitcom On the Buses, the relationship between bosses and those under their authority has often been portrayed as one where the latter live in fear of the former. Fortunately we now live in more enlightened times, where the emphasis is on communication rather than domination.

Having said that, the workplace can still be a cauldron of high emotion and sometimes the prospect of relaying bad news to a senior colleague can be daunting one. This is where effective upward management comes into play. But sometimes that news is not conveyed because of ineffective upward management. Here are some types who might not pass important information upwards.

The Yes Man
It may seem like a no brainer to say that if you give your manager everything he or she asks for then all will be well in the workplace. The reality is that this approach is doomed to fail.

First of all your manager will become aware that you never disagree with anything that is put forward. This will be seen as a sign of weakness on your part, as a good manager is not one who constantly tells senior colleagues what they want to hear, but one who is not afraid to tell them what they don't want to hear.

Another flaw in this approach is that you will not be able to stick to agreements you have made. At a meeting with your manager, you are asked if you will be able to fulfil an order on time and you tell him, through habit as much as anything else, that you are on target to meet the deadline, even though you know that you are running slightly behind schedule.

You may get away with this for now, but senior management will be made aware when the project comes in late. Then, when you are summoned to the office and they ask if you misled them, you can only whimper "Yes".

The Scardey Cat
When things are going well and plaudits are forthcoming, communication with the manager runs smoothly. When things aren't going so well, however, relaying that bad news upwards is not such a pleasant experience. The scardey cat will consider whether it is even worth telling his or her superiors the news at all. This throws up several possible problems, as withholding information interrupts the flow of communication and sweeping something under the carpet now may have repercussions later on, as demonstrated in this scenario.

A supplier calls to say that they cannot fulfil your order as they do not have sufficient of the item in stock. They offer to send half the order now and the other half before the end of the week. You agree to this, but refrain from passing on this bad news to your manager; after all, the order will be completed by the end of the week and no-one will be any the wiser. The incomplete order is delivered and you calculate that you have enough to keep production going until the remainder arrives.

Then comes a bombshell. Workers at the haulage company that would deliver the remainder of your order have gone on strike. You are summoned to your manager's office for an urgent meeting to discuss the situation and he immediately expresses relief that you have recently taken delivery of an order and so production can continue.

So by holding back on bad news that was not of your making, you now have to relay news that is even worse, and that you are responsible for. Your manager will demand to know why he was not informed of the incomplete order.

Keeping your manager updated on all developments within a project is an essential part of managing upwards. Showing reluctance to pass on bad news to your manager is a sign of weakness that will not go unnoticed.

The Know All
While taking the responsibility to make important decisions is a good trait for a manager to possess, it is one that should be used carefully. The know-all believes that he knows best and decisions are made and tasks undertaken without even bothering to tell senior colleagues. Of course this can have major repercussions.

At Perkins' Piggy Banks Ltd, operators have just started a run of blue piggy banks when the dye runs out. There is none in stock and so production comes to a halt. The manager does a check and he discovers that a fresh load of blue dye will be delivered the following day, so he instructs the operators to continue making pink piggy banks for the rest of the day and they will catch up on the blue ones tomorrow.

The manager believes he is acting in the best interests of the company. He knows that his own manager is very busy and he made this autonomous decision to save time. This may be fine under certain circumstances, but there are times when you simply must keep your manager in the loop.

At the very time the run of pink piggy banks was starting, the senior manager was taking a call from a client asking if her order for blue piggy banks would arrive on time. The senior manager assured her that her piggy banks were being produced as he spoke and, after drying out they would be delivered on time.

After this call the senior manager went down to the production line to double check that the blue piggy banks were being produced. He looked at the conveyor belt and...

There is a common thread running through all of these examples: that communication with senior management at an earlier stage would have prevented, or greatly minimised the problems that arose. A good manager will be able to maintain the progress of a project. A really good manager will maintain good communications with his or her own manager to ensure that everyone knows exactly where they stand and any problems that arise can be dealt with in the early stages.

In all three cases above, the Titanic is sailing and the iceberg has been put into position by a lack of effective upward management. And nobody on board will be aware that anything is wrong until the collision occurs.