5 Ways to Manage Communication with Your Absentee Boss

　　让远方的老板赞赏你的5大沟通技巧

　　“You don’t get what you deserve. You get what you negotiate.”

　　“所得并非所值，有所求才能有所得。”

　　Lester Karrass, Negotiation Expert

　　谈判专家莱斯特•嘉洛斯

　　“Communication works by repetition. Repeat, repeat, and repeat.”

　　“重复才能实现沟通。重复、重复、再重复。”

　　Leo Burnett

　　广告大师李奥•贝纳

　　Recently Fortune China received the following email from a reader in China:

　　最近，一位来自中国的读者给我们发来了下面这封电子邮件：

　　"I‘m a marketing executive. My boss is not in the same office with me. I never received bad comments from her and I thought she’s satisfied with my work result. But when I asked for a raise recently, she rused and told me she didn&apost see many highlights in my work. Actually, I worked hard and finished many difficult tasks without any guidance because she was so busy. How can I let her know that? I don&apost want to argue." – Frustrated

　　“我是一位营销业务负责人，跟老板不在同一间办公室。我从来没有听到过她对我有什么负面评价，所以我想她对我的工作成绩感到满意。但最近我要求涨工资时遭到了她的拒绝。她告诉我，她没有在我的工作中看到多少亮点。实际上，我工作很努力，而且在没有任何指导的情况下完成了许多困难的任务，因为她非常忙。我怎么才能让她了解到这些情况呢?我不想跟她发生争执。”——失意之人

　　From this short note it is easy to sense that the writer is working very hard, is very committed to delivering results and also very frustrated that her work is not being recognized by her boss. Sound familiar? I hear this kind of thing quite frequently---Asia is a big region and its very common to report to a boss that lives and works in a another country, another city or even far across town. As such, it’s easy for an employee to be “out of sight, out of mind.”

　　从这一小段文字中能很容易地感觉到，这位读者在工作时非常努力，而且非常愿意做出成绩。但她的工作没有得到老板的认可，这让她非常沮丧。听起来很熟悉吧?我听到这种事的频率相当高——亚洲地域广阔，自己的老板在另一个国家、另一座城市或者同一座城市的另一端生活和工作的现象比比皆是。因此，员工和老板之间很容易出现“看不见，想不到”的情况。

　　Here are five tips for managingcommunication with an Absentee Boss. (In fact, these tips will work find even if your boss sits right next to you in the same office!)

　　以下是跟不在眼前的老板进行沟通的五项建议。(实际上，如果你的老板跟你同处一室而且就在你身边办公，这些建议也同样有效!)

　　No. 1. Negotiate Crystal Clear Performance Criteria with Your Boss.

　　1.跟老板清清楚楚地把绩效标准讲明白。

　　I am always surprised when I ask people that I coach about their agreed performance criteria for their job and they aren’t able to articulate the standards of success for me. Often no written document exists. Usually they will rer to their job description! In reality, your job description outlines the kind of work you will be doing, the competencies required, key job focuses, etc. It spells out your role in the organization.

　　给人做培训时，我会问对方他们跟老板商定的绩效标准是什么，他们却说不清楚自己怎样才算完成了工作，这让我很意外。在这个问题上，很多时候都没有形成文字。这些人经常把自己的职位描述作为参考!实际上，职位描述的内容是员工要做什么样的工作，需要具备哪些能力以及工作的主要重心等等。它界定了员工在企业中的作用。

　　But a job description is not enough to clarify “What specific results is the boss expecting from me in the next 12 months and over the longer term?” To get that level of clarity requires a Goal Setting Conversation. Sometimes such a conversation happens as part of the company’s Performance Management process, if such a process is in use. Often, these conversations never happen at all. Without clearly dined performance expectations, written in black and white, how are you going to get a fair evaluation of your work? You won’t! You will have zero leverage to manage their perception of your performance. And its likely you will end up frustrated.

