What I Learned From Managing Up | by Reshma Gayadeen

Managing up to me is a way of creating the best working relationship with my line manager and creating a work environment that best suits my working style and needs. In this blog, I will share how I managed up in two very different circumstances.

Managing up is not an event — it’s an ongoing process that, when done right, can be very rewarding. Treat it as an investment, not an overhead.

My First Experience of Managing Up

My first experience of managing up was self-taught. I had developed a great working relationship with my former line manager from the start of our working relationship. We both set out clear expectations and I adapted well to his style of management. 

However, after two years of working together, he stepped up to cover an interim role whilst also keeping his current role as team manager. When this change in role took place, his priorities shifted, and we had limited time for regular catch-ups and scheduled supervision meetings. His new role meant that he operated in a reactive way (responding to issues as they happened rather than planning in advance ) when our style of working was previously proactive.  

I took the initiative to schedule our catch-ups and supervision meetings with included agendas to ensure that we were meeting our targets, that we did not miss any deadlines, and that I was able to raise any issues with him in a timely manner. I also took on additional responsibilities to ensure that I was providing support to him where needed. I later discovered that this was all part of the process of Managing Up.

Managing Up After Training and Coaching

Managing up is not always so straightforward though and I had my fair share of struggles trying to manage up effectively. Prior to going on maternity leave, there was a restructure at my organisation. My role was moved to a different team and my new line manager had no knowledge of what my role entailed. Coming back to work, I found it a struggle to adapt to her style of management and this made it frustrating for me. I was still trying to figure out a work-life balance as a new mum and this struggle was an unwanted one. I was not happy at work and my first instinct was to start looking for a new job.

However, after discussing my struggles with my Multiverse coach whom I was able to be open and honest with and attending a Managing Up training session, I realised that I could influence and change the working relationship I had with my new line manager.

The support I got helped me to understand my manager's style of management and what I could do to ensure that she built confidence and trust in our working relationship. It had a big impact on our working relationship and I ended up learning from her experience in project management and time management and I was able to pass on my knowledge and skills in my areas of expertise to her.

The main ways that I was able to successfully manage up were:

• Gaining an understanding of my manager’s management style- This allowed me to establish what gives her confidence that I’m carrying out my role effectively.
• Understanding how she would like to be supported- This allowed me to learn about the challenges she faced also being new in her position as line manager to our newly created team.
• Understanding my style of working- I like to be given clear directives and I like to take the lead.
• Learning her communication style- Whilst my previous manager and I communicated less frequently (we communicated when necessary for specific tasks) my new line manager had daily team catch-ups and weekly supervision meetings.
• Sharing my work-life balance struggles as a new mum returning to work- I spoke to my Multiverse coach, my previous line manager, my husband, and colleagues who had the experience of returning to work after a year’s maternity leave.
• Understanding my team, the role they played within the organisation, and how my role fits into the team.

The Impact of Successfully Managing Up 

My relationship with my new line manager improved vastly after I started managing up. I was able to shape our team meetings to a more effective format as team members provided different expertise that we were not cross-trained on. I was able to learn different ways of time management as my line manager used a very agile way of working which fit the IT side of our team quite well. Our supervision meetings became less negative and more positive as we discussed what I could bring to the team instead of feeling isolated as the only member of the team who developed policies and procedures. She encouraged me to use my project management learning and provided me with project management templates to support me in my role and in my apprenticeship.

I no longer felt frustrated with the unrealistic expectations to have fixed deadlines for my tasks as my tasks were dependent on other departments and as a reactive service our priorities were always shifting. I did this by regularly updating my progress on each of my tasks so that she had visibility on what I was working on. 

Everyone will have a different experience with learning and managing a new working relationship when there are restructures, staff turnovers and starting a new role. Following on from my experience I was more open to change when I started my new role and was less apprehensive about adapting to a new style of management. 

What has been your experience of managing up and how confident do you feel in being able to manage up?

Reshma Gayadeen is a Project Management apprentice at Multiverse based in London, UK, and is writing for the Apprentice Lens as part of the Blogging Team. Here’s more about her:

‘I have always been passionate about creative writing and journaling. I am inspired by personal life stories, music, and nature. I am a new mum to a toddler, and I decided to join the blogging team so that I can justify finding time in my day to dedicate to writing.’