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#CareerAdvice : #WorkLife – How to Set Boundaries with your Boss.

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Unfortunately, not everyone who steps into a managerial role possesses the skills and insights needed to lead an effective team. Rather, many bosses end up in their role as a result of their technical skill and expertise in a certain domain.

 

When individual contributors step into leadership roles without the required foundational skills, members of their team can often find themselves dealing with an ill-equipped manager. If you find yourself dealing with a problematic manager, consider creating boundaries in the following ways:

When they micromanage…

Dealing with a micromanager is never a good feeling, especially for those seeking autonomy in their work. If you’re dealing with a manager who refuses to loosen their grip, create boundaries between by reducing the opportunities for them to intervene.

If you have a project you’re working on, rather than asking them how and when to execute a task, do the work, and update them on it later. If you know that they tend to overpower you in meetings, consider setting the meeting yourself, and always come prepared with an agenda that will allow you to lead the conversation. Consider only providing updates to them when absolutely needed. It is also important to let your boss know exactly how you enjoy being managed, as they may be totally unaware of your own working style.

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When they don’t respect working hours…

Unfortunately there are many industries that don’t allow you to ever “turn off”. With the ease of technology, we are expected to fire off emails at all hours of the day. However, if you’re not in the business of billing your hours, then it is up to you to create firm boundaries between what you are willing to accept when it comes to your time commitments outside of working hours.

If a boss constantly calls you outside of your working hours, simply don’t respond. You’re not obliged to answer their calls, nor are you obliged to answer their emails. While this may seem scary, you will set the tone for how your boss treats you. If you have a client that’s calling you late at night, simply follow up with a text or email letting them know when it’s appropriate to call.

If you find yourself in a situation where your working hours are constantly being abused, it is up to you to set your own boundaries and say no.

16 Companies With Amazing Work-Life Balance Ratings, Hiring Now

When they are unreasonable with their asks…

Your manager might assign you something larger than you can chew as an act of good faith in your abilities, or even as a stretch assignment. Self-awareness, in this case, is important as you don’t want to turn down work that could help you grow, but also don’t want to set yourself up for failure. If you’re constantly being asked to do work that is out of scope, let your manager know you’re feeling ill-prepared, and would appreciate some help or further training.

When they are unprofessional…

Some people prefer to have a close personal relationship with their teams, which is perfectly okay! However, if you prefer to keep the relationship professional and your boss insists on getting personal, you may have to create some boundaries between you both. Do your best not to share personal information while at work. Steer clear of conversations about friends, family, and relationships. Don’t socialize more than you need and simply keep your focus on task-related conversations!

How to Navigate Politics at Work

When they are rude or abrasive…

Unfortunately you may find yourself in a situation where your manager is just not nice. Don’t try and be rude back, rather keep your distance, and detach from the relationship as much as possible. Keep your conversations short and minimal and focus on the work. Remind yourself that you won’t have this boss forever, and if need be, explore the potential of switching teams completely if things get bad.

Knowing what is most important to you at work, and being clear on your own personal values is the first step in developing boundaries with you and your boss. Be honest, and specific with the people around you about how you’re feeling, and what your expectations look like (Tartakovsky, M).

As you work with different characters and personality styles across your career, you’ll face the reality that you just won’t click with every boss. In fact, it’s almost guaranteed that you’ll work with some people who make you cringe, and you’ll have to complete work that is 100% below you. However, when boundaries are crossed, it’s up to you to set the tone between you, your leaders, and your team!

About the Author: Stacy Pollack is a Learning Specialist with an MA in Educational Technology. She is passionate about building leadership programs that engage and contribute to the success of her organization. She loves to share her perspective on workplace development, career building, and networking for success. Connect with her onLinkedIn, Twitter, or at www.stacypollack.com.

 

GlassDoor.com | January 2, 2019

 

#Leadership : 3 Ways to Guide Your Employees Toward Empowered Decisions…Traditional Top-Down Management can Create a Single Point of Failure within Each Department: a Middle Manager Held Accountable for his Team’s Projects and Products.

