Are you suffering from work doldrums? Are your eyes riveted to that exit door more often than you care to admit? Do you get a sinking feeling at the slightest pitter patter of your manager’s footsteps as he approaches the office in the morning? Chances are your relationship with your manager is in a rut. According to the Bayt.com ‘Management Challenges in the MENA’ poll, 71.5% of managers describe their relationships with their team as friendly; almost a quarter claim a more formal relationship, while 3.9% chose ‘fearful’ to describe their team interactions. The same poll showed that 42.1% of professionals believe that they have an ‘excellent’ manager, however, 31.1% describe their manager as having ‘poor management skills’. Are there ways to turn a sour relationship with a manager into a decent one? Yes and you’ll be glad you tried!
Here are a few tips from the Career Experts at Bayt.com:-
1. Understand your manager’s expectations
Make it a point to walk up to them and speak up in case you are unclear about anything related to your work – they will appreciate your candor. The most important quality that makes for stronger employee-manager relationships is effective communication, according to the Bayt.com ‘Manager-Employee Relationships in the Middle East Workplace’ poll.
2. Understand what expectations are of your manager Remember your boss also has a boss and different stakeholders to answer to and your performance, priorities and choices affect his own performance, deliverables and upward mobility. It helps if you truly understand the broader picture of what your manager is trying to achieve and the hurdles he faces so you can be of even better value-added. Moreover it helps to understand that your manager has challenges too. According to the Bayt.com ‘Management Challenges in the MENA' poll, “building trust and loyalty” is considered challenging by 24.8% of polled managers. The same poll shows that other areas managers find challenging are “motivating and inspiring teams” (18.6%), “encouraging open communications” (16.2%), “training and coaching” (5.7%), as well as “delegating adequately” (4.8%).
3. Maintain an open and constructive channel of communication with your manager The Bayt.com ‘Management Challenges in the MENA' poll showed that what employees seek most from their manager is ‘open, respectful communications’ as per 35.1% of the poll’s respondents. Rather than bursting out in occasional loud defensive confrontations as a result of built up frustrations at work, aim to maintain an open channel of constructive dialogue with your manager at all times. Ask for regular meetings where your performance is appraised and where you can ask questions and fill your manager in on your progress and project milestones, as well as discuss any hurdles and issues you are facing. Keep the conversations constructive and professional at all times and remember to keep the bigger picture in mind always. Try to stay away from accusatory tones in your conversations and instead of focusing on what “the organization doesn’t do for me” focus on getting enthusiastic buy-in for great suggestions that you show to be clear win-win solutions for all concerned.
4. Go the extra mile Your boss is away and his prized orchids are dying in his office? Yes we know you are not a gardener but no harm watering them as a nice caring touch! Your boss messed up project timelines and you need to do an all-nighter once again? No harm taking the challenge and communicating with a smile later that you will help him with timelines so such occurrences can be minimized. Your boss has low expectations of you that don’t fully address your true capacities? Well show him your mettle and what you are capable of and proud of! Remember your boss may be a great manager but is not necessarily a mind-reader and it’s up to you to take the initiative to show where and how you can excel.
5. Show your presence matters Is your presence more or less of similar impact as your absence at work? Time to make your presence felt! The workplace is replete with genuinely ambitious hard-working people who are doing their best to increase their own output and productivity and the success of their organization and if you wish to compete and succeed in the workplace you need to be one of them! Lying low and doing the minimum amount of work will not earn you favors with your boss or in your career so raise your head a little, take on that special project you need to make an extra special impact, and aim to let yourself and your boss and your organization shine!
6. Make your character a winning one
Apart from great technical skills and team players skills, strong character and integrity is one among the qualities most coveted by employers in the MENA, as per the Bayt.com ‘Middle East Workplace Dynamics’ poll. At the end of the day character really counts and you need to make sure your workplace character is a winning one! Loyalty is paramount; you must make it known that you will not instigate or tolerate any ill will or gossip or backbiting towards your boss or company or colleagues. Aim to radiate genuine happiness and charm and to be generally helpful and cooperative and charitable in the workplace and to make your boss and the company look good at all times. Show you care for the organization you work for and that you are made of winning stuff! You will be surprised at the amazing dividends of having a truly great character on all your relationships.
