How To Have a Successful Skip Level Meeting With An Executive

how well do you know your manager's manager how much time have you spent with them without your boss being present if you are like most people the answer to both of these questions is probably not much however in order for you to advance your career it's not just about keeping your boss informed about your performance it also requires you to build relationship with leaders further up the chain of command including your manager manager in this video I want to share how I use these opportunities to become more strategic resourceful and and secure my first executive promotion and you can as well in case it's your first time here hello my name is Tiffany former communication vice president of the two largest companies in Sweden by market cap in this channel we talk about all things to help middle management get senior executive positions so if you want more content on this topic be sure to subscribe and click the Bell button to be notified when I post new videos every Thursday now let's get into it we all know visibility is crucial for career advancement however when most people are serious about building relationships they often only focus on building relationships with their manager which is a huge mistake while your manager does play a crucial role in your performance review salary review and your career advancement they are not end all and be all so should you nurture your relationship with your manager if your goal is to be visible and seen the answer is absolutely but your strategy should extend beyond just your manager remember just like everyone else your manager has their own priorities too while a good boss will like to see their team member Excel they also are very likely to be focused on their own agenda I personally seen so many situations where a boss moved to a new role or was replaced leaving their direct reports feeling devastated this happened because they didn't have the close connection with other sponsors in the organization all approvals acknowledgements promise under the previous boss just disappeared suddenly especially regarding to promotion and new career opportunities you don't want to find yourself in a scenario where your boss leave a company or move to a different division leaving you without a strong sponsorship from Key stakeholders in your company there are also situations where your manager may not always be well-liked and others might find them difficult to get along with if you have never invested in relationship beyond your manager do you really want to be associated with the same perception just because you report to that person now what's a skip level meeting there are meetings with your boss's boss without your boss present for example let's say the Vice President of Sales has seven directors who report to him or her a skip level meeting would occur when the directors meet the manager of the Vice President of Sales hm you maybe feel unsure about it this sound dangerous you need to have the right mindset to start with skip level meetings are an important management tool and should not be perceived as negative or going over your boss head the goal should should be to maintain and increase communication so that all parties learn more about what's happening in organization from each perspective skip level meetings offers opportunities to develop professional relationships especially if you don't have regular interactions with Senior Management if you are currently in the middle management position the skip levels become more valuable the higher you rise and the further you advance in your career as the scope of responsibility and the impact of Your Action become more expensive and have skip levels ensure you are not just being effective in your role but also you aligned informed and you are increasingly visible specifically it does three things for you first you gain a broader perspective while you are interacting directly with your manager's manager this will help you to align with the company's broader strategic Direction and talk about projects initiatives that resonate with what's being valued at the higher up the second is that you are building a social capital with the manager of your manager which lays the foundations for trust this can be super valuable during times of change Transitions and uncertainty and third is you are enhancing advocacy these meetings provide a platform to Showcase your accomplishment and discuss the resources your team might need and also position yourself for further growth if you see the benefit now hit that like button and here is how to set up hold and leverage upward skip level conversations for your own benefit and as well for the organization as a whole the very first thing you want to do is to understand your organization's culture for many people meeting with a higher level manager can be intimidating you can have self-doubt concerns about appearing not smart enough it is also very normal you worry about wasting your senior Executives time or coming across as trying too hard I too had these concerns when I was meeting with the boss of my boss they're entirely valid but you need to strike a balance here overstepping can risk being seen as bypassing your immediate supervisor so it's important to approach it with caution and understand your organization's culture before you decide to schedule a skip level meeting take a moment to look around at your workplace culture and how such a request would be perceived would it be welcomed or could it be seen as a threat some companies encourage open communication and have a flag organizational structure and culture While others may have more hierarchical culture you want to reflect on your past interactions and feedbacks with your manager have they previously encouraged you to take such initiative have you observed other colleagues engaging in skip level meetings and they were encouraged or rewarded for doing so this can provide you with insights into how your request for a meeting like this might be perceived and whether it lines with the culture norm and expectations of your workplace the second thing you want to do is to engage and respect your manager no matter if you are invited for a skip level meeting or you initiated it transparency is the key choose a private time when you and your manager can have a open convers ation you can explain why you believe a skip level meeting would be beneficial for yourself and for the team as a whole and you can also make clear that your intention is not at all to undermine or bypass your manager but rather to enhance your own understanding and alignment with organization your manager will appreciate and understand the motivation behind your request you can ask your manager for advice ask questions like how would you suggest I maximize the time or what specific topics you think would be good for me to cover you can demonstrate you respect the advice and position the request as a collaborative effort if your manager shows hesitations or