One of the biggest challenges, yet often easiest to correct, is communication break-downs.

It’s usually not about the actual work, rather about how the situation was communicated (or rather not communicated).

Not communicating leads to surprises and management hates surprises.

If you’re interviewing and already have personal vacation scheduled, let them know.

If you’re behind schedule on a project, let them know (beforehand).

If you don’t understand how to do something (and have tried different options), let them know.

If you have a personal situation going on and are not your usual self, let them know.

If you’re going to be late coming in, let them know.

If the spend is approaching the budget, let them know (before it’s spent).

If you’re having a conflict with a co-worker and you don’t see it being resolved, let them know.

If a decision was made that really bothered you, let them know (I don’t mean whine).

Managers have intuition, most can get a pretty good read on people/situations.

Whatever message you need to give, they would much rather hear it from you.

It may cause you anxiety and some friction, but a majority of time, the problem can be resolved or minimized with effective and proactive communication.