Summary: The Ideal Manager Exercise helps individuals define their preferences for interacting with a manager to build a successful working relationship. By outlining how their ideal manager would act in various situations, employees can communicate their needs and expectations clearly. This exercise encourages open discussions between managers and employees to foster understanding and collaboration.
In relationships, identifying a problem before it becomes a problem is a key to diffusing or resolving potential conflict. (View Highlight)
The written statements should be focused on controversial areas. These are the areas which have caused conflict in the past, or you believe have the potential to cause conflict. Things like how you interact with your manager, with your peers, when you’d like help, when you’d like independence, how you would like to complete your work, and so on. (View Highlight)
Similar to how employees should be as firm and controversial with their statements as possible, it’s true of managers as well. (View Highlight)
If you think carefully about your relationship with managers in the past, can you find patterns in what worked, and what didn’t? What made you build a strong relationship with one manager, and not get along well with another manager? (View Highlight)