Managing Up
Being a manager can be challenging. Being a great manager is even more complicated. As an employee, there will be times when you will need to Manage Up to support your career growth, and to keep things moving. It can be especially challenging when you have a manager that may not have the same communication or leadership style as you. The Employee Development team designed this professional chart to help staff with tools and techniques to improve their working relationship with their manager. We created this learning journey to provide you with the skills and knowledge needed to Manage Up for success.
You will need approximately 2.5 hours to complete the main elements of this journey. However, you will find additional resources in the Dedicate step. These resources will give you a deeper dive into the subject of Managing Up.
Topics include:
- What is Managing Up?
- Personality, Social, and Work Styles
- Types of Managers
- Strategies for Working with Challenging Managers
Learning Objectives
At the end of this journey, you will be able to:
- Recall the benefits of Managing Up
- Identify your personality, social, and working style
- Summarize the different types of managers
- Assess your manager’s type and working styles
- Define and apply strategies to use with your manager
Available Training Credits
- CPE (NASBA): 1.0
- PDU (PMI): 0.50
Learning Journey
We begin every journey with reflection as it is a powerful tool for personal and professional growth. For this journey, you will reflect on your personality and social style type. Understanding yourself better will help you evaluate the relationship dynamics you have with your manager. Spending 15-20 minutes on this activity would be appropriate.
Reflective Activity - Your Social Style
Got time for more? Check out the skill benchmark: Building Collaborative Relationships. The ability to collaborate effectively will support a successful relationship with your manager, colleagues, friends, and family.
Mary Abbajay, President of the Careerstone Group and the author of Managing UP, delivers an impactful webinar on the power of managing up in this CSUs Got Talent recording. Plan to spend approximately 70-90 minutes on this step in the journey.
Managing Up: How To Move Up, Win At Work, And Succeed With Any Type Of Boss (70 minutes)
Let’s practice what we have learned. Using what you know now, use the worksheet to list the qualities of your working style and that of your manager. Reflect on strategies that you can use to improve your collaborative relationship. Also, note the things that you may be doing that might not be serving to support a better relationship. Take the time to be thoughtful and authentic in your responses for this exercise. Allow 15 to 20 minutes for this exercise.
Congratulations on your progress! You have reflected on your personality, social, and work styles and that of your manager. This knowledge will support building a more collaborative and rewarding relationship with your manager. The following resources are provided to you as optional learning opportunities. They give you a deeper dive into tools and resources to build a better working relationship with your manager. These resources range from 9 minutes to 3.5 hours.
- Managing Up: How To Move Up, Win At Work, And Succeed With Any Type Of Boss - Digital Book (3.5 hours)
- Lead Your Boss: The Subtle Art of Managing Up Digital Book Summary (9 minutes)
- A Difficult Boss Doesn't Have to Be a Difficult Problem Course (19 minutes)
- Listening Even When It's Difficult to Listen - Course (22 minutes)
How was the journey? Do you think you have moved the needle? In the final step of your journey, you will reassess your relationship and reflect on the steps you applied.