Nick from Australia

Howdy!  Or... umm... g'day ;)

I had the mixed blessing of IT management training in my undergraduate degree, and was a royal pain in the ass to my managers while simultaneously delivering great results for several years.  The tech wreck came, and I found myself working outside of IT for a while, which was a great way of broadening my horizons.  The difference between the project management you have to do in software development and normal operational management is much greater than I had realised.

I got pointed at Manager Tools a couple of years ago, and have been practicing one-on-ones since then.  Unfortunately, most of the rest of the content wasn't well suited to my needs at the time - as the first ever middle manager in my new organization, I faced some challenges that are relatively unusual, but by no means unique.  Managing up was my biggest priority until recently, when I finally worked out how to do it effectively.  I can see why the guys don't like the term, and I can see why they don't advise on advanced topics in that area - it's difficult to do, and even harder to explain.

But, now that I've sorted out those issues, the population in my department is expanding rapidly, and I'm facing more meaningful challenges in managing my reports.  I'm very strong on management theory, and I'm pretty good in a number of practical situations too.  I'm posting like mad right now, reassuring myself that I know what I'm talking about in some areas, hoping to participate in some interesting debates in others.