The People Skills Primer - Part 1

Part 1 of 9 Parts

Communication With The Boss

Have you ever presented in front of a crowd? Perhaps you did a presentation for a project? If you did, do you remember how it felt to be in the spotlight? Everyone was looking at you, listening to you. And you had to not only speak with confidence, you also had to stand with confidence and appear self assured.

Whew! Basically, your speech, body language, and gestures, as well as your connection with the audience was being observed.

Whether you’re starting out as an intern or as a fresher, these same aspects of your personality will be observed even at the workplace. If you want to be a cool communicator, you need to master 3 aspects of workplace communication:

Communicating with Your Boss/ Manager (in house communication)
Communicating with Your Colleagues (in house communication)
Communicating with Your Clients (external communication)

Let’s talk in house communication then. This is basically any communication between your team, among your colleagues, between your boss and you. Or the communication that takes place between your team and other teams in your office.

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Find out how you can communicate effectively with your boss in the first article of this series.

So how do you effectively communicate with the boss-man? Or woman? Take a look at these situations to find out some common problems you are likely to face and how to deal with them…

Situation 1: The Boss points out that you have been walking in late and leaving early.
Bad Idea - Deny the accusation. Slyly walk in when the boss isn't looking. Slyly walk out when the boss isn't looking.
Good Idea - Accept the mistake. Plan the mornings better so you are ready on time. Plan the evenings better so partying with friends starts a little later.

 

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Situation 2: The Boss has given you an assignment but you don’t know how to start...
Bad Idea - Keep stalling for time. Take help from colleague, bestie, mom, landlord, watchman, watchman's friend...
Good Idea - Walk up to The Boss. Put everything in front of him - the research you have done, the problem you are facing and possible solutions you are stuck with. If you're scared of walking up to him, it’s time to keep fear aside and go talk to him anyway. And if you don’t know how to start, you can just say, “Hi, I have something I’d like to discuss with you. When can we talk?” and go from there.

 

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Situation 3: You have made a mistake and you're sure it will piss off The Boss.
Bad Idea - Take time to decide who you can blame it on. Figure out a way to get away with it.
Good Idea - Walk up to the Boss asap and tell him everything clearly. It will give him time to remedy and minimize damage. He may get angry but he will understand.

 

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Situation 4: The Boss has made a big mistake and only you know about it.
Bad Idea 1 - Just remain silent and let nature take its course.
Bad Idea 2 - Go tell the Boss's Boss. The hunted becomes the hunter. \m/
Good Idea - Go tell The Boss. He hates you? Make him love you. He doesn't take criticism well? Tell him about the mistake in a way that is non-confrontational. A mature boss will appreciate your initiative and courage. And if after all that the boss is still rude, put everything on email, mark the boss, mark the boss’s boss, the HR and send that email right away!

 

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Situation 5: You want to build rapport with The Boss
Bad Idea - Stalk him home. Stalk his social media. Try and match his smoke timings. Bring gifts when you come back from a holiday. Basically, boss ki chaato...
Good Idea - Find out common areas of interest and bring them up during meetings. Walk up to him and ask for suggestions for books to read, online courses to take and events to attend to get better at your job. And keep talking to him about your work and how to do it better.

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  In the next article of the series find out the cardinal rules of communicating with the colleague.