1. Managing Multiple
Bosses

2. Managing Multiple Bosses
Introduction
 More and more people have been
reporting of having more than one
boss in their companies.
 Then it is important to learn how to
handle multiple bosses to succeed
in your professional career and to
face complex organizations.

3. Managing Multiple Bosses
Main Reasons
 As companies continue to flatten,
organize work around specific projects,
and use temporary teams to complete
projects, many employees find
themselves reporting to multiple bosses.
 It can happen in bigger and more
complex organizations, and family-
owned businesses.

4. Managing Multiple Bosses
Important
 If you are not careful,
when dealing with
multiple bosses, you can
end up letting all of them
down and consequently
jeopardize your career.

5. Managing Multiple Bosses
Main Problems When Dealing with Many Bosses
 Overload:
 Working for many bosses mean having
too much to do.
 Conflicting messages:
 The more bosses you have the more
conflicting messages you get.
 Loyalty:
 Some bosses want to know that they
are your first priority.

6. Managing Multiple Bosses
Ways to Deal with Multiple Bosses
 The first step is to know what
you are up against.
 Then you can take several
steps to mitigate the risks and
make your job, and theirs,
easier.

7. Managing Multiple Bosses
Step 01 – Ask Questions
 Be sure to ask a lot of questions about
the company structure.
 Finding out who holds the most
powerful position will help you in
making decisions about how to act
and behave.
 While this may seem mercenary, it's
important to know who can help and
hurt your career.

8. Managing Multiple Bosses
Step 02 – Inform your Activities
 Be sure your bosses know what
you have been doing.
 You can create a shared
document that lists all of your
ongoing activities, or you can
communicate these items in a
weekly check-in meeting to your
superiors.

9. Managing Multiple Bosses
Step 03 - Get your Bosses to Communicate
 When working for many
bosses, it is wise to let them
sort out their own
contradictory situations.
 The best approach is to get
your bosses to talk with each
other, rather than trying to
represent them.

10. Managing Multiple Bosses
Step 04 - Set up Boundaries
 If your multiple bosses
frequently come to you with
questions or to check in
about their projects, establish
protected times where you
can work without disruptions.

11. Managing Multiple Bosses
Step 05 - Get Sneaky if you have to
 If you are in a fear-based
environment, you have to figure out
how to protect yourself.
 The worse the environment the more
sneaky you have to get.
 You need to figure out which of the
bosses you work with has the most
power and priorize his assignments.

12. Managing Multiple Bosses
Step 06 - Don´t take it personally
 It can be easy to develop paranoid
fantasies about how your bosses are
out to get you.
 Chances are they are simply pushing
their own agendas and you are getting
caught in the middle.
 Try not to feel persecuted, and identify
the conflicts to resolve them.

13. Managing Multiple Bosses
Principles to Remember - Do
 Be on the lookout for the most common
challenges of having multiple bosses so you
can proactively handle them
 Keep a positive attitude and remember that
the conflicts are most likely because of the
situation, not because of you
 Find out which of your bosses is responsible
for making the decisions that affect your
career.

14. Managing Multiple Bosses
Principles to Remember – Don´t
 Don´t try to speak on behalf of one
boss to the other, try to get them to
talk with each other if possible
 Don´t keep your workload and task
list a secret from any of your bosses.
 Don´t push for transparency if your
organization doesn't reward it.

15. Lico Reis Consultoria
& Línguas
Prof. Roberto Lico
Our Website: www.licoreis.com
licoreis@licoreis.com
licoreis@licoreis.com.br
robertolico@hotmail.com
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Twitter: @licoreis