One out of the many challenges many professionals have in the work place is building relationship with their Boss/Managers/People. This is a relationship that needs to exist and must be professional because YOU need them, whether you are looking for more opportunities, promotion, and career change within the same organization, to take on a secondment opportunity or to get an internal opportunity or for personal reasons (life happens). So, you need that relationship and it must remain intact.
Here Are a Few Tips for Building Relationship With Your Manager/Boss/People Leader
1. Initiate constant meeting: If your organization doesn’t have a culture of check-ups – weekly/bi-weekly/monthly check ups, initiate it with your manager. This will help you to get to know them and they get to know you too.
2. Identify best communication style: Do they like to be emailed, WhatsApped, Texted or Called (Zoom, Skype, MS Teams, and Webex etc.). Be clear about how they want or like to be contacted. Respect their office and their time too. Knowing this will help you communicate better with them and on their preferred channel.
3. Get clear picture of success: What do you need to do on your role for them to consider you successful on your objectives. Ask specifically, “what do you need me to achieve this quarter”?. If not clear, ask for them to break it down and take on board what they want. Add your suggestions, review and update them if you need more clarity.
4. Share What You Need: What do you need to achieve your objectives. Flexible time – work early or late, tools and resources, support (manpower) etc.
5. Be Honest About Your Development Goals: You have a voice, use it. Tell them what you want too. Want to be promoted, ask. Want a pay raise, ask. Want to take on a secondment opportunity, ask. Want sponsorship to get a MBA, ask with a Why. What is it you want, be honest about it and tell your Manager. It is better to ask than to think you will be given, if you don’t ask, you don’t get, a lot of times. When you ask, the answer may be no, yes or not yet, just ask, and follow up till you receive.
Those are my five ways to build a solid relationship with you Manager/Boss/People Leader. If you are experiencing unhappiness at work, there is always a way to sort this out. In this POST, I shared how to deal with unhappiness at work.