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Working productively: Improving a challenging relationship with your manager

A good relationship with your manager is critical to your success at work. It makes your job easier and more enjoyable. If you don't already have a comfortable relationship with your manager, you may have to work a little harder to develop one. Remember that manager-employee relationships are like any other relationships. There are good days and bad days, and sometimes you have to put in a little more effort.

The following tips may help you establish or improve a good relationship with your manager.

Look for common ground
Look for areas where you and your manager agree and focus more of your attention there. For example, you both want your department to do well or your company to succeed with its new initiative. Look for opportunities to verbally affirm these common goals and priorities with your manager.

Consider how your actions or behavior might be contributing to the problem
If you've missed deadlines or have made mistakes or errors, you may need to focus on rebuilding your trustworthiness before you can work on improving your relationship with your manager. Other common employee behaviors that can contribute to a poor manager-employee relationship include poor communication skills, conflicts with coworkers and frequent complaining.

Try to stay focused on the work
Work to keep your emotions in check and distance yourself from the more personal aspects of the relationship. Ask yourself what you can learn from this experience.

Ask your manager for ideas about how to improve your working relationship
You may be surprised by what your manager has to say if you simply ask, "What can I do to improve how we work together?"

Talk with human resources
If you have a serious personality conflict or feel like you just can't establish a solid relationship with your manager, an HR contact may be able to help you find new approaches or ways of communicating.

A good employee-manager relationship is crucial for career success and feeling good about your job. When managers and employees are able to develop relationships based on trust and respect, productivity and morale are almost certain to improve.

This article is adapted from Ceridian's LifeWorks Online service. Contact your Ceridian representative for more information about Ceridian's Health and Productivity solutions.