Monthly Archives: March 2011

10 Tips to IT manager success

Posted on March 17, 2011 | Leave a comment

Do senior managers run and hide when they see you coming down the hallway, , , or are they eager to hear what you have to say because they know it’s going to be valuable?

Which type of IT manager are you?

Here are what I consider to be the key components that lead to IT success and can help you gain respect throughout your company!

1.  Understand business needs and issues
You can’t succeed unless you know what to work on and the answer to this lies in understanding the business needs and issues of your client. This is the first part of an IT discovery process.

2.  Understand your IT capabilities and capacity
Managing client expectations requires you to know what your IT team can do and how much you can do. This is the 2nd part of an IT assessment discovery process.

3.  Create a vision
It’s important for people to know where you are headed. Once you complete an IT assessment, you can develop an IT strategy and gain agreement and commitment from your senior management team. This will insure you are in sync with company needs, , , a critical piece.

4.  Establish credibility
Doing what you say you will do not only creates credibility, , , it also creates trust from all around you. The key to doing this is to deliver projects successfully, , , on time, , , within budget, , , and that meet your client’s needs.

5.  Deliver business value
Every project you undertake should  deliver some type of business value, , , if not, you should reconsider whether it is an appropriate project to spend money and effort on. CLICK HERE to learn more about business value.

6.  Communicate in business terms, not technology acronyms
When you talk in technology terms, your clients do not hear you. They literally turn you off and begin wondering how long this conversation will last. Learn to communicate in business value and financial terms and they will not only hear you, , , they will understand what you say.

7.  Over deliver
Position your team to deliver more than expected. To do this, your commitments must be conservative with room to spare. No one gets upset when you complete work faster than expected or less expensive than forecast. See what happens when you don’t achieve what you outline.

8.  Track and communicate IT performance
Clients won’t know how your team is performing unless you share the news. Use a Project Initiatives Portfolio to track how good you are in delivering projects successfully. LEARN MORE

9. Give your team credit for success and take blame for failure
Your employees will literally walk through fire for you when you give them credit for IT successes and take the hit for failures. Coach employees one-on-one for improvements needed but take responsibility as the manager for the problem. Not only will your people respond to this, , , so will your clients.

10.  Over communicate during a crisis
Something will break sooner or later. When it does, over communicate the status of the situation and keep your clients out of the dark. If they don’t know, , , they think you are not working on their issue aggressively enough.

Summary
There are many things an IT manager must do to succeed. Executing  this list of ten tips will help you gain tremendous respect within your company.

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Mimeo.com makes my life easier

Posted on March 16, 2011 | Leave a comment

When I find something that makes life easier, I like to tell people about it.

Mimeo.com is one of those things you discover that makes what used to be a major effort for me to prepare for one of our classes almost effortless, , , truly effortless.

My class materials arrive at their destination in London, Ontario Canada today for the class I will deliver next week. It took me all of three minutes to order them yesterday afternoon.

I simply reorder my last shipment, key in the new ship to address and BAM, , , we are done. Get up this morning and check the tracking link and can see that the 3 boxes containing 11 sets of materials are in London and “on the truck to be delivered”.

I am one happy guy!!

It takes a couple of extra days to send them to Dubai or Johannesburg, , , but the order process is just as quick, , , 3 minutes worst case. This effort used to take my office several hours to copy, bind and tab to prepare new materials  for a class, , , plus we had to carry heavy boxes of materials, , , what a pain.

Now, the effort is easier, faster, and the quality is great every time, , , plus the cost is extremely reasonable when you consider your time, not having to carry heavy materials to airports, etc.

The biggest challenge will be opening the boxes when I get to my hotel classroom and setting out the materials for our students, , , gotta love it!

UPDATE — just as I’m writing this post, I get an email from my client in London telling me the materials have arrived. We are good to go!!!

Details at www.mimeo.com.

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Managing client expectations

Posted on March 15, 2011 | Leave a comment

A big key to IT success is the ability to manage your client’s expectations. In my last post, I talked about the “client is always right”. I’ve encountered many situations where the client was not factually correct, , , but their expectation was exactly what it should be given the situation.

Let me give you a perfect example. In one company I joined as their new CIO several client managers told me during my initial assessment that I should fire one of the IT employees in my organization.

Not one, not two, , , but three managers told me this. When you get this many, there is an issue to be sure. My job is to determine what reality is and take appropriate action. In such a case, there will be one of two issues to exist:

  1. The employee is not performing.
  2. The client’s expectations are incorrect.

What I discovered in this case was a bit of both. The employee was not performing to the level needed, , , but it was because there was considerable more demand than staff to provide such support. The employee in question had a good attitude and tried to do the job well but there wasn’t enough capacity to get it all done, , , we needed 3 or 4 more people to do what was necessary in this support situation.

In this case, it was not an employee problem, , , it was a management problem because we weren’t managing the client’s expectations about what to expect from their IT organization. Now, the client was correct about support not being sufficient for them to do their job, but they were incorrect in what the problem really was, , , and especially wrong about what the solution should be.

