If you feel timid about asking your manager for help, Meta CTO Andrew “Boz” Bosworth has a different way for you to frame it.
Rather than approach your manager with a problem, Bosworth said in an interview posted Sunday on “Lenny’s Podcast” that he loves a five-to-10-sentence email explaining where progress has been made and if there are any roadblocks.
Bosworth said that if everything looks good, no response is required on these kinds of emails. But if there’s room to do anything differently or better, that ping allows your manager to redirect early on.
Plus, if there does happen to be an issue, this kind of check-in shows your manager what you’re working on and makes it easier to help down the line, he said.
“Not only am I up to speed, I have a mental model. I’m engaged,” Bosworth told the podcast host, Lenny Rachitsky. “Also, you’ve made it supercheap for me to help you.”
Bosworth said asking your manager for help doesn’t mean every problem will be solved. The CTO said one of the most powerful things a manager does is “refuse to rule” when they step back and let the employee deal with the challenge. He said leaders have a responsibility to take a step back sometimes because there isn’t always a quick solution.
But other times, Bosworth said he could’ve “bulldozed” through roadblocks and completely cleared a blocked path if only the employee had communicated earlier. He said his job is filled with these kinds of “little touches.”
Bosworth is a big fan of communication and he’s written about it in a blog titled “Communication is The Job,” where he details the importance of early and consistent communication.
In his blog post “Get It Done” he talks about the importance of doing the work correctly, which often means asking for help.
The CTO said in the podcast that he doesn’t want to see someone work on a project for six months and then turn it in wrong because they didn’t communicate.
He said he’d “take the L” if there was a miscommunication, but he would much rather employees speak up along the way.
The CTO said your job isn’t to do it yourself — it’s to do it competently. Many times, your manager has the tools to help you do so, he said.
The CTO said your manager isn’t testing you; they’re rooting for you. If you do well, their job gets easier. Every manager has a different style of how they like to receive updates, Bosworth said. But he said no manager will get mad if you ask them how they want to stay informed.
“Nobody wants you to be more awesome than your manager does,” Bosworth said.