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According to a Harvard Business Review analysis released in September, U.S. companies are wasting more than $3 trillion every year on excess bureaucracy and management — which is equivalent to 17 percent of our country’s GDP.

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That’s an astonishing amount of money, and I believe one of the keys to reversing this trend is addressing a structure that has been an American business mainstay for decades: the corporate ladder.

Today, traditional top-down management can hold companies back. It slows down decision-making, holds back brilliant talent from making an impact and can create an unnecessary single point of failure within each department: a middle manager who is held accountable for delivering all directives and approving all of his or her team’s projects and finished products.

Related: “What Happens When You Empower Employees Instead of Micromanage Them?”

Now that many mass communication and collaboration tools exist to facilitate real-time company-wide work, it’s time to remove the excess layers of approval from your business and thoughtfully empower each individual contributor to take action based on his or her skills and capabilities. Here’s how:

1. Modernize your company through empowerment.

In today’s fast-paced world, a company’s decision-making process needs to be streamlined, swift and agile. The traditional corporate hierarchy hampers all of these things. Its numerous layers cause traditional companies to move at a snail’s pace when making decisions and reacting to market conditions.

Embracing employee empowerment won’t just accelerate your company’s rate of innovation; it will lead to happier teams and attract free-thinking and creative job-seekers to your brand.

That’s important because many of those job-seekers will be millennials. In one study,  76 percent of millennials surveyed reported being more satisfied within a creative, inclusive work culture, while only 28 percent felt that the companies they worked for were making full use of their skills.

The message? You currently have a huge opportunity to attract these future all-stars.

Related: “3 Steps That Will Empower Your Employees to Act Like CEOs”

Not that that opportunity will be easy: It takes hard work and dedication to create a culture of autonomous, empowered employees — and that certainly won’t happen overnight. My organization, Lifion, is devoted to achieving this type of atmosphere in our own workplace, and we are excited to help others do the same as we learn what works and what doesn’t.

These three strategies are our focus areas as we progress on this journey:

1. Showcase your mission, vision and values early and often.

An alarming 61 percent of employees say they don’t know their company’s mission. How can these individuals ever feel empowered to make smart decisions without first seeking approval from a manager?

Go out of your way to make your mission, vision and values apparent to your entire team. These three foundational elements describe what you do, where you want to go and how you want to get there — and if employees don’t intimately understand them, empowered autonomy is nearly impossible to achieve.

Put up posters in your office that highlight your values. Frequently refer to your vision when interacting with your team. And post your mission statement on your website for the entire world to see. Then, take it a step further by building tools that help your employees assess whether they’re successfully embodying these principles.

For example, we’ve created surveys of self-reflection for our team that break down our organization’s values into simple bullet points and ask how frequently employees believe they practice each concept.

 

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2. Develop a decision framework. 

A decision framework teaches employees how to make decisions that benefit the company without first seeking approval from their  managers. In its most basic form, the framework can be set up like this: If you have high confidence that your initiative will be successful — and the actions you want to take are low-risk — go ahead and make the decision. However, if you’re looking to make a high-risk decision that you have low confidence in, make sure you talk it over with other people and seek approval.

Of course, not all situations are cut and dried, so there should be a gradient of low-, medium- and high-impact/confidence built in.

The key to instilling this framework is to lead by example. Articulate your thought process to your team when you make a decision. This will build their confidence and show (not tell) them how to act autonomously. As a bonus, in doing this, you’ll be coaching your younger employees to become better leaders themselves. Ninety-one percent of millennials aspire to be company leaders, so they’ll appreciate this training.

3. Shrink the approval process.

If employees are accustomed to seeking managerial approval before taking action, it’s going to take a little time to break them of this habit. Consider this a weaning process in which they learn what types of initiatives are guaranteed to be approved and which ones tend to require discussion.

