Forums

Hi All, I am in week 5 of a new role and would appreciate some support and advice on a number of areas which are affecting my ability to manage:

[1] My boss is well known for "managing through emails" and I am receiving in excess of 50 emails a day (mainly just forwarded not personalised) with a quick note - can you deal with this.... Please sort this out etc .... In many cases the issues are down to systemic faliures on archaic systems and will be addressed as part of a staffing / management review I am carrying out... (I see this as a slow slow quick quick quick scenario whereas I feel that my boss wants a quick quick approach).

[2] I am not getting structured "air time" with my boss and when he has asked me to pop in the office the meeting has been very unstructured and on Thursday it lasted 3.5hours and consisted of him handing me papers/emails of a pile that must have been 2' high...after 3.5 hours he suggested we come back next week as he thought both our heads would be spinning!!! (he wasn't wrong!!)

[3] My boss is skip managing some of my new directs and this is causing confusion and in some cases affecting the relationship I'm trying to build with new directs (they don't know who they are reporting to!)

...I would really appreciate your thoughts on this as I am actually really enjoying the job and the people I'm working with (and my boss is a good guy) .....Can I give feedback to my boss to resolve this? ....If so how would I carry it out without seeming like a moaner or someone who is criticising his management style?

BJ_Marshall's picture
Licensee BadgeTraining Badge

First, I'd like to start by emphasizing that you cannot manage your boss. Don't try. You'll fail. Epically.

I think points 1 and 3 may be addressed after addressing step 2, so let me go from there. A great way to get structured face-time with your boss is with the "Boss One-on-One Professional Update" format. Please check out that podcast and remember that this meeting is NOT like the one-on-ones you're conducting with your staff.  (You ARE conducting one-on-ones with your staff, right?)

In your Boss O3s, you set the agenda. So, this would be a great format to ask him how he sees his and your relationship with your staff. The conversation isn't to confront him about managing your directs. You can clarify that you're trying to build relationships with your staff; that is, you can tell him about your plan to Roll Out the Management Trinity with your people. See if it's OK with him for you to be the main point of contact with your staff, and if he has comments he can pass them through you so you and your boss are on the same page.

Your Boss O3 would also be a good venue to find out more about his communication style. Maybe he's sending you 50 e-mails per day to make sure you keep yourself in the loop. Maybe he isn't clear on your slow-slow-quick-quick-quick approach and has concerns. You could probably fill in some more "maybes" on your own. If you can persuade your boss that these weekly professional update (don't tell your boss it's a one-on-one :)  ) are perfect buckets to hold this type of information, maybe the e-mails will slow to a trickle. 

Best of luck, and keep us posted.

- BJ

tlhausmann's picture
Licensee BadgeTraining Badge

 

To review:

1. You are new to the position. (5 weeks)

2. Contact with boss is not structured (yet)

3. Boss' delegation to skips

Like wmarsha1, addressing point 2 first: The guidance from MT is never give feedback to the boss, ever. You're new to the position and an established routine for keeping one another is still forming.  Wmarsha1 is correct with referencing http://www.manager-tools.com/2008/11/boss-one-on-ones-professional-updates

With respect to points 1 and 3. Again, you are new to the position and after activities start settling into the routine your boss will see you as the appropriate person to approach when something needs to get done. If you are not doing O3s with your team--start.  Your boss will see that you are becoming familiar with the capabilities of your team and will trust you (and your team!) to get things done.

Keep gathering data. Hang in there.