17. "Managing Up"

Managing up is an important skill to develop. I think of these skills as sticky (rather than soft), as they bind you to your colleagues and can have a huge impact on your career. This week I give you advice on how you increase your supervisor/student productivity by managing up.

My Experience of Managing Up

I didn't even know I acquired the skill of 'managing up' until about a year after I finished my PhD. I met up with my PhD supervisor for lunch. During this conversation they gave me an unexpected compliment, that I "managed up" really well. I was one of the best she knew at managing up.

I was surprised by this compliment. I didn't think I could manage up.

When I reflected on this compliment, I started thinking about our dynamic in our PhD meetings. At the beginning I had a lot of self-doubt about whether I could actually complete a PhD, and I was always really nervous before any of our meetings. I constantly thought "Will today be the day she tells me I am just not cut out for this? That I am a lost cause?" To reinforce these feelings of not being enough, my supervisor asked me questions, some of which I couldn't answer, and without the answer the meetings stalled.

As the student in this dynamic I realised I would greatly benefit from having more productive meetings so I decided to change my behaviour in our weekly meetings. I noticed the questions my supervisor asked that I couldn't answer, I tried different ways of presenting information to her, shared my PhD struggles that week and had a goal of what I wanted to achieve from the meeting. In essence, I started running the meeting. I asked her questions, could answer the majority of her questions, and started being more directive by telling her what I needed from her.

At times, I felt like my approach was being bossy, but we were so productive I didn't care. We also never spoke about this shift in our dynamic, so I never knew how she felt about it. When she gave me this compliment a year after I finished, it validated my approach and what I learnt about working with her.

This realisation helped me see my PhD in a different light. I still have mixed feelings about my PhD. I am proud I achieved it but it was also a factor in a long-term relationship breakdown. I am proud of the data and coding skills I learnt, but didn't give much credit to the transferable 'sticky' skills I also developed without even noticing.

The Lessons of How to Manage Up

Managing up is all about understanding the dynamic you have with your supervisor and maximising your efficiency and productivity. There are multiple techniques to manage up and improve this relationship, as each dynamic is unique you may need to trial a few approaches to see what works for you.

Managing up will likely involve behaviour change. Behaviour change is hard, and you can only control your behaviour so it is up to you if you will make the necessary changes to improve the dynamic. This is all about trial and error, try what feels natural for you and see how it goes. Don't be afraid to fail, after all you are a student they can't fire you! : )

• Not all manager's need to be 'managed up'

Some manager's will not appreciate being managed up. You need to think of the dynamic you have with your supervisor and their personality/supervisor style. If they tend to control the meetings, then managing up may not improve the productivity of your relationship. Still be mindful if there are aspects of your meetings that stall, and see if you can come up with strategies to reduce it from happening repeatedly.

• Is your relationship productive?

The first question to consider before trying to manage up is, how productive is my relationship with my supervisor? If you have a productive relationship you may not need to learn to manage up. If the relationship starts to become less productive, you may consider implementing some strategies to improve it.

When deciding whether your relationship is productive consider these questions: Do meetings/projects sometimes stall? Do meetings sometimes lack direction? If so, list the reasons why your projects have stalled. On a second list, write down the reasons for your meetings stalling.

Review your lists. Is there a reason that happens frequently/repeatedly? Can you think of any strategies to overcome the stalling? I provide some examples below that you may consider.

My Experience: Our projects ran smoothly, but slowly, as our meetings often stalled. The main reason for the meetings stalling was due to my supervisor asking methodological questions I hadn't considered and didn't know the answer to. As a consequence, we couldn't progress the meetings forward as the results may have been impacted by the methods. As I progressed during my PhD, I became more knowledgeable, and I also purposely over-prepared to rationalise all of my methodological decisions. There were still moments when I couldn't answer the question, but I knew enough for the conversation to progress.

• Notice your supervisor's meeting/work habits and adjust your schedule accordingly

PhD supervisor's are busy! They will likely be supervising multiple students, collaborating on multiple projects, have committee/university obligations, teaching obligations and may even still be conducting their own research. They have a lot going on. Be mindful of their schedule, notice the times of the day when they are more alert/less busy, and schedule meetings at those times when they are unlikely to be distracted.

My Experience: Prior to and during my PhD I was generally an early starter. I would prefer to start work early and finish early. However, my supervisor generally had meetings all day and would stay at work later to finish the work she couldn't get to during the day. So I started working later to enjoy some face time with her, have a chat, and ask any brief PhD questions I couldn't solve myself.

I also noticed my supervisor would often skip lunch due to her busy meeting schedule. I would often delay the start of our meetings so she could eat as I knew she would be more alert after eating, rather than sit through our meeting hungry.

• Your PhD is not their world

My PhD was my world. I obsessed over every detail I put in a paper, I could reason every decision I made in my methods, I would think about where I would submit the paper, who I would nominate to review it and the next study question. My supervisor could not think about my PhD in this level of detail, she had her own career.

To bridge this knowledge gap, at the beginning of each meeting I assumed she forgot the details of the project. So I gave a 1-2 minute summary of the aims of the projects, our methodological approach and any questions we had answered recently. During this synopsis, my supervisor would ask any questions she had that I did not adequately address. Once we were up to date with the project status, I was then able to ask very detailed project questions and progress the meeting forward.

• What is the best way your supervisor processes information?

How does you supervisor prefer to take in information? Do they lie to read material prior to a meeting? Would they prefer to sit there and listen to you speak about the study and ask questions? Are they more visual? Would they prefer figures/tables to communicate your study ideas?

My Experience: I found my supervisor preferred to process information in a visual way, e.g. flow charts, tables, figures etc. So in my 1-2 minute summary at the beginning of each meeting, I used a flow chart to talk through the cohort selection and any other methodological decisions we made. As this was her preferred style to consume information she processed the messages easily and we could move on quickly. Many of these figures I would use in the paper we wrote so it wasn't a waste of time.

I also did 'waste time' creating figures that would never be used in a publication, which were purely for our meetings. However, putting the data in a different form enabled me visualise the data and notice aspects of the results that were not immediately clear in a table. Through this process I also learned that I can see holes in a study when I write it up as a Powerpoint presentation. To me the issues with a study are clear when I pretend I will present it to others.

• Prepare for their common questions

During your PhD you will start to think like your supervisor. You will hear their voice and their questions in your head, even after you finish your PhD their voice will still be there. (So your PhD supervisor's scientific mind should be one of the reason why you choose them!) Although each brain is unique we all think in patterns. If you pay attention in the meetings you will start to see the theme your supervisor's questions focus on. Once you know the theme, over-prepare that aspect of your study. I have found if you can't answer these primary questions, the supervisor's brain may not be able to let go of this ambiguity or engage in further discussions about the rest of the study.

My Experience: My supervisor is a methodologist, so most of the questions I was asked centred around methodological decisions such as cohort selection. Once I explained my rationale, we then explored how these decisions may impact on the results, and think about other methodological approaches to ensure we chose the best method, and were well aware of its limitations. Now, all of my methodological decisions have a rationale and constantly question my methods to ensure I choose the best one.

What unexpected sticky skills did you learn during your PhD? Has it continued to serve you well in your career? Let me know your experience by leaving a comment below or emailing me at AuthenticResearchExperiences@gmail.com

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