One of the most important things that matters at work is having a good relationship with boss. As long as you work for someone you need to report to some boss. Sometimes people say 'I don't want any boss and like being on my own'. If you have such an idea talk to people who are 'self-employed'. Unless a self-employed person is 'exceptional' rarely this pleasure of 'no boss' is enjoyable.

 

Understanding what is important for the boss is not easy. Following are a few dynamic situations that can occur and how to handle them.

 

Supporting 'New Ideas'

 

Lot of times your boss may assign a new task to you. He will get 'an idea' and he will want you to work on this new idea and come up with results. In this knowledge driven business organizations this can happen many times. What to do in this scenario?

 

Managers and senior persons in organizations are responsible for coming up with new methods, procedures, tools, systems to improve organizational productivity and pursue new business opportunities through innovation. They are always bothered by some nagging problems, business opportunities, revenues and improvements. Their mind is constantly busy with 'possible' solutions. But it is not possible to work out finer details on new ideas alone. So when your boss rushes into your office and asks you think about a new possibility:

 

• Do not kill the idea: Don't give lot of negative feedback. Your boss is only discussing a new possibility and does not expect you to deliver a solution immediately. He is just conveying the idea and as he is explaining his mind he is thinking in background about viability of the same.

• Do not put too much pressure: Don't expect too many details at first. Understand that even he is aware of working out the details and by insisting on 'details' you give a negative message.

• Understand motivation: Understand what problem your boss is trying to tackle with this new idea. Ask more questions to get clarity on this and while discussing rephrase what your boss said and confirm your understanding.

• Listen: Listen completely to his idea without jumping to conclusions. The idea may be impossible or very difficult to implement. But listening to him completely is very important. Through the process of explaining the boss may realize that his idea is not viable and leave it at that. But he will continue think about new ideas which will solve the 'persisting' problem.

Delegation of tasks and responsibilities is what bosses rely on. 

 

Productivity:

 

One of the most important challenge for any boss is to ensure his team members are 'productive'.

 

Productivity can be defined as how a team member has contributed to the team and/or organization goals. Every task you take up and perform will evaluated on this basis of "is it productive?".

 

Though some meetings may be unproductive and boring for us, they may be highly productive for managers as they get to know finer details of some of the tasks being performed by the team which are otherwise unknown.

 

Don't do tasks in an inefficient manner. When you report a task status, your boss may be interested in knowing finer details of how you performed the task. If they sense inefficiency they will be bothered by it. When you report status on tasks, a boss will always think, "is there scope for improvement?". Can it be done faster? Will this task need to be automated? Is there anything to be learned from this experience? What are the mistakes made in this task that can be avoided? and so on... This is a never ending process.

They will gain confidence and trust in you if they consistently find that you are productive and efficient in your task execution with very little waste of time and resources. Whatever feedback you receive from your boss will depend on this 'productivity' basis. 

 

Decision Making

 

Bosses always have a different view or picture of tasks we perform. It is very difficult to understand this. Your view of your task is from your perspective whereas boss will always see it from team/organization perspective. Think of your view as "view from 10th floor" and your boss view as "view from aero-plane". There is a big difference. The information and communication they receive can be a lot different from what we see and know. Because of this they will be able to make decisions faster and in a different manner.  Decision making is the task they are involved from morning to night and every day.

 

 

Understanding expectations

 

Understanding expectations your boss has on you is not so easy.  And it is also not possible to set expectations and goals upfront. Expectations vary from task to task and day to day. While assigning a 'routine' task you will be expected to do it with perfection. While assigning "new challenge" task it is 'open-minded'. Making mistakes on such tasks is acceptable. If you come up with a magic solution even your boss couldn't think about then you are 'exceeding expectations'. And expectations also vary based on many other factors.

 

Avoid "I am better than my boss" attitude

 

Sometimes I have seen this kind of attitude come up. A team member can be superior in some ways. Team member may be better skilled and have different experience in some specific task. That does not make one better than his/her boss. It need not be necessary that a boss should always have superior knowledge in the skills you possess. If that becomes a criteria no one can manage a 'team' of diverse skills. Bosses possess different skills from team members. I strongly advise anyone who tends to have such tendency to get a bigger picture to understand what makes your boss - a 'boss'.

 

What do bosses rely on?

 

Bosses rely on intuition, information, trust, forecasts, plans, people and lot more things to do their work. They don't necessarily need to have a superior knowledge but their skills in above makes them seniors.

 

What about people management?

 

People management is a 'special task' every manager handles. Every one develops their own 'style' of managing their team. I have worked with so many people and each one has a unique style. Despite any procedures it is not possible to ask people to adopt a standard style of managing people. It is not possible and it is also not recommended. People are not machines to be managed with 'Standard Operating Procedures'. There should always be a scope for innovation and improvement on how managers manage their team, motivate them. 

They are also continuously thinking about team morale, individual morale. They have high responsibility for maintaining morale of each individual in the team and ensuring their satisfaction. Giving important tasks to each individual, giving necessary inputs, infrastructure, support and following up on the tasks is very strenuous job. Added to this managing expectations of each team member is another challenge. Each team member has his unique potential that needs to be tapped appropriately and guided towards organization goals. This is daily challenge for bosses.

A boss who has highly 'self-motivated' persons is the most happiest person. If he has any 'difficult to deal with' persons on his team, his attention gets diverted lot of times and decreases his own effectiveness. Lot of times they take this as a challenge and do their best to 'transform' a difficult to deal with person to a good team member.

 

Summary:

Being a boss is not an easy job. Accountability and responsibilities are higher for a boss and understanding this one should always co-operate with the boss. By doing this not only you help your boss succeed, you also help your team succeed. Have the idea 'Boss is always right' at back of your mind. Similar to 'Customer is always right' - by respecting customer and listening to him can improve customer satisfaction. Understanding your boss, respecting his opinions, values, views and supporting him is very important. There may be exceptional cases where you may disagree with him. Then you need to convey the disagreement in a very delicate and suggestive manner than a rebellious manner.

Lot of times bosses also play a mentor role. Be always watchful and try to learn from your boss. There are subtle values, opinions, working styles that you can learn from them which they have gained in their experience. I have learned a lot from my bosses and always tried to implement them whenever possible.

A boss's job becomes tougher and tougher as they get more responsibilities. Everyone will gradually grow into a boss role and will experience these challenges when the time comes. Always do your best to support your boss.

Share your views on this article/experiences with your boss by sending mail to me at cskishore@cskishore.com . I plan to collect different views from others and post them again.