Once I fixed the staffing deficiency problem, no one felt that I should fire this employee, , , in fact, they thought the employee’s morale had improved immensely. That’s really funny because the employee always had a good attitude, , , just could not possibly get all the work done to support the client. I didn’t do anything but fix the real issue, , , insufficient capacity to support the business.

Learn to be conservative
To manage client expectations, you must be conservative. What I mean is you need to set expectations that position you to over deliver. That means telling clients you will complete a project in 6 weeks when you think you will be able to do it in 4 weeks, , , and telling your client the cost of a project is $120,000 when you think you should be able to complete it for $100k to $110k.

There is what I call a Law of IT principle in that, “IT projects always take longer and cost more to complete than you think they will.”

If you are not conservative when you commit to do things for your client, it’s going to be rough going for you and your team. Teach your employees how to be appropriately conservative when they commit to do things for others.

Another example – programming productivity
There are approximately 160 work hours in a typical month. I know from experience you should get 110 to 120 hours or more a month of productive programming time on average from a programmer over the course of a year. Some months will be much less due to vacation, training, meetings, etc. and some months will be a lot more, , , but over time you should average around 120 hours of code produced a month by every programmer on your team.

When setting your client’s expectations, tell them you can produce 100 hours per month per programmer. If you have 5 programmers working on the same application, that means you position your client for your team to produce on average 500 hours of code each month when you expect to be able to produce 550 to 600 hours a month.

By doing this, you position your team to over achieve.

Another simple rule
No one gets upset if you complete a job faster than you say you will or less expensive than you say it will cost, , , but someone always gets concerned if you are late or over budget.

Learn to be conservative every time you tell someone you plan to do something for them and teach your staff to do the same, , , it is going to help you deliver what you say you will do, when you say it will be completed, , , and within the budget you submit.

This makes you a reliable manager and that’s something everyone wants from you.

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Your client is always right

Posted on March 15, 2011 | Leave a comment

Before you think I’ve lost it completely, , , let me explain.

In an IT organization, we are there to support the technology needs of people who need technology to do their jobs. In most situations, technology is not the company’s core competency. It is banking services, manufacturing widgets, selling food, clothes, or books, , , or doing something to sell products and services they provide. It is rarely developing technology.

Our IT clients are primarily two groups of people in your company:

  1. Senior managers
  2. Department managers and their employees

If your clients think you do a good job, , , great. However, if they think you are doing a poor job in supporting their business, , , guess what, , , you are.

STOP RIGHT HERE

Let me clarify just a bit.

You might actually be doing a super job with the technology. In fact, you could be the best technical organization around, , , the VERY BEST !

However, if the client thinks you are doing a lousy job in supporting them, something is askew. It could be that you are simply not managing their expectations very well. If that’s the case, then there is a problem.

Delivering technology services well is not just about doing a good “technical” job. You must also manage the client so they agree you are delivering support successfully. The flip side of this is that you could be doing a mediocre job technically, but if your client thinks you are doing a great job in supporting their business, , , guess what , , , you are.

Now, I know what the technical purists are going to say, , , something like, “Mike, that’s crazy. You should know that unless the technical part is handled well, there is no way to be successful in supporting technology.”

All I can tell you is that I’ve seen many outstanding technical organizations get low marks from their clients because they aren’t managing the client’s expectations well. They may be superior technicians but they are respected less because the client’s expectations are out of whack.

Something to think about!

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44th IT Manager Institute

Posted on March 14, 2011 | Leave a comment

Our 44th IT Manager Institute was held last week in Columbia, TN. What a great group this was, , , feels like I have known each of them for a long time.

Seems like I say this about every group, but I really mean it when I say, “I’m very fortunate to do what I do because I meet some of the best people in the world.”

We lost one of the participants mid-week due to a family issue. Hoping all goes well for him.

Dinner was held at the River Terraces Restaurant in Columbia, a new restaurant in an old location above Duck River. My parents used to go there for a special dinner 30 years ago, , , now, we go there for a special meal, , , Cajun style!!

IT Manager Institute #44  –  Class dinner

Every student passed the ITBMC exam and will receive their ITBMC certificate. CONGRATULATIONS guys, , , and gal.

My 45th Institute is only a couple of weeks away. This time, I’m headed to London, Ontario Canada and looking forward to it.

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Executives have selective memory

Posted on March 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

Senior managers of your company often have what you might call “selective memory“. In other words, they remember what they want to remember.

This can be a real problem if you aren’t careful. You have to manage their expectations and if they expect something to happen that won’t, , , your performance will be graded less than satisfactory.

Let me give you an example:

I joined a company as their new CIO. This company was in poor shape and needed to be turned around, , , in all areas of the company, not just in IT.

In the IT area, we were spending 7.2% of revenue in an industry where my CEO and I both knew we should spend somewhere between 2-3 % in a normal situation. After conducting my assessment, I gave him a recommendation that would cause us to spend over 9%, , , maybe as much as 10% of revenue for a period of 4 to 6 months.

The reason was to fix some serious IT issues and to position us to acquire  other companies, , , quickly. For us to acquire other companies meant we needed to be prepared to assimilate these companies into our own. If your IT organization isn’t working well, , , it’s going to slow you down and become a ball and chain around your neck, , , a very challenging issue.

