16 Tips for Boss Management

In any company, your responsibility as an employee revolves around meeting your CEO’s needs and hitting business goals month after month and year after year. As a Human Resource professional, you need to bring “A” players aboard to meet your CEO’s expectations. No matter what position a person has, everyone has a boss. Here are 16 tips for boss management to help you grow within your role, and enjoy overall company success.

1. Get to Know Your Boss

One of the most important things you need to know about your boss is her communication style. Bosses are busy—they don’t have time to waste on information that isn’t relevant to them. Make sure to find out from your boss how she prefers to receive information.

2. Clarify Your Boss’s Expectations

Recite back instructions and expectations. Remember that your boss is busy doing his own job; he can’t help you if he doesn’t know what you need.

3.  Be Reliable

Before committing to a duty, make sure it’s something that you can do well and on time. Making empty promises to your boss will hurt you because it will diminish her confidence in your abilities.

4.  Be Loyal

Loyalty is a delicate subject. However, if you want to be a successful employee, you need to think of yourself as a member of a team, not just an individual.

5. Show Initiative

Your boss will appreciate you more if you anticipate the work that needs to be done, and handle tasks without being told to do them.

6.  Keep Your Boss Informed

Keeping bad news from your boss because you’re afraid she’ll be angry only make your boss angrier in the long run.  A good, experienced boss will understand that problems come up, and recognizes it’s best to address them early.

7.  Help Your Boss Succeed

Look for obstacles blocking your boss’s path to success. If you think your boss is following a strategy that will take her down a bad path, tell her, and explain the reasons why you think it will hurt the company.

8.  Do Not Confront Your Boss Publicly

No boss is perfect, but there is a time and a place for criticism. Just as you wouldn’t want your boss to reprimand you publicly, don’t find reasons to criticize your boss in front of others. Address problems privately.

9. Disagree Tactfully

Always approach your boss in a professional manner. Discuss disagreements privately, and frame your concerns in a way that places the needs of your company as your primary concern.

10.  Never Talk to Your Boss in Anger

If you are becoming angry with your boss, it is better to leave for a while to calm down, rather than approach your boss out of anger.

11.  Praise Your Boss for Excellent Performance

Although bosses have more responsibility than most employees, they get recognized far less.  Bosses are people too—they like receiving praise just as much as you do!

12.  Maintain Open and Honest Communication

Every relationship depends on clear communication, and your relationship with your boss is no different.

13.  Demonstrate Your Commitment to Continuous Improvement

By constantly seeking out improvements you show your boss that you are invested in the company and in the work that you are doing.

14. Create Favorable Interactions with Your Boss

People tend to remember the negative events, even if they have positive experiences much more often. Make sure that you put your best foot forward when interacting with your boss.  Dress professionally, check your emails for typos, and make sure you are prepared and polished when you give presentations.

15.  Maintain Mutual Respect and Personal Dignity

A good boss will respect his or her employees, and will expect that their employees respect them in return.

16.  Voice Your Concerns & Feeling Professionally

If you need to approach your boss about something that you feel they have done wrong, you need to do it in a logical way, without letting your emotions control the situation.

Do you have tips for boss management to add to the 16 above? Share your thoughts in the comments below!