Managing up, part 1: Air cover

Effective communication is the currency of leadership

As a product designer, if you wish to advance or broaden your scope, one 30-minute conversation with your manager per week may not ensure you have enough visibility. Your manager has his or her own set of objectives, is in many meetings all day, and probably does not have the time to pull information from you unless it’s urgent. But, this does not mean you should not ever independently, proactively push news up onto their radar, or wait for the next 1:1 to come around in a week to get feedback or make an ask.

There are smart ways to use asynchronous channels to improve how you’re seen by your manager via serviceable, lightweight communication. There’s no such thing as overcommunication (within reason) — as long as you are succinct and respectful. Staying in light, frequent contact fosters an ‘air-cover’ style of relationship that’s healthy for not only your projects, but your own advancement. Consider this article, which unpacks the difference between ‘air cover’ and ‘swoop and poop’ management. If your manager drifts too far away, you may risk getting far down the pike on a project without fitting it into wider strategy, which is when leaders may send you back to the drawing board.

With this in mind, here are two suggested practices for efficiently communicating priorities, updates and accomplishments to your manager and/or partners outside 1:1’s, which fosters strong air cover — freeing your 1:1 time with managers for strategic discussion instead of updates.

These practices require you to get outside of your own point of view as an IC. Managing up is about understanding your manager and furthering your own prospects by anticipating their needs. As with any communication, the golden principle is to always consider your audience: who are they, and what are their goals and motivators?

1. Publish a short weekly summary of priorities, cc’ing your manager

Taking 10–15 minutes (this should take no longer) to look ahead and state the week’s major objectives will not only help you focus, but also demonstrate transparency and accountability to others. This habit may take dedication to build, but it will yield strong dividends if it only forces you to face your own time management.

Your summary can be an email, post, or part of a running 1:1 document you maintain with your manager (see image above for an example). This amasses a running record of impact you can use later to write a performance self-review or reflect on how you spent your time. Your manager will be exposed to, and have access to, your day-to-day, as well. They won’t necessarily comment, but they will likely skim, and even if they don’t read every word, they’ll go back and reference if they need information.

✏️ Keep it brief. Use this habit to hone your ability to write succinctly. Black-belt masters of brevity can even set up a communication to stoke curiosity, holding answers in their back pocket for when their audience asks for more information.

️️️✏️ Tag or cc teammates for visibility.

✏️ Link to Figmas, documents and files for transparency.

✏️️ Use Emojis, bolding or other formatting to improve parsability. See examples below.

️️✏️ ️Flag challenges, blockers or concerns. If you feel it’s appropriate, mention what you’ll be bringing to your manager in your 1:1 for the week, or make an ask. Make sure you separate the ask, or put it at the top, so your manager sees it first.

✏️ Include recent wins, optional personal updates or other ‘for fun’ extras.

2. Send light, frequent ‘snack chats’

In addition to your weekly lookahead, sending regular ‘snacks’ to your manager will keep them informed and engaged. If you need a response on something in your snack, like an ask or a confirmation, set it apart with bolding or an emoji, or send two separate chats (one with your updates, and a second separate chat with the ask). Getting in the habit of sending 1–2 of these to important colleagues including your manager each week provides many of the same benefits as a weekly post.

✏️ Be even more concise in these than your weekly summaries, using empathy to communicate only what you think should matter to your audience. If your audience wants more, they’ll ask. Snack chats are not a multiple-paragraph affair; use these tips to get better at cutting words. Often, you’ll need to draft the chat first, then cut down words before sending.

✏️ Consider WHEN you send. Your manager may be in meetings for most of the day; your message may get read more immediately at the start of the day, at lunchtime, or at the end of the day.

✏️ Use emojis, soft returns, and bolding to improve parsability. Avoid extraneous punctuation like colons or bullets.

Communication is the currency of leadership. What techniques and tips do you use to communicate well with your managers and partners? Share them in the comments. ◼️

Therese Mushock leads with deep enthusiasm for the technology times we live in as a people-focused product design leader for a large technology company in California. Follow her for more design leadership insights here on Medium or on Twitter.