A Managing Up Means Being Proactive

"Managing up" means taking responsibility for your job and working to establish a proactive relationship with your manager. To do this, you will need to:

• Talk with you manager to understand his or her goals, objectives and priorities—and then strategize how you can best positively help contribute to those goals through your efforts and job performance.
• Work to understand your manager's style and preferred method of interaction—and then flex yourself to work with their style.
• Regularly report into your boss about your accomplishments, concerns or issues, and performance—so he or she doesn't need to come to you asking how things are going.

That's the short answer. Here's more detail about how to go about "managing up":

Step 1: Talk with your manager.
To start, sit down with your manager to discuss your concerns and questions, and to review your goals and objectives for the year and for any projects for which you are responsible. Your objective in this meeting is to get your manager's "buy in" and reach conditions which you MUTUALLY agree are beneficial for you, your team, and the organization.

Step 2: Understand your manager's communication style.
Some managers have little time and want to "get to the point" quickly so they can make a decision. Others like to schedule time to talk in detail about their plans and your performance. Find out what your manager is like and then work to adapt to that style as much as you can. To learn his or her preferred type of interaction:

• Ask if they want a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly update on the progress of your goals or projects.
• Find out if they prefer a written report with lots of details or verbal summaries with just the highlights.
• Do they want to meet with you in person for each progress report? Or, do they prefer that you email them so they can follow-up with questions?

Step 3: Proactively check-in with your boss about how things are going.

In addition to simply reporting to your boss, "managing up" means NOT bringing problems to your manager expecting him or her to "fix" things. When you bring a problem to their attention, do so with a fully analyzed solution you are recommending. (Click to learn more about my recommended problem solving and decision making model.)

Managing up is all about how you go about earning the trust and respect of your manager by working together to create the best possible working relationship.

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A Networking = Actively Building Contacts and Relationships

Networking is actively building up contacts and business relationships with those you meet. It's introducing yourself to and getting to know many different people, then maintaining that "network" with regular contact. Why? To share information and help others so they will then want to help you, should the need ever arise.

Networking can be within your company, within your industry, within your personal life, or within the community in which you live. It can be just about anywhere! The trick is following up and actively making those contacts part of your network.

Having a network of colleagues and friends can be incredibly helpful. The Verizon Wireless ads should give you an idea of what I mean. In that scenario, the "network" that you get when you choose to do business with Verizon is not just an electronic wireless technology; it's an integrated collection of people who support each other to make something happen.

A "network" provides you with additional people who will gladly help make you aware of job opportunities and promotion opportunities and, if you network within your company, your network can help you keep your finger on the pulse of the business opportunities and activities outside of your current department.

It has been my experience that women tend to spend less time networking than men. This is somewhat amazing—since we are so good at talking and sharing in our personal relationships! So focus your female strengths and instincts toward talking and sharing to get to know people in your industry!

Networking is a great way to get to know people in your community, in your existing workplace and in other businesses. Networking helps you expand your circle of friends. It provides additional contacts for current and future job opportunities, and it helps create a solid support system as you move forward in your career.

Networking should be a key part of every woman's career! Here's a test: if you were looking for a job, how many people do you know that you could contact and ask them if they were aware of any job opportunities or other individuals they could refer you to? The more you network, the bigger that list of people will become!

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