suggest you wait for another moment you want to listen they may have the insight about the workplace politics that you are not aware of how did you engage your manager comment below next prepare executives are busy and the last thing you want to do is to disrespect your skip level Time by coming unprepared so you want to Define your objectives in advance for for example if your goal is to clarify expectation then you want to list out all your current understanding and ask for the reassurance and correction if you want to seek guidance from them then you want to outline specific challenges or opportunities you are facing the solution you are leaning towards and ask how they've dealt with similar situations in the past personally I don't use PowerPoint when you rely on slides it's easy to get caught up in the details and lose the opportunity to build on trust and engage in a valuable conversation when you do not present with a screen you are encouraging a more meaningful exchange where both you and the manager of your manager live with a sense of having a great interaction ultimately this deepen the trust between you and that person additionally not using slides also force you to be more concise and to the point in your Communication number four keep it brief you want to have a reputation for never wasting senior Executives time actually you should not waste anyone's time for a meeting or call just ask ask for 15 to 30 minutes and be done with that period of time or even less that means you need to get to the point don't give too much details when I was the vice president these meetings where I feel less valuable or not valuable at all is where a team member ramble or keep talking way past my attention span it not only made them appear more Junior it also made me less impressed with their competence and less likely I would like to advocate for them pay attention to the culture of your organization and the way your manager's manager likes to interact some top Executives like to say if you're in my office more than 10 minutes that means you're in trouble for many Senior People the shorter the meeting the more successful it is to them here's a pro tip if you are to write them an email write an executive summary version in the body of your email or memo with more detail below your signature if it's needed tip number f is to prepare powerful questions now you might ask how much should you be listening and how much much should you be talking I always recommend to follow the 70 and 30 rule that is you should aim to speak 30% of the time while allowing your manager manager to speak 70% of the time when you are listening more and talking less you get their experience and insights plus you are now forced to be concise and purposeful in your words and in your communication your speaking time becomes more about asking the right questions what are the right questions you might ask me now the right questions are the ones that showcase your strategic thinking and the desire for clarity now let me share some examples with you what these questions can be number one among all the challenges our team is working on which one is the most significant if we are to succeed question number two how do we envision our team's role evolving given the company's long-term strategy question number three if you or me how can I grow in my role to better support both our immediate team and larger organization question number four what TR Trends or changes in the market should we be paying attention to or learning from question number five given the challenges of our industry what keeps you optimistic now let me share with you two golden rules for dealing with any leader in any organization there may be unspoken rules for culture norms for interacting with the senior leadership team if you want to play it safe follow these two golden rules when dealing with your manager's manager or your manager or anyone up in the chain first is beain transparent and second is ask for help when you need it these two golden rotes will not only make a good impression but also will help you to develop an open line of communication that will build trust and transparency keep leaders informed and ask for help and advice when needed when you combine these two things this shows leaders that you are not only taking ownership of your work but show that you are invested in the company as well when you ask a leader for advice you want to make it it count you don't want to ask for advice on something doesn't matter by inviting leaders into the process of finding or validating a solution you are showing how much you value their opinion secondly if you're facing challenges in your work your leader should want to hear about them whether things are going well or not so well communicating with the senior leaders can help you build Mutual trust and integrity number seven build relationship build a genuine meaningful relationship with anyone is about consistently demon rating respect integrity and your commitment a little appreciation goes a long way so always send a follow-up email after the meeting to thank your skip level manager for their time you can also summarize the key takeaways and share how you plan to take action on their guidance here accountability matters if you said you would Circle back about a certain point or question you want to follow up on your promise and show you are reliable if the first meeting went well you can also ask for a courtly meeting and get it on the calendar and here's a pro tip I typically do not schedule reoccurring meetings throughout the year even if they would like me to instead I always reach out to their assistant and ask for the meeting two weeks in advance why do I do that because this ensures that the meeting will not be cancelled due to other commitments they have this also allow me to send the fresh agenda to address the latest burning topics beforehand this shows my level of preparation and expectation for the discussion if you are serious about your career advancement and a promotion is what you are looking for in the coming months submit your application to the 1% Academy program where you will be coached by me you want to go to inspiry day.org slapp or click the link in the description below to book a free strategy call with me for now I will leave you this video to find out FAL strategies for communicating with Executives I'll see you there

Channel: Tiffany Cheng

Views: 5,168

Keywords: tiffany cheng, middle management, communication, influence, Skip level meeting questions to ask your boss, skip level meeting dos and don'ts, skip level meeting with boss's boss, tips for skip level meetings, how to do skip level meeting, How to Have a Successful Meeting with Your Boss’s Boss, what to talk about with your skip level manager, preparing for skip level meetings, successful skip level meetings, how to impress your boss's boss, how fast my boss and I become friends

Id: UAO3wbxA3OQ

Length: 12min 56sec (776 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 26 2023