Teamwork - Do you manage up? (Give a recommendation)
Managing up is providing your manager with an option to approve, rather than asking a general question.
What do you want to charge for Cameron's rate?
Figure: Bad Example - Nothing to approve
What do you want to charge for Cameron's rate?
I would advise the standard $165 + GST until he has more experience. Please approve.
Figure: Good Example - Option to approve
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
For example:
We want to integrate our database with our website so that customers can purchase online.
The choices:
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.
Please let me know if you're happy to proceed with our recommendation, otherwise let me know if you have any questions.
Figure: Good Example - Multiple options to approve with reasons for each
