Course Outcomes

This course for managing up will:

  • Provide tools for assessing what is important to others.
  • Outline techniques for establishing routines and procedures.
  • Offer techniques for enhancing listening skills.
  • Suggest language for delivering messages to the boss and to others on the boss’s behalf.
  • Give solid tips for handling surprises.
  • Recommend tactics for supporting multiple bosses.
  • Propose techniques for managing stress.

Course Overview

The number one reason people quit their jobs is a bad manager or poor immediate supervisor, and that’s not much of a surprise. There certainly are people who should not be in charge of others. However, sometimes a relationship between managers and their subordinates goes bad because of differences in work styles and breakdowns in communication – both issues that can be effectively managed with the right knowledge and tools. This course is designed to help those who want to learn tactics for systematically improving relationships with the people they support.

Program Objectives

At this program’s conclusion, participants should be able to:

  • Explain the importance of a good impression and how to make one on the boss even if it’s not a new boss.
  • Assess the status of their current relationship and identify concrete actions they can take to make improvements.
  • Demonstrate how to effectively meet with a boss to discuss status, problems, opportunities, etc.
  • Effectively convey an image that enhances a boss’s reputation.
  • Explain actions they can take for dealing with difficult bosses.

The following outline highlights some of the course’s key learning points. As part of your training program, we will modify content as needed to meet your business objectives. Upon request, we will provide you with a copy of the participant materials prior to the session(s).

Workshop Outline

Stop, Look, and Listen: Assessing the Situation

This program begins with a needs assessment to determine the participants’ strengths in working with the boss and focus areas for improvement. Participants will articulate what they do well and what they would like to do better.

Green, Yellow, and Red: Establishing Rules and Routines

Our next segment discusses the importance of establishing routines and systems when working for others. Additionally, this portion of the program offers tactics for reducing surprises for people who often get assignments at the last minute, end up redoing work unnecessarily, and so forth. 

Yield Signs: Listening for Better Understanding

Listening well is one of the most valued skills managers seek in those they supervise. In this section of the program, participants will learn how to adopt “listening body language,” how and when to ask questions to find out what the boss really wants, and how to confirm understanding.

One Way, Wrong Way, No Way: Delivering Message to the Boss and for the Boss

Just as real estate is usually about location, location, and location, work is often about reputation – the employee’s and the boss’s. How someone manages messages to the boss or for the boss can affect how he or she is perceived. The portion of the program focuses on adapting messages to people with different styles and choosing words that convey messages in the most appropriate way possible.

Accidents: Handling the Unexpected

Accidents and mistakes happen even to the best. How people react to error is the measure of a true professional.  In this portion of the workshop, participants will discuss techniques for effectively packaging bad news and offering solutions. They will also talk about strategies for establishing talking points and staying on message.

Traffic Jams: Moving Paper and Getting Things Done

Getting it all done and staying on top of email and voicemail is a challenge in today’s busy workplace. In this segment, participants will discuss best practices for staying on top of the work when there is too much of it and when and how to discuss an unmanageable workload with the boss.

Road Rage: Keeping Your Cool with Tough Bosses

It’s true that there are bad bosses in the workplace. Sometimes it’s just a bad fit. Other times, the situation is worse. This segment addresses coping with difficult bosses and challenging situations.

Maps and Directions: Setting Realistic Goals

The program ends with a goal-setting segment where participants will identify two or three actions they plan to implement immediately.

At the program’s conclusion, participants will have an understanding of what it takes to develop and maintain a solid working relationship with a boss.