Are you better at managing up or managing down? Your answer always needs to be, “I’m good at both.”
Managing up or down is all about extreme communication skills.
Here’s how this works:
If I manage up well, then:
- I spend time with and talk with my manager
- I understand what their goals and objectives are and make those mine, as well
- I keep my manager informed of my progress on any given project so that they have confidence that things are moving forward toward success
- I know what their expectations are and make it my job to exceed them
- I am proactive and try to come up with ideas and solutions to help the organization succeed. I can’t do those things if I don’t communicate well with my manager.
If I manage down well, then:
- I am a good team leader and a fantastic communicator
- I understand what our goals are and how the team works within the framework to achieve those goals
- I choose great people
- I clarify our team goals for them and give them room to achieve
- I ask for input and I listen
- I keep the team moving toward the goal
Everyone in an organization needs to be good at both—you report to your manager, who reports to the Vice-President, who reports to the President, who reports to the CEO, who reports to the Board of Directors, who report to investors.
You might have direct reports that you need to manage, but even if you don’t, you will have times when you are leading a project and need to manage that team for that project.
So, say that you are good at both managing up and managing down, and give examples of times when you have done both of those things.
Your answer should be in the form of a story: This is what the situation was, this is what happened, this is what I did, this is how it worked out, and this is what the results were.
Use the STAR format:
- Situation or Task (Set up the story—what happened? What was your goal?)
- Action (What did you choose to do and why?)
- Result (What happened as a result of your actions? Quantify this wherever possible.)
See the two examples below.
For managing up:
“My manager’s goal for the year was X, and my job was Y. We met weekly to discuss results and plan for the next week. At the end of the year, we had achieved our goal, plus 20%, and our department received recognition from the company.”
For managing down:
“I was handpicked to put together a team tasked to do X. I chose 5 people from a cross-department pool, set X goals, and met with them daily for a 15-minute meeting to touch base and answer questions. In 3 months, we met 3 goals and exceeded expectations on the other 2 by X.”
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This question and answer is just one of the 101 job interview questions and answers in my ebook How to Answer Interview Questions II, available on Amazon.
If you know there’s a job interview in your future, I encourage you to get this book (How to Answer Interview Questions II) as well as the first book, How to Answer Interview Questions. Both books have 101 job interview questions and answers that will have you ready to stand out in any job interview and get the offer.
