How to be an effective IT middle manager

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Header: 59% of professionals spend 11+ hours a week chasing information across systems.†

Copy: This guide breaks down how to connect context across tools and keep work moving.

†Quickbase, 2025

If you stick with IT as a career for long enough, chances are good you’ll reach your first “boss level”: middle management.

Middle managers often break down company objectives into day-to-day tasks for individuals and teams, then track how those objectives are executed. For IT pros, stepping into middle management may mean spending the bulk of your days making sure objectives are met as opposed to assisting users and troubleshooting problems.

While entering into a middle management role can feel like a rite of passage for IT pros looking to advance their career, it’s often not an easy move. Joseph Unruh, senior director of engineering at digital analytics services company Mixpanel, told IT Brew the shift can be a “tough transition,” as most professionals entering these roles come from a more technical background.

“Almost all managers in the engineering space were former engineers themselves, and becoming a manager is a totally different job that most people just aren’t equipped for,” Unruh said. “I’ve seen many managers come into the position and continue treating it like it was an engineering position and fail.”

We caught up with IT professionals to learn what it takes to be an effective IT middle manager.

The qualities of a strong middle manager. According to Unruh, a good middle manager is someone who is able to provide direct feedback to the people around them: “Performance of the entire team is your responsibility, and you need to be able to deliver feedback in a way [that is] well received that people act on.”

Caylent CTO Randall Hunt said these leaders should also be able to “work backwards from business-level objectives into technical deliverables.” For example, that might involve connecting disparate systems and automating account provisions after identifying a bottleneck in how employees input information into existing systems.

“Being willing to work backwards from the business-level objective into technical solutions is the superpower of an IT manager, and being able to do that while communicating with your direct reports and your upper management will take you further in your career than any other skill,” Hunt said.

Hunt added that the gig has a human element to it and requires a host of soft skills as well.

“IT is a task that involves access to data that should not be made public to the whole company, and being able to coach people and help people understand how to treat that data and process with respect is important,” Hunt said. “Being able to empathize with your direct reports is also very important.”

How to build rapport with direct reports. As a middle manager, you can expect to spend a large portion of your job communicating and building relationships with direct reports. Hunt told IT Brew that a budding middle manager can excel at this by making sure they are an active listener when concerns are expressed and giving “direct and precise advice.”

Unruh said middle managers should help team members better understand how their work impacts the larger organization. Middle managers are also in charge of creating psychological safety for team members that allows them to feel comfortable enough to share ideas.

“You want to be giving people encouragement, like that’s a great way to build rapport,” Unruh said. “If they give you an idea, start riffing on it. Help them make it better.”

Challenges ahead. New middle managers may find themselves running into roadblocks. For example, Hunt said, budding organizational leaders may struggle with needing to justify ROI of IT investments to upper management.

“It’s not necessarily all on you as the middle manager to do that work, but helping your team constantly think about things in the framework of return on investment is very important, and it makes it easier for you to do your end-of-week roundup,” Hunt said.

Giving up technical leadership to others on their team is another area where leaders have difficulty. “They’re hogging all of the leadership in the team, and it makes the team feel like space isn’t made available for them,” Unruh said, adding that managers’ ability to give up some of that control is crucial for the success of the overall team.

Tips for success. We asked IT professionals for their advice for first-time mid-level organizational leaders. Kellie Romack, chief digital information officer at ServiceNow, said fresh middle-manager professionals should try not to get overwhelmed in the role.

“Showing up is half the battle,” Romack said. “Suit up, be ready to go, and be prepared.”

Leaders can benefit from overcommunicating with stakeholders and team members, she added.

“When have you heard somebody say, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve heard enough. I don’t need any more information about this’? People aren’t going to say that. Overcommunicate. It’s a busy world,” Romack said. “Also, look [at] how your communication lands. Know your audience, whom you’re talking to.”