Teamwork - Do you manage up? (Give a recommendation)

Last updated by Brady Stroud [SSW] 27 days ago.See history

Managing up is providing your manager with an active request or an option to approve, rather than asking a general question.

complexity and false hope
Figure: Hard decision - This guy needs to state why he recommends this option

What do you want to charge for David's rate?

Figure: Bad example - Nothing to approve

What do you want to charge for David's rate?

I would advise the standard $165 + GST until he has more experience.

  1. Please approve

Figure: Good example - Approval request in form of a task

Note: If it involves technical solution, please provide the steps you are going to follow.

Multiple options

When you are giving someone multiple options you should:

  • Limit the number of options to 3 to avoid "option overload" (more on Choice Overload and The Burden of Choice)
  • Recommend one and state why
  • Enumerate the options (E.g. Option A or Option 1)

We want to integrate our database with our website so that customers can purchase online.

  1. Please let me know which option you would like to proceed with, otherwise let me know if you have any questions

Option A (Recommended) - Customize a ready-made solution - We are able to get rid of redundant features and change it to meet our requirements. It is cheaper than building a new solution from scratch.

Option B - Buy a ready-made solution - The ready-made solution is cheap but it does not have everything that we need and has unnecessary features.

Option C - Build a new solution using a third party company - It will be expensive and it will take a long time.

Figure: Good example - Multiple options with reasons and a recommendation

Note: When presenting choices, it is important to avoid using the term "version" as it pertains to specific iterations or editions. Always use "options" which refer to selectable variations or customizable features.

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