"I Wish My Boss Understood"

Can your people talk to you?

It can be hard to keep in-the-loop as you move up in the org-chart.

Your people might not want to be the person to “annoy” the boss by coming to them with problems or complaints. They especially don’t want to be the person criticizing the boss to their face.

“Back in my day…” might be the start of an unhelpful monologue. Your people might face different problems than you did back when you were more junior in your career, and your experiences may no longer be relevant to the realities they face.

“We used to just…” is not good problem-solving advice. You might not be the go-to person for technical help anymore because the software has gone through three updates since you used it last.

So, how do we get back in touch?

Remind your people that you have an open-door policy… and then actually have one.

Schedule check-ins with your people, so they can keep you up-to-speed on their projects. Specifically ask them if there are issues that need to be addressed.

Consider an anonymous survey or a 360° review, so you can find out what is going on with them and where they might need or want training, experience, feedback, etc., as well as ways in which you can be the best boss possible.

Make sure you build and maintain effective, two-way communication with the people on your team, and be responsive to their concerns and issues. It’s one of the best ways to keep good morale and high levels of retention.

(image generated using Midjourney)