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How To Speak With Your Boss To Gain Trust, Appreciation And Progress · Enhance.training

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Your boss holds the keys to your happiness, success, development, and career progress at work.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: How to speak to your boss so you have a great relationship with them and they make work great for you is a very big deal.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: I have four approaches that, if you do them well and consistently with your boss, will enable you to quickly gain their trust and appreciation and help you progress your career faster.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: I got 13 promotions in my career, seven of them internal, all the way up to board level.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: A big part of those promotions was how I approached my boss and how I communicated with them.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: I started off having no clue and learnt the hard way.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Very early in my career I had a terrible boss.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't know how to make up for his mistakes, making a ton of my own as a result.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: I was literally forced out of my job as a result.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: It was painful and I promised myself I would never be in that situation again.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sharing exactly what I did about it.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: That is what to talk about with your manager so they trust and appreciate you, regardless of where you are in your career.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: I coach plenty of senior managers that have not learnt these lessons or don't manage their bosses well, i.e., most have room for improvement.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Take all the actions I share, and you'll probably develop a great relationship with your boss.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Plenty of managers I have coached have turned a difficult, tense relationship into a trusting, open, and enjoyable relationship that helps them earn rapid promotion.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: Before you do anything, make the time to understand your boss's goals, pressures and needs.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: Guessing is not enough.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: Hoping you have figured it out is not enough.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: To really have a great relationship with your boss, you need to know what their goals, pressures and needs are.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: The most reliable way I know to do this is to ask a lot of questions and listen carefully.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Here are some of the questions I might ask.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: First, you know what is your top priority for this month and what specifically can I do to help you achieve it?
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Or what specifically do you want me to do to help you achieve team goals?
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Or you can flip this around and say, you know, I'm planning to do XYZ to help the team achieve goals.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Are you happy with my prioritisation?
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: Or you could ask, what is your biggest challenge at the moment and what can I do to make it less challenging for you?
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Or if I could take a piece of work off you or a problem away from you, what would you give me?
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Or how can I best help you this week, month, etc.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Take a top-down approach.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Understand the bigger picture first and then work into the detail.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: The more trust you have from your boss, the more they will tell you when you ask.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Gain this trust by delivering quickly and to a good standard what they ask of you.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: You need to be seen by your boss as a reliable supporter rather than another problem.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: Keep asking questions and listening to find out what your boss really needs help with.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: Then provide that help as proactively as possible to the standard they require.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Do everything you can, big and small, to build the trust your boss has in you.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Jess Coles, and if you're new to this podcast, Enhanced.training provides resources, courses, and coaching for you to build management expertise and confidence to lead any team to their best performance.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: If you are struggling with building a strong, enjoyable relationship with your boss, do visit enhance.training and select coaching and book in a meeting with me.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: Changing how you communicate with your boss can significantly improve your relationship with them and in turn improve your work life and career prospects.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: The next important approach to take is proactively provide progress updates.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Bosses hate chasing staff for progress updates.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: Plenty of bosses find this difficult and awkward, so they don't actually do it or they don't do it well.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: When you are the one providing proactive updates, you really do stand out.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: I've managed a lot of staff over the years.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Not many were good at giving me useful updates before I needed them.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: When giving updates to your boss, firstly always frame updates in terms of what your boss wants or needs, i.e.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: in terms of their goals, pressures and needs.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: Second, talk about where you are against the goals that you have agreed.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Don't talk about how you got there unless your boss asks for this detail or it is needed to establish your credibility.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: Third, talk about any problems that you are encountering and what you are doing to solve or overcome them.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: You don't want your boss to have any surprises.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, ask your boss to provide help if needed to get resources, to improve your solution, to persuade people blockers, etc.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: These speed up work completion, which is in their interest and yours.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Keep your updates high level and directly related to the goals you have agreed.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: Be specific or quantify your progress.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: Don't be vague.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: If you're experiencing problems, be honest.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: As long as you have tried to overcome them, most bosses are happy to help.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: So be clear, concise, honest, and carefully align your update to what your boss needs and wants.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: I love giving bosses updates.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: They are a great excuse to get time with your boss, useful to them and great exposure for you.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: So that brings us on to when to provide updates.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: The very short answer is when anything important changes or expectations need to be reset, then give your boss an update.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Cover any areas or events that will prevent you from delivering exactly what was asked for in time.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: Also give updates when you are significantly ahead as well.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: Think big items and not the detail.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Your boss needs to know the big impacts first and you should be responsible for all the details.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Another rule of thumb: the more complex, the bigger the impact, the more knock-on effects to others, or the more high profile within the business, the more updates you should provide to your boss.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: A couple of examples.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: Firstly, for high impact, high profile bits of work that will take say a month to deliver, I might give my boss an update on say Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons of every week, even if it's just to confirm everything is going to plan as per the last update.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: I would pick up the phone or pop round to the desk for these updates.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, for a straightforward project to be done say over a week, I might drop them a very short email at the end of say Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday giving them an update.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: And third, if I had a task to do in a day, I would only contact my boss if I wasn't able to deliver on time or had problems.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: Always flex the amount and type of communication with your boss to your boss's preferences and to the situation you face.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: Communicate too much rather than too little.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: When things go quiet, bosses worry.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: Keep them up to date and make sure there are no surprises for them.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: Probably the most important approach today is how to frame your communications.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: Framing your communications in the best way is a skill that comes with practice.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: Start practicing or practice more if you already do this.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: Generally speaking, frame the work you do in terms of firstly how your work positively impacts revenue, profit, costs, time, efficiency, client relations and staff happiness.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: Every boss wants these things.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, how your work helps your boss reach their goals or makes them look good.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: Third, what your efforts do in helping the team reach goals, which in turn reflects well on your boss.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: And fourth, lastly, how your work helps the business.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Where you can incorporate numbers to quantify the benefits.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: I would typically communicate these in a one-to-one conversation and then maybe follow up with an email summary if needed.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: Having a written record is very useful at appraisal time or when asking for a pay rise or pushing for promotion.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: Always do your best to clearly and carefully link the work you do and the results you deliver to how it helps your boss personally, the team, and also the rest of the business.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: This equates to saving about£4,000 per month in costs, but much more importantly frees up team time so we can deliver the other three projects we're working on several weeks faster than planned.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: Be specific and talk directly about the benefits in your updates.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: So, in summary, how you communicate with your boss and how often you do this directly determines what they think of you and how they appreciate your work.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: As long as you do at least an average job, you need to update your boss regularly to gain their trust and appreciation.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: Bosses are too busy to know exactly what you're doing or how it impacts them unless you tell them.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: The quality and strength of your relationship with your boss depends on your communication with them.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: Educate your boss on how you are helping them and why it matters to them.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: If you have a difficult relationship with your boss or you'd like to build a much better relationship with them, visit us at enhance.training and select coaching.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: Your relationship with your boss directly impacts your health, enjoyment, development, progress, and bank balance.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: Turn that impact into a very positive one for you.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions on how to speak with your boss to gain trust, appreciation, and progress, please email me at support at enhance.