Managing Leadership^®

From office rental suites with shared secretarial support to the return of in-house office pools, and from the return of matrix organizational structures supporting temporary project assignments to the squeezing out of middle management, employees at all levels – including, in particular, managers up to division level – are increasingly finding themselves responsible to one extent or another to multiple bosses.

Your principle problem in such a situation has to do with allocation of your time. Every boss who gives you assignments will present them as not only his or her first priority, but also yours. So, even though they may actually be managing their priorities and their time well, no amount of discipline or analytical skill in assessing your tasks will allow you to do so: your tasks are all at the top of the list by default. Your effort to prioritize them often really only represents your judgment as to how much you can get away with from each of your bosses. This is obviously no way to run a train.

There are three basic approaches you can take:

1) Post all your taskings, the boss who assigned them, and the due date on a white board in your office. Whenever a boss brings in a new tasking, be sure he or she sees you putting it at the bottom of the list on the board. Use the opportunity to discuss how important the boss’s tasking really is. (When you’re tasked by email, send an email back confirming the tasking, and also showing it highlighted at the bottom of your pre-existing list.)

2) When a task #2 comes in with a priority of one, inform boss #2 that boss #1 has already carefully explained to you that task #1 is your first priority. Inform boss #2 that it has been made clear to you that you do not have the authority to establish these priorities, and that boss #2 will have to discuss the issue with boss #1 before you can reallocate your time and efforts. I know this is easier said than done, but find a non-abrasive way to do it. When you’re told to move it up the priority ladder anyway, and that #2 will “take care of it” with #1, just go through the drill again the next time #1 re-pushes his or her agenda on you. You might try also sending out a new status email to both bosses of the current state of your taskings. The point behind these two approaches is to make both bosses aware of the conflict and to make them responsible for resolving it, rather than allowing them to make you responsible for absorbing it.

3) Try to arrange for a tie-breaker relationship with the mutual boss of your multiple bosses. Least preferable, and it can lead to some tense relationships with your direct bosses, but you can’t just fill up with priority one tasks until you explode.

There are other problems with this situation, ranging from simple longevity in your position to career advancement. These are delicate, although ultimately solvable. Extra approaches range from collaborative relationships and productive networking within (and without) the organization that expand your reach and effectiveness. But these can only go so far to keeping the lid on an essentially uncontainable situation. Focus on solution number one: teach your bosses to consult together about their assignments for you. Who knows what else they’ll learn from the experience?