On Managing Up

chase blood
3 min readFeb 7, 2022

Right out of college, at my first desk job, I was really good at doing whatever task that came across my desk. Excel spreadsheets? Done. PDF rotating? Done.

But over time, I realized that my team leaders were assigning me work, and then going about their day. Unlike school where teachers would assign homework and then ask to collect it, grade it, and give me feedback, my bosses would… give me work and then forget about it?

Not that my work didn’t matter, it was that they had dozens of projects on their radar and figuring out one part of something wasn’t something that deserved much attention. After all, these managers were the same crew that found us new projects, reviewed billing statements, checked plans, and represented our team at meetings. I got it… but at the same time, I didn’t know what to do to feel seen and heard and valued with the work I was doing.

The solution, they said, was learning how to “manage up” and take ownership of my position in the team. In short, to help my managers help me.

I’ve now realized that this skill has been incredibly helpful in my professional career, and I wanted to jot down a few thoughts on it.

Managing up, to me, consists of a few key components:

  1. Taking an active, not passive, role in ensuring a task is valued in the pipeline. Ask what is next, ask what the bigger picture is, ask how something could be done better. Deliver updates as the task develops. Follow up once something has been “turned in” — see what happens to the work you did.
  2. Designing three different alternative solutions for every one task. Not only does this help diversify how you see potential solutions to a single problem, but it triples the effective learning opportunity from a single task. But the real kicker, is that it helps your team leader easily point you in the right direction. Selecting Option A, B, or C is a lot more effective and efficient as a teaching moment, especially compared to the alternative of presenting a single option and being told how you did it wrong.
  3. Troubleshoot and determine possible paths forward with any roadblocks. Don’t present problems, present solutions. These action steps indicate that you’re ready to take an active role in the project, rather than sit back and let someone else brainstorm solutions.
  4. Help the team leads see what’s in their blindspots. Is there a new piece of software that could save hours of project management each week? Or maybe there’s a new opportunity to network with a client that you just heard about. Maybe it’s helping your boss understand that sending you emails that just say “come see me after lunch” is a really bad way to ask for a project update.

Ultimately, managing up in centered in empathy and value. It’s a way to look out for your boss, and also help them look out for you. It’s a way to add value to your team, while also helping empower your boss to lead you better.

The best part is? Good leaders love folks who manage up.

--

--

chase blood

engineer + creative + sustainability thinker. trying to reduce the noise in my life. future dog owner.