How to Work Around Your Boss's Habit Of Not Being Available
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 Arcadia, N.C.
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 New York career coach. Any time her clients complain about an inaccessible superior, she inquires, "How much savings do you have?"
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 Winston-Salem, N.C.
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.
Silicon Valley public-relations manager Brian Johnson recently reported to an executive vice president who traveled 80% of the time. The woman believed her 30 subordinates should work around her frequent absences. She typically returned their calls at odd hours. So, Mr. Johnson got in the habit of always carrying a 3x5-inch card or Palm Pilot that summarized his pending tasks and problems. He whipped out the card when his boss phoned -- during weekend religious services, nights out with his wife and romps in the park with his children.
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 Ridgewood, N.J.
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 Los Angeles. During a stint in the movie industry, he often helped counsel the boss's assistants, so he usually could win five minutes of the executive's overcrowded calendar from a grateful assistant.
No single path to communication will always be open. One Boston marketing vice president used to enjoy informal, early morning chats with the CEO at a software concern -- until he hired a human-resources vice president. Then, most requests she made for help from the company leader got forwarded to the new hire instead.
The marketing official thought she caught a break when she found herself and the chief executive flying to Europe together six months after their morning talks stopped. "I was really looking forward to being able to discuss some issues," she recollects. Just before takeoff, he turned to her and declared, "I never discuss business on flights. I get airsick and just want to try to sleep." She gave up trying to communicate and soon quit.
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.
如何对付难得一见的老板？
对一位难得一见的老板，作为下属该怎么办呢？
有家消费品公司的一位副总裁经常取消与下属约定的谈话或匆匆打断谈话，他的理由是还有其他事要处理。吉姆?麦克勒尼(Jim McNerney)就是他的下属里的一位。麦克勒尼对很少有机会当面见到上司感到很沮丧，于是，他只好采取一个笨办法：这位副总裁极爱喝咖啡，经常能见到他往咖啡间里跑，于是麦克勒尼选择在副总裁疾步去咖啡间的时候跟着他、快速地边走边说。
七月底，麦克勒尼和另外5位同事丢了工作。他把这件事归咎于那位难得见到的上司。麦克勒尼认为，这位上司从来不想亲自跟下属接触。在他心目里，每个人都该为他作出牺牲。
如果你很难接近老板──不管是因为他工作日程太满、还是总有出差，或是人际沟通技巧欠佳──那么你在公司里将很难出人头地。纽约职业培训师多纳?施瓦茨(Donna Schwarz)提醒说，总没机会让上司经常看到你就像给你标上了大大的红色提示信号，一旦经济形势不好，老板就很容易想到你。每当找她咨询的客户抱怨说总是见不到上司时，她就会问：你有多少积蓄？（准备好被炒鱿鱼吧）
要想改变这种局面，最好的办法是：学会“管理”你的老板。北卡罗来纳人力资源顾问公司Williams, Roberts, Young高级副总裁道?赫恩(Doug Hearn)说：你必须善于制造与老板接触的机会。
要做到这一点，你必须适应老板所喜欢的沟通方式，还有他的作息时间。有些老板不喜欢在上下班的路上接到办公室打来的电话；有些老板讨厌下属三番五次地嘴上说只想说几句话、结果却一呆就是三、四十分钟。
处理办公室里复杂问题的最好办法当然是面谈。但这种方式未必适合有古怪习惯的老板。
赫恩在以前一家咨询公司工作时就感到很无奈，因为他的老板经常出席各种会议而且要不停地出差。“跟老板交谈两分钟在我已经算是最长的时间了”。
赫恩后来找到了一种有效的解决办法。他每周五给老板发邮件，介绍他取得的进展、计划下一步采取的行动，还有各种需要这位老板发表意见的问题。
在硅谷工作的公共关系经理布里恩?约翰逊(Brian Johnson)最近成为公司一位执行副总裁的下属。这位副总裁有80%的时间都在旅行。她认为，她的30位下属应适应在她经常不在的情况下工作。她总是在很奇怪的时间回复下属们的电话。于是，约翰逊不得不养成一个习惯：他总是随身带着一张3*5英寸的卡片或一只Palm的个人数字助理，在上面列出他要完成的工作以及遇到的问题。副总裁来电话的时候，他就会迅速找出卡片──不论是在周末参加教堂活动、夜晚跟太太出去放松或者带着孩子在公园玩耍的时候，约翰逊都有可能接到这位上司的电话。
约翰逊承认，难有机会跟上司沟通让他的工作更难做了。今年五月他被解雇了。他说：如果能更多地跟她接触和交流，她本来有可能更好地指导我的工作。
经常了解上司喜欢的联系方式有何最新变化是个不错的主意。新泽西州零售培训顾问公司MOHR Access总裁麦克尔?帕特里克(Michael Patrick)说：每年你至少都要问一下上司：你希望我在跟你的沟通方式方面做些什么改变？
你还可以向老板表示希望他优先回复你的问题，这样可以避免你感到被忽视了。告诉老板，如果他在你周末辛苦工作的时候及时回复你的电子邮件，你有可能在最后截止日期前完成他认为十分重要的工作。记得在邮件的“主题”栏里提到项目的名称，并起一个惹人注意的“主题”名。
与一位工作负担很重的老板沟通效果如何，在一定程度上取决于为他管理日程安排、回复重要邮件的行政助理。
因此，洛杉矶律师事务所O'Melveny & Myers人力资源主管斯科特?希特伯格(Scott Setterberg)建议，要跟助理搞好关系。在电影行业工作的不长时间里，希特伯格经常帮老板的助理出主意，这位助理对他很感激，因此，他总是能从老板满满当当的日程安排中“额外”得到5分钟的照顾。
没有什么沟通渠道会永远对你敞开大门。在波士顿一家软件公司，有位负责营销的副总裁过去经常有机会在一大早跟首席执行长聊上一会，直到有一天首席执行长招了一位管人事的副总裁。从那以后，她向老板请示的工作大多数都会被转给这位新来的副总裁。
在他们停止“早间聊天”6个月后，有一次她刚好跟老板乘同一个航班到欧洲。她以为自己终于抓到机会了。“我真地一直希望能跟老板讨论一些问题”，她后来回忆说。但飞机刚一起飞，老板就跟她说：我从不在飞机上谈工作。我会晕机，所以只想睡会儿。她放弃了原来的打算，不久就离开了公司。
抛开所有不利之处不谈，老板经常不在或许反而给了你一个向更高级别的领导展示才能的机会。某电脑厂家有位中层经理每周一次在家办公，这种时候他经常会不太在意手机来电或下属发来的邮件。他手下有位高级网络设计师暗示这位经理的上司，她在经理不在的时候处理了一些需要拍板的问题。虽然现在她还在这位经理手下工作，不过，她从此也开始有了两位下属，而且，她总是能迅速回复他们发来的信息。
Joann S. Lublin
