Managing up as a Software Engineer
Learn the subtle art of helping your manager, manage you better and in the process create a win win situation for the both of you.
You may have heard this before, “Your relationship with your direct manager is extremely crucial and can make or break your career”
Is this a trite statement?
Yes, let me be a bit more specific
Your manager by virtue of their title and role are in a lot of conversations and rooms which you will never be in. A core expectation for a manager is to retain and grow their people, so they are incentivised to be invested in your growth, but have you given them any reason to do so?
You may be thinking, shouldn’t they do this automatically? Yes, but they also have to manage other engineers at different levels and understand and try to fulfil their expectations as well. This is just one aspect of their job. They have to also ensure delivery happens on time to make progress towards the organization’s objectives, optics of the team, relationship with cross functional partners etc… etc …
Yes, their time is precious, and while they are managing you. You should also help them manage you, but learn how to manage up.
Should I manage my manager?
This may sound a bit counter intuitive, if you are running into this term for the first time.
Managing up is the art of how you ensure you and your manager are in sync, how you provide them all the necessary context to mentor/sponsor you effectively.
How do you do it?