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Support System

Supporting your manager is not about sucking up, it’s about stepping up. It’s about making your boss’s job easier, which bonus, also makes your job easier. When you reduce their stress and workload, you create a smoother, less chaotic environment for everyone.

Supporting your manager, done right, is simply making your boss’s life easier. Reduce their mental load. Killing the element of surprise. And in the process you will build trust, free them up to solve bigger problems, and make your own work life smoother.

While working on a recent deck, I got feedback to add more audience participation talking points, something like the fist to five check in. Fist if you’ve had zero success, five fingers if you’re crushing it. My brain took that down a rabbit hole, I thought of fist as a gut punch, five as a high five. And honestly, that’s the whole story of supporting your manager.

You are either the gut punch, dropping surprises, adding stress, or forcing your boss to pick up problems cold. Or you are the high-five bringing solutions, giving clarity, making their job easier.

Here are five ways to stay in high five territory.

1. Be a solutions finder, not a problem bringer

Default Move: Sending a frantic TEAMS, We have got a problem with X. What should we do?

Strategic Move: Dropping a calm message, We have got a problem with X. Here are three options I have figured out. I recommend Option B because [reason]. Want me to move forward?

Why It Works: Your boss makes decisions for a living. When you drop a raw, unprocessed problem in their lap, you are basically throwing them homework. Instead, bring them a pre-packaged solution where they just need to rubber stamp or redirect. Way easier. Way smarter.

How to Do It: Practice on the small stuff first, don’t wait until the project is on fire.
Always bring a recommendation, my initial thought is Y, but I would like your thoughts.
Clarify boundaries, This part is above my access/scope, but here is what I can do now and    here is who I have reached out to for extra support.

You are not expected to have every answer just don’t send problems into TEAMS or email without a single idea attached.

2. Small updates, beats mega surprises

Default Move: Crickets until your 1 on1, where you unleash a flood of updates or worse, your manager discovers something is late in the tracker.


Strategic Move Drop bite sized, predictable updates (email, Teams, whatever your tool) What got done? What is next? Where I am blocked?

Why It Works: Managers hate surprises. Predictability is the gift here. If progress is visible and blockers are flagged early, they don’t need to stalk you for status updates and their stress level drops.

How to Do It: Keep it short. Bullet points are the remote love language.

Be specific, I finalized the spreadsheet, not I worked on the project.
Flag blockers early, I am still waiting on IT access, flagging so it doesn’t stall timelines.

These micro updates aren’t just reporting. They are building the ongoing story of I have got this.

3. Lift the team, don’t carry it solo.

Default Move: Logging off with my work is done blinders on.


Strategic Move: Smooth things out across the team, help a colleague, document a confusing step in the shared drive, give feedback in a positive way or connect two people working on the same thing without realizing it. Make small, invisible tweaks that make the whole team (and therefore your manager) better.

Why It Works: Remote teams can fall into silos fast. Anything that makes the team more efficient, less confused, or less miserable makes your manager’s life easier. Share knowledge. Bridge gaps. Smooth out rough edges. You’re basically taking problems off their desk before they land there.

How to Do It: Document one process in plain English. Here is how I got around the VPN login issue. Drop it in the shared channel.
Play connector, Hey Sarah, I think Mark solved that last week, want me to loop him in?
Volunteer, I created a draft of the comms you mentioned needing in our last meeting let me know what tweaks you would like to make.

It’s not sucking up. It’s stepping up.

4. Anticipate, don’t wait.

Default Move: Nose down, focused only on your deadlines.


Strategic Move: Zoom out. Understand your boss’s goals, their boss’s goals, and the rhythms of the business. Then connect your work to their big picture.

Why It Works: Your boss still answers upward. When you anticipate their needs, you shift from reliable worker to strategic partner.


How to Do It: Listen for clues in team calls. What are they getting grilled on? What do they say they have to keep putting off starting.
Frame updates in a shareable form, they may become speaker notes later.
Pre game obvious asks, I started you a draft of x deck to get your juices flowing about your upcoming presentation

This isn’t about mind reading. It’s about noticing the pattern in the requests and in the feedback.

5. Ruthlessly protect their time (and yours)


Default Move: Sending a calendar invite for a 30 minute TEAMS meeting on something that could’ve been a DM.


Strategic Move: Treat your manager’s time like premium bandwidth. Be concise, clear, and default to quick messages whenever possible.

Why It Works: Their calendar is already stacked with back to backs. If every time they talk to you it feels efficient and purposeful, you just became their easiest meeting of the day.

How to Do It: The 2-Minute Rule: If it’s answerable in a quick DM, do that. Don’t create a meeting.
The Agenda Rule, Meetings must have a one sentence purpose and bullet points shared in advance.
Default to an email, TEAMS updates, shared docs, so they can respond on their own time instead of juggling you between calls.

The result is less calendar clutter, more respect, and way smoother interactions.


Every move you make is either a gut punch or a high five for your manager. Choose high five every time. You will build trust, reduce chaos. It’s not manipulation. It’s being the kind of teammate people want more of, especially your boss.

 Your High-Five Checklist:


Ask yourself at the end of each week (or before your next 1 on 1):

 

·         Did I bring more solutions than problems?

·         Did I stop surprises with small updates?

·         Did I make the team stronger, not just myself?

·         Did I anticipate a need before it was urgent?

·         Did I protect everyone’s time?

 

Every yes is a high five. Every no is a chance to reset next week.


ღ Chi

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