How to Communicate Upwards

• You often leave a meeting with your boss unsure of what has been decided or what action you should take.
• You find it difficult to phrase things when speaking with your boss, particularly when talking about sensitive issues or conveying bad news, asking for resources, etc.
• You feel that you lack confidence and make mistakes when talking to senior managers.
• A recent presentation that you made to senior colleagues did not result in what you were hoping to achieve.
• You find communicating with senior managers highly stressful.
• You are going for a promotion and want to make the best impression possible to senior management.
• Reports you prepare are often criticized and rarely accepted at the first attempt.
• You worry about performance review meetings, even when you know you have performed well.
• You have noticed some of the above traits in your team members.
• You have been informed that some members of your team find it difficult to share their feedback and ideas with you.
• A member of your team is applying for a promotion and you would like to coach them on upwards communication.

Suggestions

Following these practical suggestions will help you to develop your upward influencing skills, and encourage your team to communicate upwards to you.

Don’t forget the basics!

When communicating with senior managers, it is always helpful to bear the following points in mind:

• Senior managers are often extremely busy and usually have a range of conflicting priorities, so when you do get some time with them, make the most of it by sticking to the point and focusing on the key topics you need to discuss with them.
• Try to concentrate on the facts and discard anything that is not crucial to what you are trying to convey.
• Make sure your recommendations are robust and you have the evidence to support them.
• Be honest if you don’t know the answer to a question. It is much better to say to a senior manager that you will find the answer out at the first opportunity and come back them, rather than try to make something up.
• If you are making a proposition to a senior manager, remember to promote its benefits, rather than simply highlighting its features.

Prepare thoroughly for meetings and presentations

Preparing thoroughly for an exchange with a senior manager will help you feel calmer on the day and more confident in the content and delivery of your message. Here are some suggestions to help you prepare effectively:

• Check very carefully that you have all of the necessary – and accurate – facts and figures and make sure you articulate this information clearly in your report or presentation.
• Explain how your suggestion or proposal fits with the organization’s mission, strategy and core values in your presentation or report.
• Graphs, diagrams and bullet-point lists can all be effective ways of presenting facts, figures and other data. Think about the information you want to deliver and the best way of presenting it in a clear, concise and visually appealing way.
• Think carefully about what you are going to say before face to face meetings with senior managers, but avoid making your delivery overly scripted. If you need a prompt to help you remember the main points you want to cover, prepare a few discreet cue cards with one or two words to remind you of the key ideas and information you want to present.
• Use language which is appropriate to the boardroom or the person to whom you are talking.
• If you know little about your audience, find someone who does and ask him/her to help you decide exactly how to pitch your report, presentation or answers.
• Be careful about using humor. A well-placed joke can sometimes provide a welcome dose of light relief during a meeting, but if you sense the mood is not right on the day, it could be more appropriate to avoid using humor and stick to the essentials of your presentation.
• If possible, make sure your knowledge of the subject matches or exceeds that of the individual or group with whom you will be communicating. Thorough research and preparation is the key to this.

Learn how to control your nerves

If you find speaking to senior managers particularly stressful or nerve-wracking, you might find the following suggestions helpful:

• Pace yourself during meetings; you do not have to convince everyone in the first minute.
• Focus on the purpose of your communication; stick to the point and avoid going off track when you’re speaking.
• Try to anticipate objections or sticking points and be ready to address them if they do arise.
• If you are making a presentation, practice delivering it to trusted colleagues and ask for their feedback.
• Conduct some research into relaxation techniques and select one or two exercises you feel might work for you. Take some time to practice these techniques before important meetings and presentations.

Consider how you present yourself to your team

Communicating upwards is something many people find challenging, and it could be that your team members are just as nervous about it as you might be about communicating with your senior managers. It is important, therefore, to encourage your team members to share their feedback and ideas with you, and for them to feel that you will listen to what they have to say. Here are a few questions to help you think about this:

• How easy do you make it for your team members to communicate upwards to you? Consider the last time a team member approached you with their feedback or ideas – did you listen carefully? Thank the team member for approaching you? Act upon their suggestions? Think about how you handled that situation: what you did that worked well, and what you would do differently next time.
• Do you openly invite upward feedback, or do you expect your team members to approach you without prompting? It could be that they want to share their thoughts and ideas with you, but are concerned that you don’t want to hear from them.
• How strong are your listening skills? Do you actively listen to what your team members are saying? Do you encourage them with nodding and verbal agreements while they are speaking? Do you offer feedback – both praise and constructive criticism – to team members once they have discussed their ideas with you?
• What can you learn from other managers? If you have a colleague, or even a friend or mentor, whose team members regularly and openly communicate upwards to them, take some time to speak to them and ask them for advice.

Use these questions as reflection points. You may even wish to incorporate some of the ideas into your next development plan.