When employees come to you seeking approval during this transition period, ask them why they’re feeling unsure about their project, and then provide your input on whether you agree with their concerns. Eventually, this will help them understand your thought processes and priorities, making them more capable of anticipating what does and doesn’t require approval.

When approvals occur only on an as-needed basis, key decisions and pivots won’t be delayed — and this will lead to growth. A recent study shows that when employees are given the autonomy to make decisions, the companies they work for grow four times faster than companies with traditional management structures. These companies also experience a third of the turnover.

Related: “What Bad Managers, Good Managers and Great Managers Do”

In modern times, the traditional corporate hierarchy can be highly inefficient and wasteful. The business world moves a lot faster than it used to, so it’s essential for today’s companies to streamline their decision-making processes as much as possible — and thoughtfully empowering each individual contributor is a giant step in the right direction.

Instill your values and goals in your employees, and empower them to make decisions that propel your company into the future.

Entrepreneur.com | December 23, 2016 | Amit Maimon

 

#Leadership : Learn When to Delegate and When to Micromanage…Micromanaging has become a Dirty Word in the Corporate World. It’s used by Employees to describe Overzealous Managers, who Don’t Trust them to Perform the Simplest of Tasks without Constant Intervention.

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Certainly, no one wants to work for a boss, who allows them no freedom, and who doesn’t want them to grow and gain experience by facing new challenges every once in a while. Additionally, a boss who spends all of their time obsessed with tracking their team members’ actions is probably not making the best use of their resources.

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However, some tasks are so vitally important that you, as a small business owner, need to ensure they are done correctly. In such circumstances, it’s better to think of micromanaging as opposed to delegation.

Delegating and micromanaging both have their places. Several years ago, when my company only had one location, I could afford to oversee numerous aspects of the management without spreading myself too thin. Today, I have three retail locations, so I’ve had to learn to strike an effective balance between delegating and micromanaging.

When delegating, set your employees up for success.

As your business grows, you’ll inevitably have to hand over tasks that once fit comfortably into your schedule to other members of your organization. It arouses conflicting feelings in many entrepreneurs. While you obviously trust the people you’ve hired, you also want to make sure your baby is in capable hands.

When deciding whether or not to delegate, one of the worst things you could do is assign a task to someone who is unequipped to handle it. If they fail, it will be damaging to their confidence, your faith and the company. One of the best strategies for avoiding such a scenario is to follow the 70 percent rule.

Essentially, if you believe that your employee is capable of doing the work at least 70 percent as well as you then it’s beneficial to delegate it to them. Experts say that once you do decide to delegate, it’s important not to undermine the trust you’ve placed in them by letting your instinct to micromanage creep in.

 

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Delegating allows your employees to embrace new challenges.

Delegating tasks to your employees becomes a necessity as the demands on your time rise, but even if you have the time to work on everything yourself, you probably shouldn’t.

Most employees are more satisfied when they are given new challenges that allow them to expand their skill set in new and interesting ways. Of course, you’re far more likely to retain an employee if they are satisified with their job, and employee retention has important consequences on both your bottom line, and business culture.

Furthermore, asking your employees to take on new responsibilities is a cost-effective way of assisting them with professional development. They’ll have the opportunity to learn things that will make them more versatile contributors, and you and your company will reap the benefits of said versatility.

Don’t lose sight of what you’re there to do.

Eventually, I realized that there were very few things that needed to be done absolutely right in order for the business to be successful. When there are tasks that are critical to the survival of the company, such as hiring, raising capital and pursuing an acquisition, I make sure that I take control of the project myself.

Ultimately, your job as CEO is to focus on the one thing that you can do better than everyone else, which will facilitate the performance of your team and allow you to take your company to new heights. Avoid distractions from this one thing by delegating tasks that could easily be performed by others, and understand that delegating and micromanaging are both important skills for any leader to master.

 

Entrepreneur.com | July 29, 2016 | Fan Bi

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