　　但职位描述并不足以说明“今后12个月以及更长时间内老板对员工的具体绩效有什么样的期望?”要明确这样的问题，员工和老板就得针对工作目标进行探讨。有时，如果公司制定了绩效管理流程，这样的对话就会成为这个流程中的一环。很多情况下，老板和员工从来都不探讨这些问题。在没有明确绩效预期，更没有白纸黑字写下来的情况下，你们怎么去公平地评价自己的工作呢?做不到!你没有任何办法来左右老板对你工作表现的印象。到最后，你很可能会成为失意的人。

　　If you don’t have such crystal clarity, I urge you to request a Goal Setting Meeting with your boss and insist on clarifying:

　　如果没有把这个问题讲得明明白白，我建议你们马上要求跟老板开个会，确定绩效目标，而且你们要坚持明确以下问题：

　　• What specific results will you hold me accountable for delivering in the next 12 months

　　• 今后12个月你要求我取得哪些具体成绩

　　• What specific success criteria will be applied in order to evaluate if the results were delivered as expected?

　　• 如果我的工作表现达到预期，对我进行评估时将采用哪些具体的绩效标准?

　　• In other words, how will you know, beyond all doubt that I have met your expectations.

　　• 换句话说，怎样才能彻彻底底地确定我已经达到了你的预期。

　　Don’t accept vague answers and generalizations like “just do good work and everything will be fine.” Often bosses haven’t really asked themselves these questions and so they won’t have a ready answer. If that’s the case, ask them to come back to you in a week (or other agreed time-frame) with some answers.

　　不要接受含糊不清的答案和笼统的回答，比如“做好工作就万事大吉”。很多时候，老板们并没有真正考虑过这些问题，因此他们也不是有备而来。在这种情况下，建议他们一周后(或者一段时间以后，具体由你们商定)带着答案再来和你见面。

　　“But what if they never come back with the crystal clear success criteria?” I can hear people saying! In that case, sit down and draft your own success criteria for your work and send it to them for consideration. Talk to people who have more experience and ask them to review and comment on your draft. In any case, its up to you to ensure that clear performance benchmarks are in place if the boss or HR can’t provide them for you. Show your commitment by taking the lead instead of ‘suffering in silence.’ Are you a Leader? Then lead.

　　“要是他们再也不跟我彻底讲清楚我怎样才算完成了工作，那该怎么办?”我就知道会有人这么说!要是出现这样的情况，你们就坐下来，自己起草一份工作绩效标准，然后请他们过目，同时作出评价。无论如何，如果老板或人事部门不能为你提供明确的绩效标准，你们自己就要承担起责任，确保这些标准得到确立。你们要采取主动，而不是“默默忍受”，要通过这样的行动来展示自己的责任感。你们具有领导力吗?那就采取主动吧。

　　Remember: you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.

　　记住：所得并非所值，有所求才会有所得。

　　2. Send Your Boss a Written Copy of Your Performance Goals and Success Criteria

　　2. 给老板一份书面绩效目标和完成工作的标准

　　Once you have agreed crystal clear performance goals and benchmarks with your boss, send them a copy via email and be sure to keep a copy posted in your workplace where you can see your goals every day. Let your boss know you are committed to achieve these, and more, and you will stay focused on the agreed goals. Rer to your goals several times a day and make sure you organize around priority work that will lead to achieving your goals. (See my previous Fortune China article on Swallowing 3 Frogs.)

　　跟老板一清二楚地商定了绩效目标和标准后，用电子邮件给他们发一份，同时一定要在自己工作的地方贴一份，以便每天都能看到自己的目标。让老板知道你决心实现这些目标，而且一定要专注于这些你和老板商定的目标。每天多看几次，确保自己先做那些能让你实现这些目标的重要工作(参见此前我在财富中文网上发表的文章《时间管理是空话，集中精力吃青蛙》)。

　　3. Advertise Your Progress. In the case of the frustrated reader, above, it seems clear that she was focused on doing great work and achieving her goals. But since her boss is far away in another location, its likely that her performance did not achieve a very high “Share of Mind.” The reality is, bosses are human and very busy and you cannot rely on them to simply remember your good work, especially when they don’t see you everyday and they have a thousand other things on their mind. So, as the saying goes “It pays to advertise.” Here are some ways to stay on your bosses radar:

