Building a great working relationship with your manager is so important! Whilst many people spend just as much time with their manager as they do their own families, it is often a relationship where little to no effort is put in. Building a great relationship with your manager will help them to understand you as a person and also give you both a happy, productive working environment. Once they start to trust you, you’ll find that huge opportunities can open up.

Today we’re sharing some practical tips to help you prioritise this important relationship.

1. Do your job well. This goes without saying, but you need to do your job really well. You want to make sure that your boss doesn’t ever need to question the work that you put up. This will get him to trust you for bigger projects down the road.
   
   
2. Learn your manager’s goals and desired outcomes for the year. Have a meeting to forecast the year and learn where you fit into this plan. Be enthusiastic and share that you want to do your part to achieve these goals. Help them see you as an asset.
   
   
3. Keep your commitments. If you say you’ll have something done at a certain time, honor that. If it happens that you can’t deliver on time, be honest about it. Open the line of communication to let your manager know what’s going on. Telling them before they ask is a much better approach then having them find out about it on their own.
   
   
4. Say yes! Try to say yes to new projects and responsibilities that come your way. As long as you’re not being overworked, saying yes is an opportunity to showcase your skills and your drive. This will show your manager that you are taking the initiative and care about the business.
   
   
5. Know how they communicate. They can prefer meetings or a quick text – understand how your boss likes to communicate, and work on that type of communication with them. This can take time to learn, but as soon as you communicate on their level, you’ll be able to understand them better.
   
   
6. Get to know them as a person. As you start to feel comfortable, ask questions that can help you learn a little bit more about them. What made them choose this career path? Why do they enjoy their job? What do they do to recharge? What’s their favorite place to get lunch? etc… These questions will help you understand them, but can also give you the opportunity to answer them as well, helping them get to know you too.
   
   

All of this will help you to develop a positive relationship with your manager, and get them trusting you. Once your manager trusts you, doors will start to open and you can start to climb that proverbial ladder.