Managing Multiple Bosses
by Amy Gallo
The movie Office Space, a comedy about work life in a typical 1990s software company, details the saga of Peter Gibbons—a man with eight different bosses. All of them, seemingly unaware of each other, pass by his desk and tell him what to do. Although the film is most certainly a satire, for some, it’s not far from the truth. Many of us report to more than one boss, so learning to handle multiple managers is essential.
What the Experts Say
“As you go to a matrixed structure, you can easily have between one and seven immediate supervisors,” says Robert Sutton, the author of Good Boss, Bad Boss. Adam Grant, coauthor of the Harvard Business Review article “The Hidden Advantages of Quiet Bosses,” concurs. “As companies continue to flatten, organize work around specific projects, and use temporary teams to complete projects, many employees find themselves reporting to multiple bosses,” he says. Although this is more likely to happen in bigger and more complex companies, it can happen in small organizations and family-owned businesses, too. Having many bosses is complicated, and, as Grant says, “If you’re not careful, you can end up letting all of them down.”
Here are some guidelines to make your job, and theirs, easier.
Recognize the Challenges
Although working for more than one person can present numerous challenges, there are three common ones to watch for:
- Overload. With several people assigning you work, one of the greatest risks is simply having too much to do. “If you report to multiple bosses who supervise your efforts on different tasks and projects, it’s all too easy for each boss to treat you as if you have no other responsibilities,” says Grant.
- Conflicting messages. “The more bosses you have, the more conflicting messages you get,” says Sutton. Sometimes this happens out of ignorance—your bosses aren’t aware of what the others are saying—or because people are pushing their own agendas. “Different bosses often have different expectations, and what impresses one may disappoint another,” says Grant.
- Loyalty. “Some bosses want to know that they’re your first priority. If you have more than one boss who feels this way, it’s easy to get caught in the middle,” says Grant. You may need to negotiate between competing demands for your loyalty.
So, how do you make it work?
Know Who Your Ultimate Boss Is
Although you may take direction from multiple managers, most of us have one person who’s ultimately responsible for our careers. Ask a lot of questions about the reporting structure. Find out who completes your reviews and who contributes to them. Who makes decisions about your compensation, promotions, and so on?
Stay Connected
Reporting to more than one person can be complicated further if your bosses are in different locations. When your bosses work remotely (or when you do), you need to overcommunicate to make up for the lack of face-to-face time. Rely on technology to help you. Make your calendar viewable to those outside the office or use a web-based tool such as Google Calendar. This will allow all your bosses to know where you are, even when they can’t see you. You can use the same calendar to indicate what days you’re working on which projects. To simulate the drop-by-your-desk conversations, use an instant messaging application to have brief check-ins or ask quick questions. If only one of your bosses is remote, don’t inadvertently cater to the boss whom you see more often, and make sure the distant manager knows you’re meeting his needs, too.
Be Proactive About Your Workload
Let everyone know what’s on your plate. Although it may not be in your job description, it will behoove you to negotiate between your bosses. “I would err on the side of taking the initiative to coordinate between them. Most bosses prefer proactive employees,” says Grant. You can create a shared document that lists all of your ongoing tasks and projects, or you can communicate these items in weekly check-in meetings.
Get Your Bosses to Communicate
Most bosses appreciate your bringing them solutions, not problems, but this is complicated when you have more than one manager. Whether you need to resolve contradictory directions, reduce your workload, or sort out inconsistent demands, the best approach is to get your bosses to talk with each other, rather than trying to represent one’s agenda to the other. “Start by assuming the best. Invite them to discuss the conflicts and get them out on the table,” says Sutton. Bring your bosses together in the same place—in a face-to-face meeting or on a conference call—and explain what the conflict is. Enlist them in the problem solving and push for transparency. “If you ask your bosses for advice on how to handle the disagreement, they’re more likely to take your perspective and see the challenges from your point of view,” says Grant.
Set Boundaries
“The most important skill for staying sane while reporting to multiple bosses is the ability to set boundaries,” says Grant. He points to research done by Harvard Business School professor Leslie Perlow. She found that engineers at a Fortune 500 company were constantly interrupted by managers and coworkers. She helped them create norms for quiet time: Three days a week, there would be no interruptions before noon so they could focus on work. If your multiple bosses frequently come to you with questions or to check in about their projects, establish protected times. As mentioned earlier, you can block out times in your calendar for work on certain projects. Before taking on a new project, remind your bosses that you’ll need to assess how it fits into your overall workload. Frame this as wanting to be sure you have enough bandwidth to do a project justice rather than putting the request off.
Get Sneaky if You Have To
The aforementioned advice works best in a healthy organization, but yours may not reward transparency and proactive approaches. You may find that your bosses are unresponsive or unwilling to meet with you to resolve conflicts, which requires a different approach. “If you’re in a fear-based environment, you have to figure out how to protect yourself. The worse the environment, the sneakier you have to get,” says Sutton. Figure out which of your bosses has the most power, and prioritize her assignments. “The smart employee doesn’t ask. Instead, do your own calculation of who is more powerful and who would hurt you the least,” says Sutton.
Don’t Take It Personally
Sutton notes that it’s easy to assume that your bosses are out to get you, but usually that’s not the case. They’re probably just pushing their own agendas, and you’re getting caught in the middle. Try not to feel persecuted. Instead, identify the conflicts and work to resolve them.
Reap the Benefits
Despite the challenges, having more than one boss can also be an advantage. For example, you’re likely to get more robust feedback. If your bosses come from different parts of the organization, you’ll have access to a larger and more varied network. You probably have more autonomy because you don’t have one person calling all the shots. “Like a kid playing parents off each other, ask the person who you know will give you the answer you want,” says Sutton. Although this may seem underhanded, it’s an effective way to align your interests with those of your bosses and the company.
Case Study: A Monday Morning To-Do List
Kim Bryant had been in the accounting industry for 15 years when she started with a new firm as a staff accountant. The company had three partners, and Kim was initially hired to work for one of them. But soon she was asked to continue her work for that partner and also help out one of the others. “The most difficult thing about working for two partners was that both had projects that they felt were urgent and it put me in an uncomfortable situation,” she says. Kim had to decide which project to work on first. When she asked one of her bosses for advice, he would say he wanted his project done first. Frequently, one partner assigned her something urgent when she was working on an upcoming deadline for the other. So Kim created a to-do list every Monday morning, prioritized by due date, and shared it with the two partners. “That allowed each partner to be aware of what I had been assigned to do,” she says.
She also learned to watch their schedules, often with the help of their secretary. If Kim had been told that a project was urgent, she could gauge how soon she needed to do it based on when the partner was back in the office. She knew if she got it on his desk before he returned, she would be fine.
Amy Gallo is a contributing editor at Harvard Business Review. Follow her on Twitter at @amyegallo.
Adapted from content posted on hbr.org on August 18, 2011