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Supervisor Maintenance
WORKING EFFECTIVELY WITH YOUR SUPERVISOR
This article deals with ways you can work in harmony with your supervisor. We often see managers struggle in their working relationship with their supervisor and sometimes they just don't see where they're going wrong. Lets take a look at a situation that Mr. Ima Dooless, Mgr. has run into and see where he went wrong.
Mr. Dooless was up for a promotion within his organization. This promotion was something that he really wanted and felt he had been working towards during his ten years in the agency. His current supervisor would be making the final decision on who would get the job and Dooless felt he had a good shot since he was up against Mr. Ima Doogood Mgr. who Dooless considered a brownnoser.
As it turned out, Mr. Dooless was turned down for the promotion in favor of Mr. Doogood. Dooless was dumb founded and struggled to figure out what went wrong, but in the end he chalked it up to that brownnosing Doogood. To see what happened, let's take a look at some of the ways Mr. Dooless has interacted and cooperated with his supervisor over the last ten years.
Whose goals are important?
Ima Dooless felt his agencies mission and his supervisor's expectations where unrealistic and didn't reflect what he felt his office should be concentrating on. He had spent the last ten years accomplishing some of what his supervisor felt was important but never committed himself 100% to his supervisor's goals or his agency's mission.
See a problem here? Let's face it. Whether we like it or not, we all work for someone. The effective manager will concentrate his efforts on the goals and objectives laid out by his agency and supervisor.
Your supervisor's goals should be your goals. Most agencies have a mission or vision that they work from. If employees don't buy into this mission, the agency, or in this case the employee is doomed to failure. Ask yourself this question.
Do I want to be known as a manager who can get the job done, or do I want to be known as someone who has his own agenda?
It may sound obvious, but Dooless's agency hired him to help them achieve their mission. Why then do some managers set out on a path of personal agendas and sacrifice their own future within the agency?
If Dooless would have worked the last ten years as a team player, he might have gotten that promotion that he wanted so badly. Ima Doogood saw the importance of sticking to the agency's mission and made sure that he committed himself to addressing all the aspects of that mission.
Whose decision is it?
There were several really tough decisions to be made by Mr. Dooless in the last ten years. One involved firing an employee and the other dealt with employee lay offs.
Dooless's supervisor wanted him to make both decisions since the affected employees worked in his office and the outcomes would affect the work environment of his staff.
Dooless didn't like this part of the job and reasoned that these types of decisions were the realm of higher management. The truth is he couldn't bring himself to make the call so he attempted to push the decision up to his supervisor.
Dooless dragged his feet so long on making both decisions that his supervisor wound up making the call in both cases. This is what Dooless was hoping for.
Now he could point the finger at his supervisor as the bad guy, but in reality he lost credibility with his staff and supervisor. His staff knew it was his decision to make as their manager and his supervisor hired him to make calls like that.
As managers, we are scrutinized on our ability to make good decisions. Sometimes they're tough decisions we have to make, regardless of how uncomfortable we are in making them.
It's OK to involve your supervisor in the decision making process. Some supervisors want and even demand involvement, but if it's your decision, make it! Remember, your supervisor has his own tough calls; he may resent having to make yours for you.
If your're wondering, yes, Ima Doogood had similar decisions of his own. After careful thought, he consulted with his supervisor, Human Resources Director and other staff and made the calls on his own. In the end his employees respected him for making those tough decisions and it also helped him get a promotion.
Selling your ideas
Over the years, Ima Dooless came up with what he thought were some good ideas. These ideas ranged from new software to improve office efficiency to a more streamlined system for tracking expenditures, but no matter how hard he argued with his supervisor, he couldn't get his ideas implemented. Dooless finally gave up on his ideas figuring that his boss was stuck in the old way of doing things and was afraid of trying something new.
The truth is, his ideas were very good. Dooless just didn't know how to present them to his supervisor. His supervisor knew what worked and wasn't willing to change unless Dooless could prove the value of his ideas.
Dooless wasn't willing to give the extra effort it would take to demonstrate the value of these proposals. Here's what he could have done.
If you want to sell new ideas to your supervisor, remember one word, DATA. Dooless could have contacted the software company or another agency currently using the software and put together a comparison of the two systems.
He also could have requested a letter from that other agency using the software that spelled out the benefits of the system to them. Perhaps Dooless could have put together a time saving comparison between the two operating systems that would have sold his supervisor on the idea.
The bottom line here is that just arguing your point will not always win people over to your ideas. You need numbers, facts, percentages or any other data that will prove your point.
Ima Doogood knew the value of data and had no problem selling his ideas and implementing positive changes for his office. He made sure he had the facts to support his ideas before presenting them to his supervisor.
Keep your supervisor informed!
Ima Dooless liked the independence of his job. His office was located in another city, miles from his supervisor. He liked the fact that he didn't have a boss breathing down his neck. He went about his duties and reported to his supervisor only when he was required to in the form of a monthly report.
Dooless resented those weekly and sometimes daily calls from his boss, requesting progress updates or inquires about his schedule. He saw these contacts as his supervisor not trusting him and looking over his shoulder.
Do you see the problem here? It looks like Dooless was a little too independent. Simply emailing a weekly schedule and progress report to his supervisor would have kept Dooless out of hot water.
Bosses are different in how much information they want. Some require just a little and some want to know everything that's going on. It's up to you to find out how much information your boss needs from you.
Most of the time they will spell this out and sometimes you will have to gauge for yourself based on their inquiries, or you could just ask! Keep in mind that your boss has someone that he has to report to, so it reflects badly on you if he doesn't have all the information he needs.
Remember, if you want your supervisor to feel confident that you're doing what your supposed to do, keep him informed. Dooless might have gotten that promotion if he would have communicated with his supervisor more effectively.
Brown-noser?
Yes, Ima Doogood wound up with the promotion. It's sad that Dooless saw him as a brownnoser, because he could have learned a lot from him. While Dooless spent the last ten years doing things they way he saw fit, Doogood concentrated on what his supervisor and agency felt where priority.
Doogood communicated effectively, made tough (uncomfortable) decisions and always made sure he had the facts to back himself up with. Doogood knew how some of the other managers viewed him, but in the end he knew in order to achieve personal success, you have to help your supervisor and your agency succeed.
BE A TEAM PLAYER AND WIN!
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