Management advice

[workstresss]

I was promoted to a senior position at a young age and there’s some gaps in my knowledge. One of them is strategically bringing problems/feedback to my management. I was always taught that I should bring a solution to the problem, have a solution focused view etc.

However I was told that actually it’s better to outline the problem and the scale first, then go away to find solutions in a separate time/meeting. Ie there’s a solution “stage” that I might need to incorporate? Is this the case? It just makes me wonder if the problem/fact finding stage might end up sounding negative if no solution offered?

Evening, OP. We've moved this thread over to Work for you now, where hopefully it will get some useful answers.

For me it’s a matter of communication - not necessarily a formal meeting - yet as you say if something is a big issue and high likelihood to be an issue or is an issue already I’d prefer to get a heads up “x is happening we’re working through the solution and will get back on y date”.

Would prefer “early and often” vs something the team have spent ages thinking through and I could have given a useful nudge on

Not for everything / all things but something large yes - can also mean you reduce the scope of solutions if whoever you are working with already has some ideas / what didn’t work last time.

I once worked for someone who said to me: "Don't come to me with problems, come to me with solutions" so I think there may be some individual preference within senior managers as to which approach they prefer. He didn't like having a problem landed on his desk, so to speak, he much preferred to have me say 'this is the issue, and I think this may be the way to resolve it'. He would then either say yes, do that, or he would send me away to think up another answer.

I've worked for other people who much preferred to be told about a problem, so they could take the decisions. They didn't always like me finding the answer and presenting it to them as a fait accompli.

You just have to tailor your approach to the individual boss in question.

@pitterpatterrain thanks for this, would it change your opinion if the problems are not necessarily task related but people related? Eg raising concerns about my manager’s lack of involvement or action, complaints against them from my team, high attrition etc. It is not necessarily that I have ballsed something up, more so I’ve been unsuccessfully trying to manage upwards and they have ignored me enough to where things have come to a head…

@workstresss giving a heads up/ regular updates on management issues means that it is on their radar. They can also make small suggestions/interventions that can stop a situation escalating.

Complaints from your team, people leaving these should be mentioned at an early stage. It gives your senior managers an indication there is an issue.

Upwards management of your manager is desirable but sometimes that needs a more senior manager to make subtle interventions. For example asking for exit interviews and data on staff turn over.

The situation you describe more people related can be hard - and depends as others mention on your company structure and culture

if there are people issues I would want to hear them yet at some point it becomes a me + HR thing, and the other colleague would not track the whole topic through or be given visibility if we are essentially investigating their manager (if I have understood what you have described)

@pitterpatterrain no I meant, complaining about your manager to your manager to resolve the problems

@Propertylover thank you!!

For me it depends on whether you the problem is yours to fix or not. In this case it sounds like it might not be

jumping straight to solutions can also be tricky if:
-you need to get support for the idea that there is a problem at all. this might be the case if you think your manager isn’t aware of the issues. In which case you certainly need to start with talking about the issues
-the problem is known but there may be disagreement on what is causing it. For example it might be clear that there is attrition, but not why people are leaving

it’s worth having solutions up your sleeve depending on how the conversation goes.

as you get more senior it’s also increasingly OK to go to your manager with a problem and seek their input and perspective on the solution. That’s because a senior level a lot of problems don’t have obvious remedies - which is why they get escalated to you or your manager in the first place. In this case you might want again to have some suggestions, but it’s OK to ask for inout