　　3. 为自己取得的进展打广告。拿上文中那位自称“失意之人”的读者来说，她的注意力显然都放在了出色完成工作和实现自己的目标上。然而，由于老板离她很远，她的表现在老板的心里可能没有占据太多的位置。实际上，老板也是人，而且非常忙。你们不能指望他们记住你在工作上的出色表现，特别是在他们不会每天都见到你而他们自己又“日理万机”的情况下。因此，就像人们常说的，“广告值得一做”。你们可以通过下面这些办法来引起老板的注意：

　　• Send an email every time you achieve something significant, giving specifics and linking them to your agreed success criteria. Keep it short and sweet. Save a copy.

　　• 每实现一个重大目标就给老板发一封电子邮件，说明详情，同时把它们跟你和老板商定的完成工作的标准联系起来。邮件要简短，措辞要亲切，还要把这些邮件备份。

　　• Send a bri report every month with details of progress you have made towards your goals.Save a copy.

　　• 每个月都向老板提交一份简报，具体说明你在向着目标迈进的过程中取得了哪些进展。简报同样也要备份。

　　• When there is something tangible involved, make photographs and send them via email.Save a copy.

　　• 涉及具体事务时，拍张照片，然后用邮件发出去，同时备份。

　　• When your boss is not available and you need advice, proactively seek it out, get ideas and suggestions and feedback from people in your location. Type up some notes on what you are learning and doing and send to your boss. Save a copy.

　　• 当你需要建议却找不到老板时，积极地去找建议，从身边的人那里收集思路、建议和反馈。把自己从中学到了什么，做了什么，都形成文字并打印出来，然后交给老板。自己留个备份。

　　Over time you are steadily building a strong case file, full of evidence of your good work and your commitment, and of course, your achievements. Naturally you will bring this material to your boss’s attention when it is time for a review.

　　久而久之，你就能稳步建立起一份有力的档案，其中记录的事例都能证明你工作出色，有责任感，当然也能证明你的成就。进行工作考评时，你自然就会把这份材料摆在老板的面前。

　　4. Insist on Regular Reviews. In many organizations, once goals are set there may be only one formal review of their progress after 6 months, or, quite often there is a review only after 12 months. If the boss is far away, that is never going to work out well. Perhaps this is what happened to our Frustrated Reader!

　　4. 坚持定期考评。许多企业在制定了目标后，可能只会在6个月以后对工作进展进行一次正式考评。如果老板身在他乡，这样的做法永远也不会有什么好的效果。也许那位“失意”读者就碰到了这样的情况。

　　What Can You Do?Arrange a 30-minute phone call with your boss at least once a month to quickly review your performance and any issues you are having. Use the opportunity to flag any issues you are having and ask for coaching and feedback. I can’t stress enough the value and importance of explicitly asking your boss, on a regular basis “How do you feel I am doing based on our agreed success criteria.” If the feedback is vague, such as “Well Done!” ask them “what, specifically did you think I did well?” Write it down. Write up a report of the call, including any positive comments and areas for improvement, and send it to your boss. Save a copy.

　　这时你们能做什么呢?安排跟老板在电话上进行30分钟的交流，每个月至少一次，让老板快速考评一下你的表现，同时了解一下你都有哪些问题。利用这个机会来提出自己面临的问题，同时请老板予以指导和提供反馈。要定期向老板明确提出这样的问题：“根据我们商定的完成工作的标准，你觉得我干得怎么样?”如果反馈很模糊，比如“干得不错!”，那就对他们说：“你觉得我具体在哪些方面干得不错?”把老板的回答写下来。就这次通话写一份报告，内容包括所有的积极评价和需要改进的地方，然后把报告交给老板。自己留个备份。

　　5. Plan for some ‘Quick Wins’ and Celebrate Your Successes. As soon as you have clarity about the results you need to deliver, sit down and brainstorm 2-3 ‘Quick Wins’ that fit the agreed performance criteria. Commit yourself to achieving these benchmark achievement that demonstrate tangible progress within the first four months of the year. They may be small, but they need to be real evidence of progress and they need to be unambiguous: anyone seeing these results would be convinced you are achieving momentum in the right direction. When you achieve a Quick Win, get a few people together over a cake and drinks and take a photo to commemorate your victory. Use this as part of your Advertising Campaign to say on your boss’s radar throughout the year.

