How to Work Better With Your Manager

Most advice about working relationships focuses on managing upwards as if it were a political skill. It is not. It is a practical one. Your manager has context, decision-making authority, and influence over your priorities that affect the quality and direction of your work every single week. A good relationship makes that easier for both of you. A poor one makes everything slower and more frustrating.

The good news is that most managers respond well to the same things: clarity, reliable information, and people who help them do their job rather than adding to the complexity of it.

Understand what they are actually trying to achieve

Your manager has priorities that sit above your day-to-day tasks. They are accountable for things that may not always be visible to you. When you understand what they are working towards at a higher level, you can align your work to what actually matters to them rather than just completing tasks in a vacuum.

The simplest way to find out is to ask directly. What are the two or three things you most need from me this quarter? What would make a big difference to you from my side? Most managers will answer clearly when someone asks with genuine intent, and the answers are often more specific than you might expect.

Never let them be surprised by a problem

One of the fastest ways to damage a working relationship with a manager is to let a problem become visible to them before you have raised it. It signals a lack of transparency, even when the intention was to solve it independently before it became relevant.

The habit to build is early flagging. When something is going off track, say so before it becomes obvious. Come with what you know, what you are doing about it, and what you need from them, if anything. This approach builds trust, not the impression of weakness. Managers who know that problems will be surfaced early worry significantly less than managers who find out late.

Come to meetings with an agenda

Unstructured one-to-ones tend to drift toward whatever is most recent or most visible rather than what is most important. If you own the agenda for your regular check-ins, the conversations are more useful and the time is better spent.

A simple format works well: current priorities and progress, anything that is blocked or at risk, decisions you need input on, and anything from their side. Keeping a running note between meetings means nothing important gets left to the last minute or forgotten entirely.

Ask for clarity when priorities shift

Managers sometimes add new work without explicitly reprioritising what you were already doing. This is not always intentional. Asking directly, and without confrontation, puts the right decision with the right person. Something like: I want to make sure I am working on the most important thing. Given this, should I move anything else back?

This kind of question is not pushback. It is good communication. And the answer often clarifies something that the manager had not yet thought through explicitly.

Related: How to ask for help at work · How to set boundaries at work · How to delegate effectively