Managing MultipleBosses

More and more people have been

reporting of having more than one

boss in their companies.

Then it is important to learn how to

handle multiple bosses to succeed

in your professional career and to

face complex organizations.

Managing Multiple BossesIntroduction

As companies continue to flatten, organize

work around specific projects, and use

temporary teams to complete projects, many

employees find themselves reporting to

multiple bosses.

It can happen in bigger and more complex

organizations, and family-owned

businesses.

Managing Multiple BossesMain Reasons

If you are not careful,

when dealing with

multiple bosses, you can

end up letting all of them

down and consequently

jeopardize your career.

Managing Multiple BossesImportant

Overload:

Working for many bosses mean having too

much to do.

Conflicting messages:

The more bosses you have the more

conflicting messages you get.

Loyalty:

Some bosses want to know that they are

your first priority.

Managing Multiple BossesMain Problems When Dealing with Many Bosses

The first step is to know what

you are up against.

Then you can take several

steps to mitigate the risks and

make your job, and theirs,

easier.

Managing Multiple BossesWays to Deal with Multiple Bosses

Be sure to ask a lot of questions about the

company structure.

Finding out who holds the most powerful

position will help you in making decisions

about how to act and behave.

While this may seem mercenary, it's

important to know who can help and hurt

your career.

Managing Multiple BossesStep 01 – Ask Questions

Be sure your bosses know what you

have been doing.

You can create a shared document

that lists all of your ongoing

activities, or you can communicate

these items in a weekly check-in

meeting to your superiors.

Managing Multiple BossesStep 02 – Inform your Activities

When working for many bosses,

it is wise to let them sort out

their own contradictory

situations.

The best approach is to get your

bosses to talk with each other,

rather than trying to represent

them.

Managing Multiple BossesStep 03 - Get your Bosses to Communicate

If your multiple bosses

frequently come to you with

questions or to check in

about their projects, establish

protected times where you

can work without disruptions.

Managing Multiple BossesStep 04 - Set up Boundaries

If you are in a fear-based environment,

you have to figure out how to protect

yourself.

The worse the environment the more

sneaky you have to get.

You need to figure out which of the

bosses you work with has the most

power and priorize his assignments.

Managing Multiple BossesStep 05 - Get Sneaky if you have to

It can be easy to develop paranoid

fantasies about how your bosses are out

to get you.

Chances are they are simply pushing their

own agendas and you are getting caught

in the middle.

Try not to feel persecuted, and identify the

conflicts to resolve them.

Managing Multiple BossesStep 06 - Don´t take it personally

Be on the lookout for the most common

challenges of having multiple bosses so you

can proactively handle them

Keep a positive attitude and remember that

the conflicts are most likely because of the

situation, not because of you

Find out which of your bosses is responsible

for making the decisions that affect your

career.

Managing Multiple BossesPrinciples to Remember - Do

Don´t try to speak on behalf of one

boss to the other, try to get them to

talk with each other if possible

Don´t keep your workload and task

list a secret from any of your bosses.

Don´t push for transparency if your

organization doesn't reward it.

Managing Multiple BossesPrinciples to Remember – Don´t

Lico Reis Consultoria & Línguas

Prof. Roberto Lico

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