Manage up: Asking Why

When you can, definitely ask 'Why?', but consider how best to ask that to ultimately get the information needed for everyone to be successful. 

Transcript

Welcome back to my podcast Scaling Out!

In my next group of podcasts I want to go back to a topic I had initiated in June about managing up & elaborate further. Understanding how to work successfully with your management is a critical career skill. There are ways to get the information, ways to provide feedback, and methods for this communication that allow for a professional & successful working relationship. 

My first topic in this thread is about getting the why. There are some situations where this doesn’t work as questioning authority is not an option, for example in the military. But in professional life asking questions are the first step in getting clear direction. As your manager assigns tasks, they might or might not give you all the information needed to successfully complete the assigned task. So if you ask those clarifying questions, you can get all the information needed to move forward. But another benefit of asking for further information is to really UNDERSTAND what the purpose is. What are their plans, why are they asking for it a certain way, what are the outcomes & goals, is there space to make your own decisions on how to accomplish the task?

The approach to this is SO important. Being obstinate is definitely a CLM (career limiting move), so don’t ask ‘Why’ like a 2yr toddler might, it simply will get a ‘I told you so’ just not in the same parent/child simple terms. Change your questions and your tone of voice to request more detail. The thought here is that you are NOT pushing back on the ask, but wondering where its coming from. Is it dictated from up on high? Is it to achieve a certain goal? Initiate a conversation. This can be a benefit not just to you but to your manager as they can use your insight to refine the ask into an all-around win. This feedback loop will be discussed more next time.

Until then, stay safe everyone!