Managing up is one of the most important things that you must learn to do in your IT career. To a large extent, the levels of management above you control your success and future at the company. If they like you, respect you, and think that you can help their careers, they will increase your responsibility, promote you, raise your pay and generally make your work life more pleasant. Keep in mind, managing up effectively does not mean kissing someone's backside, sucking up, brown-nosing or whatever other clichés you would like to use. Effectively managing up is about the following: • Communicating news, status, issues, successes, and needs to your manager • Gaining the trust of your manager in regard to decision making, team leadership, task competency, and other related items • When appropriate, standing your ground for an important cause, issue, team member need, or customer need • Producing quality work • Being responsive to all levels of management as requested or as business necessity requires • Meeting your deadlines It also means that if your boss needs a report by Friday, get it to him/her on Friday, or Thursday if you can. If you need additional resources, do your homework and clearly explain why you need them, how much it will cost, and its return on investment (i.e. better analysis, faster service, cost savings, etc.). Managing up is also the art of using your boss to help you get things done. Generally speaking, if you have good ideas that your [...]