Ways of Working Around Your Boss's Unavailability
Beware the busy boss.
Citing other commitments, a vice president of a consumer-products
maker often canceled or cut short sessions sought by lieutenants such as Jim
McNerney. The purchasing agent became so frustrated by his scant face time that
he began talking and walking fast alongside the caffeine-addicted VP as he
strode swiftly to the coffee room.
In late July, Mr. McNerney and five colleagues lost their jobs. He
partly blames their elusive supervisor. "He never wanted to be personally
engaged. Everybody was expendable in his mind," contends Mr. McNerney, a
resident of
It's hard to shine when you have trouble reaching your boss --
whether that's due to the executive's hectic work schedule, heavy travel or
poor interpersonal skills. A lack of visibility "is a huge red flag"
that makes you vulnerable during an economic slowdown, warns Donna Schwarz, a
The best remedy: Learn to manage your manager. "You have to
be inventive to create that access," proposes Doug Hearn, a senior vice
president at Williams, Roberts, Young, a human-resource consultancy in
Being inventive requires adapting to your supervisor's preferred
forms of communication -- and schedule. Some bosses hate to hear from the
office during their commutes. Others resent repeated requests for one-minute
get-togethers that instead last 40 minutes.
Face-to-face encounters make the most sense for dealing with
complicated workplace issues, of course. But they may not suit your manager's
quirky habits.
At a prior consulting job, Mr. Hearn felt stalled because meetings
and trips constantly distracted his boss. "A two-minute session was about
the longest conversation I ever had," he says.
Mr. Hearn negotiated a successful alternative. He sent the
managing partner an email every Friday that described his achievements, planned
actions and issues needing input.
Her inaccessibility "made my job more difficult to
perform," Mr. Johnson concedes. He got laid off this past May. "She
could have coached me better if she had been more available," he says.
It's a good idea to regularly update your supervisor's preferences
for staying in touch. Once a year, you should ask, "What one thing would
you change about how I'm communicating with you?" advises Michael Patrick,
president of MOHR Access, a retail-training consultancy in
You can also avoid feeling ignored by appealing to your manager's
priorities. Perhaps a deadline looms for a project he cares deeply about. Tell
him you could beat the deadline if he promptly responds to your emails during
your weekend toil. Put the project's name, and a catchy phrase, in the email
subject line.
How effectively you connect with an overtaxed boss may depend on
his executive assistant, who controls his calendar and forwards important
email.
Cultivate a good relationship with that assistant, suggests Scott
Setterberg, human-resources director at law firm O'Melveny & Myers in
No single path to communication will always be open. One
The marketing official thought she caught a break when she found
herself and the chief executive flying to
When all else fails, your supervisor's inaccessibility might offer
a chance to demonstrate your abilities to senior executives. A middle manager
at a computer maker who works from home once a week ignores his cellphone and
employees' email on those days. A senior Web designer reporting to him alerted
the boss's boss that she handled decisions in his absence. Though she still
reports to her manager, she now supervises two employees for the first time --
and answers their messages quickly.
Email your comments to joann.lublin@wsj.com.
Article from
CareerJournal Today – September 2006