The Boss - How do you build this important relationship?

Undoubtedly, the relationship with your manager or supervisor is an important one in the world of work. This relationship can influence you to stay in a job, or to leave a company; to get a promotion, or to hover at a career plateau. A change of boss can be a great thing - doors open, new opportunities and project are offered; or it can prove a challenge - learning to negotiate a new personality or to establish trust, credibility and "rules" of working once gain.

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In a recent post, The Brazen Careerist offer a number of tips for boosting the subordinate-superior relationship.

• Following Through
• Communicate Often
• Pitch New Ideas
• Always Have a Positive Outlook
• Be Able to Joke Around
• Ask to Take on Additional Projects
• Act on Feedback

Of course, every relationship is individual - each manager is different, and work situations vary across industries, and countries and cultures (see for instance Maurne 2011 for his work on female supervisors, or Abraham 2011 for an interesting study on career management strategies in Indian Banks). Increasingly, methods of work are varied with virtual work and telecommuting becoming common and presenting additional challenges for relationship building (see the work by Golden and Veiga 2008 on the role of superior-subordinate relationships and job satisfaction and performance of virtual workers).

Perhaps it is you that is the boss, with team members seeking to establish and further a relationship with you. When becoming a "boss" for the first time, this can be a challenge. Many questions and doubts may surface - How do I act as a manager? How do I establish relationships with my team members that will lead to a productive and successful team?

In my experience - having worked for male and female managers, and having been a manager to both men and women; managing in-office and remote teams, and now being a virtual worker myself -communication is  the key to establishing and reinforcing my relationships at work - both upwards and downwards.  When there have been difficulties (and certainly there have been some!) a disjoint in communication styles or expectations has often been the culprit.  "Communicating Often" has been particularly important as I've changed roles or increased in seniority and the geographic distance of my superior or team members has increased (perhaps he/she/they are in another state or country) or as the number of members in my team has grown.

What are your tips for developing and improving relationships with those more senior? if you are a boss, how can you encourage healthy and beneficial relationships with your team members? As a woman, do any of the tips listed above seem more important or poignant to you?