IT Professionals - 5 Do's and 5 Don'ts for managing up

ComputerWorld has two articles discussing ten do's and don'ts when working with your CIO. There is a common theme in each piece with a focus on transparency, honesty, solid information and the "real" picture, and both articles offer advice on managing up and working more effectively with your CIO or other IT manager.

I found the tips to be realistic and not rooted in some pie-in-the-sky fantasy world. If you look below there some solid steps you can take now to begin working better with most managers, whether in IT or not. As always, you could add more to the list, or argue about what should be in the "top 5", but take these two article for what they are - good resources to learn about communicating useful information and managing up effectively.

• Five things you should never tell your boss
  Here's the information he's relying on you to provide.
  (note - tips below are truncated)
  
  1. All about the technology -- and nothing about the business. Acting like the business is terra incognita is a no-no. "Never tell me you don't know what the business wants but you'll build it when they decide," says James E. Schinski...
  
  2. There's only one solution. "People can sometimes develop a fondness for a certain technology or programming language or manufacturer into almost a religion, but it's never the case that one type of solution is the proper one for all situations,"...
  
  3. Bad opinions about your colleagues. It's a simple rule that can get overlooked when your team is struggling with a missed deadline or a failing project, but think before you point a finger, because bosses generally don't want to hear about it -- especially if you haven't tried to work it out on your own...
  
  4. There's no way. Robert Strickland, senior vice president and CIO of T-Mobile USA Inc. in Bellevue, Wash., makes his position very clear: Everything is possible...
  
  5. A surprise. CIOs almost universally say they don't like surprises -- particularly unpleasant ones. Ian S. Patterson, CIO at Scottrade Inc., a St. Louis-based online brokerage firm, says he always prefers to hear news -- good and bad -- directly from his workers. So when someone comes by and starts with "I want to give you a heads up," it really catches his attention....
  
  
• Five things you should always tell your boss
  There are some things your CIO definitely doesn't want to hear.
  (note - tips below are truncated)

  1. The real story. "Sugarcoating problems, holding back information, overpromising and consistently underdelivering are all reasons why IT has a bad reputation. We do this so well, we don't even realize there is a problem," says Robert Strickland, senior vice president and CIO of T-Mobile USA Inc. in Bellevue, Wash. "To lead effectively, I need the complete picture, as do our customers and our suppliers. When information is withheld, you are protecting no one."...
  
  2. Your ideas. "Bring me ideas to improve the business, even if they're outside of IT,"...
  
  3. What you want. Ted Maulucci, CIO at Tridel Corp., a condominium developer in Toronto, tries to shift his workers into the jobs that they enjoy most. It helps with employee retention, office morale and productivity. He points to one employee who loves working on hardware so much, he'll come in at 3 a.m. to tackle a new project....
  
  4. No. It takes courage to tell the boss that you don't agree, but it's better for all involved when you say no to suggested projects, timelines, budgets or technologies that just aren't going to work, says Michael F. Williams,...
  
  5. Your successes. No one wants to spend each day hearing only about project setbacks, failed servers and unexpected downtime. Good news is welcome too. Yet IT workers seem reluctant to promote the positive, Kalia says. "The thought process doesn't take place in their heads, or maybe they think that what they're doing isn't that special," he says...

I know some will say their managers don't want the real story - this would be common if you work for a "just get it done!" manager, which probably means they don't want to hear about your ideas or successes and "NO" probably isn't in the organization's vocabulary. Hopefully you are fortunate enough to work for an organization that cares about it's people and sets everyone up for success. With transparency comes more open communications and people will learn that being honest and presenting the real picture is not only acceptable - but expected.

image courtesy: Shoebox Blog

posted by Raven at Raven's Brain under Management
Tags: Management, Managing Up, Management Tips, Management Blog, Management Resources