Key points
- Managing up means cultivating a better relationship with your boss.
- It’s also about doing your job better by understanding the bigger picture and focusing on your boss’s overall objectives.
- Anyone with a boss can benefit from managing up.
- Managing up can result in a happier workplace experience and more career advancement.
For anyone who has a boss (which is most of us), the relationship with your work superior can feel like a perpetually top-down affair.
Your boss is, well, the boss — so it only makes sense if you’re constantly striving to please them or live up to their expectations.
But while it might seem like being a good employee means putting your head down and following orders, simply worker bee-ing your way through the day isn’t always the best policy.
A concept called “managing up” can help you create a more level playing field with your boss, ultimately improving the relationship in both directions.
Here’s what it means to manage up, and why it’s a smart move for any employee.
What is managing up?
Managing up is a way to cultivate a better relationship with your boss. In essence, it’s managing the person who manages you.
The purpose isn’t to manipulate or get on your boss’s good side, say John J. Gabarro and John P. Kotter in their chapter “Managing Your Boss” in the book Leadership: Understanding the Dynamics of Power and Influence in Organizations.
They describe managing up as “the process of consciously working with your superior to obtain the best possible results for you, your boss, and the company.”
It’s all about creating good rapport, understanding your boss’ leadership and communication style, and adapting your own work style to flow with theirs, according to the University of California at Merced.
In the reality of your workday, managing up can take various forms.
Gabarro and Kotter point out it’s when an employee understands that their boss won’t necessarily know everything the employee needs to do their job well, so they ask for information when they need it rather than waiting for their boss to give it to them.
Managing up might also look like maintaining regular check-in meetings where you get to know your boss on a more personal level. This way you can get to understand the approach they take to managing their team and the work at hand.
Or it could mean taking action to make your manager’s job easier, such as acting with your manager’s objectives and pressures in mind, staying on top of team deadlines beyond your own, or taking initiative on an important project.
Managing up doesn’t mean fawning or taking on your boss’ workload.
Rather, the point is to create a thriving bidirectional relationship.
8 techniques for managing up
Want to make the most of your relationship with your boss? Try these five managing up techniques.
1. Ask your boss questions
It can be a fatal mistake to think you don’t need your boss and you can do everything you need to do without their support.
Ask your boss questions to make sure you have all the resources and critical information you need to do the job well, recommend Gabarro and Kotter.
“Many [people] assume that the boss will magically know what information or help their subordinates need and provide it to them,” they write.
2. Don’t assume your boss knows everything
They’re fallible, just like you. And that means they may not give you the right information or resources you need to do the job.
After all, they’re not in your shoes and might not see everything you see about your position.
That’s one reason why you can make yourself invaluable when you anticipate what they might not know and provide information or suggestions on how things could be done better, or ask questions to help make sure you’ll be able to do your job well.
3. Get to know your boss
Though we may hold different positions at work, we’re all just people. Get to know your boss as a human being in the context of their own job — their work style, goals, pressures, biases, and blind spots.
This allows you to tailor your behavior and deliverables to their expectations, and help them where they need it, the Wall Street Journal suggests.
For example, if it seems like your boss is frequently asking you for updates, they probably have a need to know more details about what you’re doing — so tell them before they ask, instead.
You can even proactively suggest a regular time at which you provide regular updates.
4. Be crystal clear on your boss’s goals
You’ll have to ask them to explain these. Don’t assume you know them, Gabarro and Kotter recommend. Many people have personal and business goals wrapped up in the same job.
When you know their true goals, you can use them as a compass to help you keep working in the right direction, even when circumstances and projects change.
5. Speak up about potential improvements
Maybe you’ve got a great idea for how the company could save money, a plan to improve a project, or a fun suggestion for this year’s holiday party.
Don’t hesitate to share it with your boss. Speaking up shows you’re invested in your workplace (and might make your manager’s life easier).
6. Be a leader in your own right
In a healthy workplace, the more you demonstrate your ability to lead, the more you’ll be called upon to lead.
Look for opportunities to show your boss you can handle responsibility, such as spearheading a workplace wellness initiative or volunteering to chair a committee.
By taking the initiative, you’ll stand out from the crowd.
7. Keep the lines of communication open
Email or Slack are fine for quick communication, but consider going deeper with your boss by scheduling a regular lunch, Zoom meeting, or other one-on-one connection.
During this consistent check-in, you can keep them in the loop about the status of anything you’re working on, plus get a sense of what’s currently on their plate.
8. Lighten your boss’s load
Once you’ve got the lowdown on your boss’s needs, you can offer support in more meaningful ways.
If there’s a task they need help with, throw your hat in the ring to get it done. When you lighten your boss’ load, it promotes not only their success, but yours too, Forbes reports.
When should you manage up?
No matter the job, any employee can benefit from managing up. (Wouldn’t we all like to have actually good relationships with our managers?)
Here are some scenarios where managing up can be especially handy, according to Harvard Business Review. When you’re:
- starting with a new boss
- working with a remote manager
- dealing with an insecure or ego-driven boss
- working for multiple bosses at once
Your own professional goals can also dictate the degree to which you manage up.
Whether you’d like to advance in the workplace, negotiate for a higher salary, or request to work from home, establishing a solid connection with your superior is a way to position yourself well.
Is managing up ever a bad idea?
Since managing up involves creating a healthy, mutually beneficial relationship with your boss, it’s really never a bad idea.
That said, not every form of managing up is right for every work situation.
If you work in an environment where roles are very clearly defined, for example, offering to help your boss with certain projects within their job description might be inappropriate.
Additionally, some tactics that might appear like managing up could actually be sucking up.
Managing up means working with your boss in a mutually beneficial way — not making yourself a doormat. Groveling, flattery, and martyrdom aren’t part of the package.
The final word
Managing up makes the boss-employee relationship a team effort, not a power struggle.
As an employee, you can demonstrate your value with these techniques.