Help Your Boss Help You

Push for Periodic Meetings

Many of the recommendations so far involve interacting with your manager so that each of you can better understand the goals and priorities of the other. To do that, you need to meet with your manager on a regular, predictable basis.

How often should that occur? In most jobs, once a week would be ideal, but once every two weeks can work if you are on longer-term projects that don’t require immediate feedback. The fact that you meet at all is important, however, because you both need to learn how to interpret not only what the other is saying, but also what is not being said.

Here’s a potential problem that can arise if both sides don’t know the other well. As you grow more proficient in your career, you learn:

• Which ...