“Offer to bring them into the conversation”

Creative Career Conundrums is a weekly advice column from If You Could Jobs. Each week their selected panel of professionals from the creative industry answers your burning career questions to help you navigate the creative journey.

This week’s question:

How can I suggest change, if my manager blocks communication to the higher-ups? I work in a small, poorly structured creative agency where leadership doesn’t really help with operational staff (they only tend to work on the PR side of the agency). The head of my department unfortunately lacks skills and doesn’t accept constructive feedback, he simply blocks it from reaching his superiors, claiming “you don’t understand my choices because you’re not a manager”. Meanwhile, economically, we’re doing atrociously. How can I improve the situation? Should I bypass the hierarchy and speak directly to his superiors?

How can I suggest change, if my manager just blocks communication to the higher-ups?

Alex Bec, CEO of It’s Nice That, Creative Lives in Progress and If You Could Jobs:

Thanks for writing in – this sounds like a frustrating situation for you, and one that will take some tact and patience to navigate.

The truth is, the way they approach feedback is probably something they’ve learned over many years, and is deeply engrained; so getting them to change their approach is unlikely (not impossible) and regardless, there’s plenty to learn along the way.

I think the first place to start is to see if you can stay open-minded and curious – try to learn a little more about why some decisions are being made. If you’re confronted with “you don’t understand my choices because you’re not a manager”; maybe you could reply by saying you’d really appreciate it if they could find a little bit of time to try and explain the choices so that you can learn. Not to try and change their mind and get them on the defensive, instead frame it more for your own personal development and understanding. With that context, you may be able to find a way to suggest the change you’re after when you have the full picture.

If that doesn't work, you have a couple of other avenues to explore. You could try and change how you’re presenting what you’d like to see changed. If your meetings with your manager aren’t working, try writing down the change you’d love to see in a document, or a presentation so that you can really organise your thoughts. Draw a diagram, design a poster, anything that presents it in a new way that might get a different result. Be concise, be direct – and share it in advance of a meeting and say you’d love to walk them through it. That way you know you’ve delivered your message in a calm, direct way and you’re trying to move the conversation on.

As for your thoughts on bypassing your manager, in general I never recommend speaking about someone unless they are in the room with you. So bypassing your manager to speak about them with someone else without letting them know doesn’t do anything to build trust, or keep your own integrity. If you’re keen to escalate this above your manager, I’d let them know that’s your plan, and why you feel you need to. Even offer to bring them into the conversation and make sure you can keep the dialogue about what’s happening open and honest, and not behind anyone else’s back.

As a final thought, at the same time you’re trying to improve things internally, I’d also urge you to have half an eye on other opportunities beyond the one you’re in. It’s always great to have options if you’re not enjoying the work, and also if you’re unsure of the longer term financial stability of the company. It’s ok to keep your eyes open for new things or opportunities elsewhere if you can’t get the change you’re looking for…

P.s - I loved this book on having direct, brave and honest conversations – there may be some great pearls of wisdom in there for you too.

In answering your creative career conundrums we realise that some issues need expert support, so we’ve collated a list of additional resources that can support you across things that might arise at work.

If You Could is the jobs board from It’s Nice That, the place to find jobs in the creative industries.

Want to stay on top of your job search? Or keep an ear out for when your dream job arrives on our site? Click here to set up tailored job alerts arriving straight into your inbox so you never miss an opportunity. See below for the latest opportunities: