Little by little, your workplace is changing.

As old industries disappear and, along with them, control management styles, new structures and new systems take their place.

Where once the manager sat at the top of the pyramid and issued commands to the team below, today there is every chance that it is the team that sits astride the pyramid and issues information to the manager below.

Today, it is the teams that have the information and knowledge. It is the teams that know how the company’s customers feel. And teams that manage alone.

All this implies a rethinking of the traditional nature of communication.

Where once the prevailing flow of communication was top-down, one-way, in today’s information age, communication is multi-directional and purposeful. It goes anywhere and goes where it is needed.

That can be up or down, horizontally and all the way diagonally.

And one of the key skills of this type of communication is Upward Reporting.

This skill requires: knowing how to get and keep your boss’s attention; report in a timely manner; know what he or she needs to hear; be brief and precise; balance problems with solutions; and be willing to be questioned and cross-examined.

To illustrate Upward Reporting, here is a set of rules posted by a manager to a self-managed team on how they want to be kept informed.

“When reporting on the road, please remember…

Rule 1: Keep me regularly informed; I hate unpleasant surprises.

Rule 2: Don’t give me time. I know they’ve done it to you, but please give me some time to think.

Rule 3: It only brings up issues that you can’t really resolve. Anything else will just come back to you.

Rule 4: Don’t leave out the bad points because you want to look good: tell me everything.

Rule 5: Give me at least three options for each problem. I prefer to choose and it is faster.

Rule 6: Do your homework before you come; I don’t want you to have to go and look for something.

Rule 7: Remember, this is how you’ll want your staff to report to you when you’re in my position!”

Communication is, and always has been, the glue that binds an organization together. The fact that the predominant direction of that communication has changed from top down to bottom up does not mean that it is less important. Learn to report correctly and you will master the new regime.