Read The Signs For Effective Upward Management

One of the most useful attributes you can have in managing upwards is the ability to read people and their situations. Being a good listener is essential, but your managerial antennae should always be alert to the behaviour of your own manager and you should try to slot into his or her bandwidth.

If you take time to get to know your manager, then dealing with him (or her) will be considerably easier than simply taking each meeting as it comes. Get to know their likes and dislikes, and look out for those little foibles that we all have. Listen carefully to the way they speak: do they like to pepper their speech with jargon and buzz words, or is their preference plain English? If they have an aversion to jargon and you use it all of the time, then you will struggle to win them over.

If you look hard enough, you will probably discover that your manager has at least one weakness. It could be that she struggles with adding up, or maybe she is not too good with grammar. Whatever it is, you can strengthen your relationship with her by offering to help when she is faced with this weakness. In making such an offer, you should not come across like you are her saviour, as this will make her feel worse about her weakness. Keep it low key.

Readable signals are not restricted to speech and body language, however. Take this email, for example.

Lou

I have R coming in this afternoon. Please mail me the TSR figures so I can show him.

Thanks

J

This is a straightforward request for information, but the way it is written tells us a lot about the sender. The abrupt salutation, the use of initials rather than full names and the lack of anything other than essential details in the body of the mail all point towards it having been sent by someone who is very busy. Lou should take all of these factors on board before replying. Her standing with her manager would go down if she gave her the following reply to sift through:

Hi Joanne

Well, it's Monday again. I hope you had a nice weekend. Our barbecue was ruined by the weather but we had a nice night out at the Red Lion :o) Brian's car wouldn't start this morning so I had to come in on the metro.

By the way, I have had Robertson's on this morning to confirm next Tuesday's appointment. Tom has never been here before, but he has a sat nav, so he should be on time.

Anyway, I have attached the TSR figures you requested. Let me know if you need anything else.

Best wishes

Lou

This is not how to reply to what was clearly an urgent email. Everyday chit-chat has no place in a mail that responds to a direct request, and the smiling emoticon in a business-like email serves only to irritate. It is not necessary to include the confirmation of a meeting that is eight days away in this particular mail, and the very crux of the mail is tacked onto the end, almost an afterthought.

Lou should have sensed the urgency from the way Joanne wrote her mail, and she should have responded in kind.

J

Please find attached the information you requested.

Regards

Lou

While we are on the subject of emails, you should always blow your own trumpet when the situation allows. If you have completed a project on time and within budget, and you are sending out emails of acknowledgement to your team, copy your manager in on the mail to make sure she knows that a) the project came in on time, and b) you are a good a leader.

Managing upwards can be a delicate task. Dealing with someone who has the power to promote, or fire, you requires tact and care. Getting to know them better, and finding out what makes them tick, can make the job of handling them a lot easier. Reading the signs and acting accordingly will give you a head start in the building of a solid working relationship.