Spending more money in the short run is not exactly what your CEO wants to hear. And guess what, , , he is quite likely going to want to forget some of what you say as time goes by.

In the meeting, I told him what we needed to do and what the cost should look like, , , and it meant IT expenses would increase a bit for a period of time. Once we stabilized some things and began to come out of the “turnaround” phase, IT expense as a percentage of revenue was expected to fall to a 2-3% of revenue level over time, , , where a normal IT operation should be in this industry.

I drew him a picture of what to expect and named it the “Bubble Effect”.

I wanted this image etched into his memory banks. You see, even though he heard what was going to happen, agreed to it, even supported my recommendation, , , it’s painful when he starts seeing the Profit and Loss Statement (P&L Reports) every month with more and more IT expenses.

Truly painful.

Before long, he might even forget the initiative we started to get the IT situation turned around quickly. All he will think is that “IT appears to be out of control, , , we are simply spending too much.”

Realizing senior managers can have selective memory, I managed to find a way to show my CEO this Bubble Effect graph just before he received his monthly P&L Reports, , , and I did this for three straight months. The third time he told me, “I know you are reminding me and understand why you are spending more money, , , but let’s hurry up and get this thing done so we can move forward.”

Sometimes a senior manager chooses to have selective memory, , , other times they genuinely forget things that were said or agreed to. It’s good practice to document commitments and find an easy way to remind your senior managers in situations of importance, , , it will save you the trouble of explaining yourself all over again.

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What’s different about the ITBMC certification?

Posted on March 2, 2011 | Leave a comment

Certifications have become pretty much the norm in the IT world. Let’s see, there are dozens of technical certifications, project management certifications, and even a few management certifications. In fact, you can get a certification on almost anything in the IT world, , , it seems that IT people really like certifications.

I may be an exception, , , ,they don’t mean that much to me and never have. The same thing goes for titles, , , call me whatever you choose, just pay me well, let me do my job, and recognize me for the results I get.

But, , , titles and certifications are important for a lot of your people so you don’t want to underestimate the importance in someone else’s mind. In addition, some certifications are now required just to get in the door for an interview with some companies.

In reality, a certification doesn’t mean you can actually do the job well, , , it just means you have received the knowledge and been certified by passing an exam in many cases.

You probably know my company offers the IT Business Manager Certification, ITBMC. I never would have if not for the encouragement of the managers who attended our first few IT Manager Institute programs.

I’ll deliver the 44th and 45th IT Manager Institute program this month and I can tell you that the ITBMC certification has probably been one of the reasons for the longevity and success of the program, , , this is our 9th year in delivering the program with hundreds around the world to receive their ITBMC status.

I can hardly wait to deliver each new class, , , they are a lot of fun and seeing the enthusiasm for the program is very rewarding.

At the end of the day
Certifications do not guarantee you will be successful. What they indicate is that you have received knowledge about a particular subject and passed an exam that suggests you have a good comprehension of the material.

Execution is something else, , , you still have to do the work that is required in order to achieve success.

That’s why I structured the IT Manager Institute program to not only deliver the material of what to do and how to go about it in class, , , I also give you the tools to make it happen plus some takeaways to help you implement the IT Management Process we teach to achieve more success. Things like:

  • 30 Day Action Plan, , , specific steps to take when you get home
  • My entire library of e-Books that reinforce the class presentations
  • IT Manager ToolKit containing 102 tools and templates to use immediately or modify as needed
  • Ongoing support and access to me for assistance

The IT Manager Institute program is unique in many ways because of how we structure the class and also the additional tools and resources you take back to your company. Because the class follows a structured process and is delivered in a “how to” format, your retention is better, , , plus you have many resources to help you remember things from the class.

The bottom line
I think the key to any certification is how well people respond to the program. In our case, we have a 100% positive satisfaction from those who have attended. The reason is simple, , , the practical processes and tools are easily understood and put into practice, , ,  and they work.

It’s one thing to understand a concept. To succeed, you have to actually do the work and that’s why the IT Manager Institute program is structured so you can follow specific steps and use tools designed for specific uses that lead to more success in an IT manager role.

An ITBMC beside your name says something other than signifying a technical skill. ITBMC says you have learned the importance for your IT organization to deliver tangible and quantifiable business value in support of your company. It also indicates an understanding that IT initiatives are driven by business needs and issues and that every initiative you recommend will be cost justified and targeted to some specific business value.

Why is this important? It tells senior managers of your company you have a business perspective when managing your IT organization, , , not so focused on technology and missing the tremendous business leverage opportunities your IT organization offers your company.

Business managers become business partners, , , and without having these “partners” in your company, your success will be limited.

As I prepare for next week’s class, I get a high sense of enthusiasm in thinking about meeting a whole new group of IT managers and giving them the tools and resources that potentially changes their life and boosts their career.

They will leave with the knowledge and tools to make it happen, , , but they still have to do the work just as with anything in life.

Check out Institute class photos at https://itlever.com/institute-photos/

More photos at http://www.mde.net/institute/page4.html

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