　　5. 准备好‘速胜’并为自己取得成功而庆祝。明确了自己要实现的目标后，立即坐下来，开动脑筋想出两、三个符合绩效标准的“速胜”点。专心致志地在每年的前四个月做出这些基准绩效，以便实实在在地展现工作进展。它们可以是一些小成就，但必须是反映工作进展的真凭实据，而且要一目了然：任何看到这些业绩的人都会相信你正在沿着正确的方向加速前进。取得一场速胜后，请几个人来吃个蛋糕，喝上几杯，再拍张照片来庆祝你的胜利。以此作为你“广告攻势”的一部分，以便让自己一年到头都受到老板的关注。

　　From these 5 tips, its easy to see that creating awareness of your performance achievements is your responsibility and it isn’t going to happen by itself. Communication works by repetition. Let me repeat that: Communication Works By Repetition. Without becoming a nuisance, use every opportunity to maintain open communication channels with your boss and keep your good work on their radar screen throughout the year. Is this a lot of trouble? Perhaps. But successful people know that managing ongoing communication with the boss is the only way to be sure you will be fairly evaluated when its time to talk about a raise.

　　从这五项建议中很容易看出，让别人注意到你的表现和成就是你自己的责任，这种情况不会自动出现。重复才能实现沟通。让我再说一遍：重复才能实现沟通。在不惹人讨厌的情况下，利用所有的机会来保持跟老板的顺畅沟通，让他们一年到头都能看到你出色的工作。这样做是不是非常麻烦呢?也许吧。但成功人士都知道，要想确保自己跟老板探讨加薪问题时得到公平的评估，唯一的办法就是设法跟老板保持沟通。

　　Finally, to our Frustrated Reader: it may too late for this year but you could go back through the year and assemble a Case Study that demonstrates your notable achievements and the many contributions you made even though you had an Absentee Boss. Put it all in a PowerPoint and send it to your boss and ask for the chance to present your case to them. Better still, organize yourself proactively around these 5 tips and you will be much more confident of getting the recognition you deserve next year.

　　最后，我要对那位“失意”读者说：今年也许太晚了，但你可以回顾一下今年初以来的情况，同时整理出一份案例分析，以此来说明尽管老板不在场，你仍然取得了重大的工作成果，而且还做出了许多贡献。把这些都放进一个PowerPoint文档里，再把这个文档发给你的老板，同时请他们给你一个机会，向他们做一番介绍。此外，积极围绕这五项建议来安排自己的工作，这样你的信心就会大增，就会相信明年自己能够得到应有的认可。

　　A Note to the Bosses:

　　致老板：

　　• If you are hoping to get better performance from your team and are trying to do so without setting crystal clear performance objectives with each and every member, please wake up and start acting like a real leader.

　　• 如果你希望自己的团队有更好的表现，却又不给每一名团队成员设定一清二楚的绩效目标，请醒醒吧，从现在开始就要表现得像一位真正的团队负责人。

　　• It is in your best interests as well as your team’s best interests to take the time to really think about what you want and how you are going to evaluate performance. People need clarity to perform and if they don’t perform its going to be your job on the line.

　　• 花点儿时间来认真考虑一下你想要什么，你要怎样来考评他们的表现，这对你和你的团队来说都是最好的做法。人们需要清晰的绩效目标，如果他们表现不好，你就可能丢掉工作。

　　• Fuzzy goals will get you fuzzy performance and the best people are going to take their skills elsewhere.

　　模糊不清的目标会带来含糊的表现，最优秀的员工就会带着自己的技能另谋高就。

　　• When your team members reach out to you and ask for clarity, give it to them and give them regular feedback and coaching throughout the year. That’s the very least to expect from a boss in the 21st Century.

　　• 当你的团队成员向你寻求帮助，同时要求澄清绩效标准的时候，满足他们的要求，而且还要定期向他们提供反馈并且自始至终地予以指导。对21世纪的老板来说，这是最低的要求。

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