How to get your boss to listen to you
Ever got the feeling your boss couldn’t care less about your ideas? That they’re sat thinking of a million other more pressing matters they have to deal with as you desperately try to grab their attention with aggressive hand gestures and unreciprocated eye contact…That’s because you’re doing it wrong.
With all their meetings, conference calls and thousands of emails to respond to, you can’t really blame them for ignoring your ideas, but you can employ several tactics to make them want to listen.
1. Structure
To really get your manager’s ears pricked, you can’t be the type of person who goes into excessive detail or explains ideas in chronological order. Going off on a tangent or straying from the original will make your boss switch off straight away because you obviously haven’t thought it through.
Most people prefer to hear the executive summary first and then discuss the key details once they are fully engaged by the overall idea. If your boss starts to dismiss your idea by changing the subject, steer the conversation back round to your idea by linking it to the new topic.
2. Timing is everything
If you realise that the timing of your upcoming meeting isn’t ideal, reschedule. First thing on a Monday morning or last thing on a Friday afternoon is obviously a bad choice. If the business is struggling at that time or your boss is particularly stressed, it’s best for both of you to reschedule for another date.
3. No surprises
If you descend on your boss the moment you feel an impulse to reach out, take a pause. Better to outline next steps in emails on pending items and request a response. Try to arrange regular meetings, in person or digitally, so there is always enough notice. If you don’t take your time or your boss’s seriously, how can they?
Send out an agenda the day before your meeting and resend it that morning so you are fully prepared to pitch your idea properly to your engaged audience of one.
4. Be intriguing
Use what you know about your manager to be more engaging. If you know they respond well to facts and figures, providing them with a spreadsheet or a list of statistics will be just the thing to pique their interest.
Always ensure your prepared material is visual, aesthetically pleasing and easy to read, especially if you work within the creative industry. It’s a good idea to create a summary of the meeting for your boss to take away afterwards too.
