【正文】 major problems and inform them about any important changes.Creating a patible relationship also involves drawing on each other39。s strengths and making up for each other39。s weaknesses. Because he knew that the boss the vice president of engineering was not very good at monitoring his employees39。 problems, one manager we studied made a point of doing it himself. The stakes were high: The engineers and technicians were all union members, the pany worked on a customercontract basis, and the pany had recently experienced a serious strike.The manager worked closely with his boss, along with people in the scheduling department and the personnel office, to make sure that potential problems were avoided. He also developed an informal arrangement through which his boss would review with him any proposed changes in personnel or assignment policies before taking action. The boss valued his advice and credited his subordinate for improving both the performance of the division and the labormanagement climate.Mutual Expectations. The subordinate who passively assumes that he or she knows what the boss expects is in for trouble. Of course, some superiors will spell out their expectations very explicitly and in great detail. But most do not. And although many corporations have systems that provide a basis for municating expectations (such as formal planning processes, career planning reviews, and performance appraisal reviews), these systems never work perfectly. Also, between these formal reviews, expectations invariably change.Ultimately, the burden falls on the subordinate to find out what the boss39。s expectations are. They can be both broad (such as what kinds of problems the boss wishes to be informed about and when) as well as very specific (such things as when a particular project should be pleted and what kinds of information the boss needs in the interim).Getting a boss who tends to be vague or not explicit to express expectations can be difficult. But effective managers find ways to get that information. Some will draft a detailed memo covering key aspects of their work and then send it to their boss for approval. They then follow this up with a facetoface discussion in which they go over each item in the memo. A discussion like this will often surface virtually all of the boss39。s expectations.Other effective managers will deal with an inexplicit boss by initiating an ongoing series of informal discussions about good management and our objectives. Still others find useful information more indirectly through those who used to work for the boss and through the formal planning systems in which the boss makes mitments to his or her own superior. Which approach you choose, of course, should depend on your understanding of your boss39。s style.Developing a workable set of mutual expectations also requires that you municate your own expectations to the boss, find out if they are realistic, and influence the boss to accept the ones that are important to you. Being able to influence the boss to value your expectations can be particularly important if the boss is an overachiever. Such a boss will often set unrealistically high standards that need to be brought into line with reality.A Flow of Information. How much information a boss needs about what a subordinate is doing will vary significantly depending on the boss39。s style, the situation he or she is in, and the confidence the boss has in the subordinate. But it is not unmon for a boss to need more information than the subordinate would naturally supply or for the subordinate to think the boss knows more than he or she really does. Effective managers recognize that they probably underestimate what their bosses need to know and make sure they find ways to keep them informed through processes that fit their styles.Managing the flow of information upward is particularly difficult if the boss does not like to hear about problems. Although many people would deny it, bosses often give off signals that they want to hear only good news. They show great displeasure usually nonverbally when someone tells them about a problem. Ignoring individual achievement, they may even evaluate more favorably subordinates who do not bring problems to them.Nevertheless, for the good of the organization, the boss, and the subordinate, a superior needs to hear about failures as well as successes. Some subordinates deal with a goodnewsonly boss by finding indirect ways to get the necessary information to him or her, such as a management information system. Others see to it that potential problems, whether in the form of good surprises or bad news, are municated immediately.Dependability and Honesty. Few things are more disabling to a boss than a subordinate on whom he cannot depend, whose work he cannot trust. Almost no one is intentionally undependable, but many managers are inadvertently so because of oversight or uncertainty about the boss39。s priorities. A mitment to an optimistic delivery date may please a superior in the short term but bee a source of displeasure if not honored. It39。s difficult for a boss to rely on a subordinate who repeatedly slips deadlines. As one president (describing a subordinate) put it: I39。d rather he be more consistent even if he delivered fewer peak successes at least I could rely on him.”Nor are many managers intentionally dishonest with their bosses. But it is easy to shade the truth and play down issues. Current concerns often bee future surprise problems. It39。s almost impossible for bosses to work effectively if they cannot rely on a fairly accurate reading from their subordinates. Because it undermines credibility, dishonesty is perhaps the most troubling trait a subordinate can have. Without a basic level of trust, a boss feels pelled to check all of a subordinate39。s decisions, which makes it difficult to delegate.Good Use of Time and Resources. Your boss is probably as limited in his or her store of t