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How to Make Your Boss Listen to Your Ideas

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Employees are the ones who come up with the best solutions to workplace problems. There are a number of reasons bosses don’t always want to listen (other than because you once suggested Beer Day and Do Nothing Day). So how do you get your boss to listen to your great ideas?

How to Get Your Boss to Listen

(Photo Credit: Victor1558/Flickr)

Employees have great ideas too, right? Bosses are busy; they have businesses to run. What do you do then when you have an idea that you really need your boss to listen to? Before you give up, consider these ways to get your boss to lend an ear.

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Do Your Homework

This means you may have to go above and beyond just sharing your idea. If the business is successful and already running smoothly, your boss may need you to provide actual data explaining why the business needs to incorporate your latest and greatest idea. If you’re pitching ergonomic chairs, for example, you may need to show your boss how the new chairs will increase productivity and why they are worth the expense.

Provide a Thorough Plan of Execution

You may have the greatest idea in the universe, but if you don’t have a plan for executing it, you’re basically saying, “we should have naptime, but someone else should figure out how we’re going to make that work.” If you can come up with a plan for implementing your idea so that it benefits the company, without causing someone else a ton of work, you have a better chance of not only getting your boss to listen, but also actually seeing your grand idea come to fruition.

How Does Your Boss Benefit?

If your idea is something the boss can relate to, you have a better chance of getting him or her to listen and consider it. Employers want more productive workplaces. They want happy employees. They want king-sized Snickers candy bars in the vending machines. (Or maybe not.) Focus on the elements of the idea that resonate with your boss and make his or her workdays better.

Unless your idea is something that will cause your boss more work, more headache, or more money, well … then good luck. You may have to find someone else in the company to share your ideas with.

Tell Us What You Think

What are your tips for getting the boss to listen? We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or join the discussion on Twitter.

Christina Majaski
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