Tips For Admins

Always know whom you’re dealing with.

Of course you know what your boss is like, but to get him to listen are you really sure of his behavioral style and the best way to communicate with him? This knowledge helps you to understand the best time to approach him, how to talk with him and can also help you strategize a more effective plan for getting the results you want. Along with his style, look for what buttons to push.

Let me give you an example of smart button pushing.

A woman who worked for a difficult boss was in one of my seminars a while back. She was mentioning how unpleasant he was to work with and that she had no idea what made him tick. She then said that the only time he ever seemed pleased with her was the time she completed a project that he told her “made him look good in front of everyone.”

That information, of course, was what she had missed; that was the button.

Part of our job is to help those we work with feel important, feel good about themselves. But in this case he was telling her what her focus should be: make him look and feel important to others!

Now, if she couldn’t get information out of him that was needed, she could talk to him from the perspective, “In order to get this done, and for you to really look good, I need the following information.”

There are 3 keys to making this work for you:

1) Listen.

We want to get others to listen to us, and we work hard sometimes to create elaborate systems to ensure they do. But one of the best ways to get others to listen to us is to effectively listen to them. The more we truly listen to our bosses the more insight we have into what they want and need, what makes them tick. Don’t forget to watch for body language, for tone and for all the other myriad of ways people communicate with us.

2) Be prepared, and use body language.

If we are working on making sure what we say is really heard, with credibility and respect, then we do our homework. And along with the preparation we should remember that people will listen better to people they feel an affinity with. When we mirror someone’s body language (not mimic, just have similar movements) and master their tone and energy, we build rapport and create an environment for better understanding.

3) Do the unexpected.

This doesn’t mean leaping out of a plane with the important message printed on your parachute, but it does mean looking at other approaches to getting your message across. Maybe it means buying bagels and coming in half an hour early to get her full attention. Maybe it’s sending brightly-colored memos, one an hour, putting yourself on his calendar or using a coded email system. Keep stretching and looking for new opportunities to make yourself heard. Always remember people listen to the radio station W.I.F.M. (What’s In it for Me).

I’d love to hear your experiences in getting your boss to listen. Feel free to comment by clicking the “Comment” link below.