Building a solid relationship with your boss can be awkward, especially when you’re being intentional and not just sulking at them for what you can get. While creating strong connections with coworkers is easier, doing the same with your higher-ups can be a struggle.
Many leave this task to their bosses since they are unsure if they are interested in building a relationship with them. However, research shows that being proactive in building a good relationship with your boss can tremendously impact your career success.
Our goal in this article is to help you overcome this awkwardness by providing tried and tested strategies to help you better communicate with your boss.
But first, let’s address the elephant in the room.
Why is it important to build a relationship with your boss?
Having a great working relationship with your boss is as important as being cool with your colleagues. Despite many people’s discomfort about this, it can positively impact your career trajectory. Let’s take a close look at why it’s important;
- Better chance of getting noticed
Let’s face it; everyone wants to get noticed for the work they do. But this can be challenging, where many others want it as bad as you do. A good working relationship can help you stand out from workplace competition. Since you’d be enjoying support from a senior employee, you’re more likely to get more opportunities than the rest of your colleagues.
- Improved Job satisfaction
What’s worse than having a bad relationship with your boss? Having no relationship at all!
When you have a good relationship with your boss, there’s room to communicate feedback which can further improve your job satisfaction.
- Lifelong mentorship
The truth is your bosses are more readily available for mentorship than the professionals you’re cold-emailing on LinkedIn. They are your bosses because they’ve passed through your stage and succeeded, making them better positioned to mentor you. By shying away from building A relationship with your boss, you’re missing out on the wealth of knowledge and guidance you can enjoy.
Strategies for Improving Communication with your boss
Now that you know why it’s essential to have a good working relationship with your boss, here are some tips you can implement to aid the process of relationship building and management;
- Let your work speak for you
Bosses are interested in the credibility of their employees, and one way to show this is through the quality of your work. So if you’ve consistently delivered high-quality work, your bosses probably already notice you. On the other hand, if you’re not confident about the quality of your work, it’s important that you take active steps at going over and beyond. That way, you can establish credibility, which is important in building a relationship with your boss.
- Your bosses are human, like you
While work leaders have a professional vibe to them and are always focused on getting the work done, you must understand that they are humans, just like you. Taking a step further to relate with them personally would be a great way to make them feel appreciated.
For instance, instead of the usual Good morning, you could go further to ask them how their weekend went. You’d be surprised at how much of a difference this would make.
- Communicate more
Just as frequent communication is vital to every long-lasting relationship, strong working communication with your higher-ups is built on Communication. So while we need to keep communication professional, we’ve stated the need for making personal connections with your leaders at the office.
You could start small talks during lunch hours to ask them about their weekend or how an idea of theirs can be improved. It could also be an excellent opportunity to share your career goals with them for guidance.
- Offer to help
Your managers and CEO are not superhuman. Although they seem like they have everything figured out, they struggle with some things too. Therefore, you must be proactive and take the initiative in identifying areas where they might need support since your boss is your teammate too.
It is also important that they are imperfect and might not have all the answers. This would help manage your expectations when dealing with them and help resolve any rift that may arise.
Final Thoughts
A great working relationship with workplace leaders offers many benefits to employees in terms of their career growth and workplace satisfaction. Although it might seem daunting, it’s easier than you think. After all, they are human beings just like you. By implementing these tips, you can have worthwhile communication with your bosses.
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