pretty much cards-on-the-table.
Most of my jobs have involved multiple bosses, up to the six I was trying to look after in my first job right out of college. I generally use a take-a-number sort of interface-- I queue requests for services by date, and handle them in the order received (unless there are internal features to specific projects that require something else). Responses to requests always include a projected delivery date, and my people know that they can trust the work to be done by then, and earlier if there's any way I can manage it. Objections to the promise date get met with a simple listing of requests that were made earlier. If someone has a legitimately higher priority request, I see if I can fit it in without failing anyone else's promise date (and without working >12hrs/day), but I won't default on a promise without authorization from higher up.
Now, I have generally had the advantage of some uber-boss somewhere that I could pass the buck to-- anyone whining that I should toss everyone else's projects for theirs get told "Take it up with the chairman." But most of what makes it work, I think, is that people know that I don't play games, neither for nor against them. They can see that I work hard, that others got their requests in first, that I deliver their stuff when promised (and often earlier), and that I stick to my guns on not finking out on a promise to anyone else, either. My being calm, patient, matter-of-fact, and not budging makes any whining kind of peter out.
Fortunately, I generally only have scheduling issues, not bosses arguing over multiple ways they think I should do a single task. |
