Managing Your Manager: 5.07

You know what class they should teach in business school but don't? Employment 101: Managing Your Manager.

So, racing into the gap is your faithful Assistant/Atlas with the basic lessons that will help keep your boss happy and you from going insane.

And all of us college grads know that most classes spend weeks driving home info that might best presented in quick bullet points. Or in this case, a simple, though by no means complete, list.

1) Your boss is always right. It's your job to quietly insert reality into their "rightness" until they are, in fact, right. Make sure to slowly dribble in the reality with hints, otherwise it could seem like your boss was actually wrong.

2) Always overload your boss with information. That way, it's less likely that they'll have time to get through it all and demand additional info. They probably will anyway, but that brings us to...

3) Never show all your cards. Your boss will always ask for more on whatever initial proposal/info/calls you make, so if you can already have the potential follow-up done when he asks, then you've got an hour or two to look at Defamer or something while you pretend to work.

4) Anticipate your boss' need to micromanage. Most Big Bosses feel the need to run everything. Your job is ask small questions (that are ultimately unimportant but don't necessarily appear that way) to make your manager feel like you need him/her. Even though your job would probably be infinitely easier if you just did everything yourself.

5) If you feel a tirade from your boss coming on, the pre-emptive sincere apology followed with an "I'm-young-and-learning" defense will usually deflate the sails of even the most fearsome executives*.

6) Keep your boss busy. When a boss gets bored, they often decide that the reason for their boredom is that their employees aren't working hard enough. Nevermind that the actual reason they're bored is that they don't have real work and their employees are doing all of it for them. Just overschedule and you'll be fine.

7) Prepare for things to go wrong. Because they will. Usually in unexpected ways that you couldn't possibly have foreseen. So screw it. Just learn to fly by the seat of your pants. Whee!!

*Weinsteins not included.


TECHNORATI TAGS: Business Management, employment, assistant, Manager