You should assign a paparazzi to your IT team and start documenting your journey. You may not realize it, but right now may be one of the best work experiences in your entire career.
There are three companies I look back upon in my career and think of them as my best experiences. Much of what made these situations special has to do with the people I worked with, part of it was the type of work we were doing, and some of it was even the client experiences.
There are two things I wish I had done earlier in my career:
- Kept a journal
- Taken more photos
No excuse for not keeping a journal, , , just didn’t think about it back then. Wish I had because there were many memorable moments that I know would be worth remembering now.
I keep two journals now, , , one for business and one that’s personal. I don’t write in them every day but try to capture important events and a few things I think will be worth remembering when I’m in my 80’s and 90’s. 🙂
On the photos issue, I do have a reason for lacking more photos. Early in my career we had to use film, , , digital cameras were not around yet. So, the hard copy photos I have are far and few between and many have been lost over time. Digital is so much better. Wish we had digital cameras when I was a kid!
When I stumble upon a hard copy photo from my early career, it usually brings back good memories, , , like the one below.
This is Bryan Hathcock, my first IBM manager and one of the best managers I’ve ever worked for, awarding me a $20 gold coin for helping sell the most IBM software applications during a contest period. I remember working hard to help my primary Sales Rep, Jim Cockerham, focus on this objective. Jim is also in the photo (far left) and just seeing Jim and Bryan brings back so many great memories of my “IBM days”. Note the wide tie and jet black hair!
I st
ill have my $20 gold coin which is now worth more than $1,000.
I talked to Bryan just last week which may have prompted me to think about writing this post. He is in his 80’s now but hasn’t changed a lot. Hoping to stop by and visit him when I’m in Atlanta in April for our niece’s wedding and share some memories.
Back to the paparazzi idea, , , why do I recommend you assign a paparazzi and start taking photos? Well, there are several reasons:
- Capturing memories at work may be appreciated later in your life. Like I said, these times may be some of the best you will experience in your career.
- Develop slideshows with high energy background music for some of your IT staff meetings, , , especially if you do an annual IT Kickoff Meeting. Your employees like to see themselves on “the big screen” in a slide show. Trust me, it’s great motivational material in a staff meeting. How do I know? Simple, I’ve been an employee and liked it and I’ve also seen it work great with employees who have worked for me.
- It’s fun, , , and having fun at work from time to time is beneficial for both you and your employees.
In each of my IT Manager Institute classes I assign a paparazzi on the first day to take photos during the class. At the end of the class I give students a flash drive that contains IT management resources plus a file of all the class photos taken during the week. Some of them are truly memorable like the ones below:
Dubai Institute managers showing off their MDE/IT Manager Institute coins
Tanner Medical managers in a fun class photo
Class photo of one of my favorite Dubai Institute classes – October 2012
I have delivered 16 IT Manager Institutes in Dubai through 2015
I’m standing next to our paparazzi, Mohammed Abu Deeb from Saudi Arabia
A small class but what a great group!!! I stay in contact with several of them.
Monika really enjoyed this desert!
Ed presents Heitor a “Dead Chicken Award” – lots of laughs!
Ljubljana Institute managers in our “Blues Brothers” pose
I’m 5’10” tall, , , Matej and Timor are 7′ tall – material for a memorable photo
Lagos Nigeria class presents me a painting that now hangs in my home office
Call me sentimental or foolish, but I like to reminisce and remember some of the “fun times” in my career. As you get older, you may discover it happens with you as well.
What type of photos do you want your IT paparazzi to capture? Good question, I recommend the following but don’t limit it to just my ideas:
- Company events
- Awards
- IT employees at work
- IT employees with your clients (Managers and Users)
- Meetings
- Off-site events
- Cameo or ad hoc photos of your employees
Be creative and have some fun with the process, , , it really does not take a lot of time or effort.
Take advantage of the motivational aspect work photos give you during IT staff meetings; I think you will find it has much more impact than you believe it will. Over time you will amass quite a library of photos that can be special to show your people “scenes of the past”.
SMILE, , , you are on Candid Camera !!
ITLever™ 