Appreciate the good things

Posted on April 26, 2019 | 3 comments

Life goes in cycles. So does work and your career. There are good times and there are, , , well, let’s just say “challenging” times. We all experience it, and it occurs both professionally and personally.

My thoughts about all of this are that, “If things are good, enjoy and appreciate the good times because sooner or later something is going to disrupt it.”

Likewise, if things are going badly for you, hang in there because eventually your situation is going to improve.

How you look at a situation can make a big difference.

I could give you many examples of this, but I’ll share a current situation.

My family was recently in the hospital and a skilled nursing/rehab facility for just over 2 months (from February 10th thru April 12th).

Our son, Eddie, had a fall and broke his left elbow badly. The surgery to insert a plate and screws went very well, but he had major complications with a drug reaction to the antibiotics.

He got a severe case of what is called Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. It’s really bad and can even be life threatening. Eddie had a very bad case of it. Look it up and you’ll see just how dangerous this situation is.

Should have been a 2 or 3-day stay after his surgery that turned into a 2-month ordeal. The worst part was that Eddie was in excruciating pain due to the rash and blisters that covered him from head to toe, , , it was like serious burns both inside and outside his body.

All of this is complicated by the fact that Eddie suffered a massive brain injury in 1993 from a car accident. His short term memory is very bad so when he has an issue, Dorine or I are always with him. Some might call this being “over protective”, but our reasoning is to insure those who are caring for Eddie always have accurate information, something he is not always able to give them.

We were finally able to return home just over a week ago and Eddie is improving daily so the most difficult times are behind us. Home Care nursing and physical therapy have begun to help him along. Eddie still has challenges but good times are ahead of us.

The reason I share this story is to emphasize the need to always look at your situation as a “glass that is half full”, , , not “half empty”.

This is hard to do. It doesn’t matter if it’s a personal challenge or maybe a professional challenge you’re facing.

Staying positive is hard at times, but it’s important for you and those around you for you to be as positive as you can.

One of the things Dorine and I believe very strongly is that Eddie’s recovery from the auto accident 26 years ago was helped because we kept looking at “what can be” versus giving up when the doctors and nurses kept telling us he will never be able to do anything based upon the severity of his head injury. You only need to meet Eddie once to see he has far surpassed all of the expert’s forecasts.

My point – positive reinforcement does make a difference.

You also don’t have to look far to see a situation that is far worse than your set of circumstances. Believe me, our family knows this well.

So here is the thing that I try to reinforce with myself often and want to emphasize with you.

Learn to appreciate the good things! 

If things are going well in your life and professionally, , , appreciate the fact that they are. Setbacks hit us all at one time or another so enjoy your successes and happiness that you are experiencing right now.

If you happen to be in the midst of a setback, , , try to stay positive. It will eventually turn around and get better. Plus, who knows, , , the positive energy you create might just help turn your misfortune around.

I believe challenges and setbacks build character. You can’t truly enjoy and appreciate the good times if you haven’t experienced a few bad times.

We don’t have “highs” without having some “lows”. The setbacks you encounter may actually change your life for the better. I have seen this with my own career (a story for another time) and with others.

So, keep your head up, think positively, and do good things that make a positive difference in other people’s lives. I think you will find that it repays you many times over.

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Watch my videos from the IT Leader GROWTH SUMMIT

Posted on January 22, 2019 | Leave a comment

Recently, I participated in the IT Leader GROWTH SUMMIT 2018, an all online event targeted to helping IT managers improve their success. The reason I participated was because it reinforces my company mission: “helping IT managers of the world achieve more success”.

There were over 50 speakers from many parts of the world during the 1-week agenda so it was truly an international event. Lots of fun plus I learned some things.

My participation was twofold.

First was an interview we recorded on the topic, “Attack the Triple Threat to IT Success to Achieve More”. It includes a short training segment followed by a candid interview with me about aspects of the Triple Threat that exists in companies around the world.

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The second part was to lead a group discussion on the topic, “Let’s Chat About the Modern IT Organization”.

Discussions in this session include:
– What do you focus on initially in a new CIO role?
– How do you position IT more strategically?
– How can IT break out of the purely technical narrative?
– What is the role of the IT Leader in strategic business discussions?
– Who are the people in the C-Suite that the IT Leader should partner with?
– Is communication that important? And if yes, what type of communication?

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Using Priority Matrix in IT – a Case Study

Posted on July 18, 2018 | Leave a comment

Priority Matrix is a powerful task management and workflow system that gives businesses in all industries significant advantages in productivity and accountability. While it delivers value for all levels of managers and employees, it is especially adaptable for IT organizations.

I discovered Priority Matrix by accident. Actually, people in Appfluence (the company that developed Priority Matrix) discovered and contacted me about the possibility of interviewing me to learn more about IT managers and IT organizations.

Inquiries like this happen fairly often and I don’t think too much of them, but on a rare occasion I stumble upon something special. This was the case with Priority Matrix.

At first, “I didn’t get it!” They gave me a demo and walked me through the system and I was impressed, , , sort of. Then I started using the system on a real project and WOW, it hit me like a ton of bricks.

I suddenly realized that I had actually stumbled upon a system that will change the way you work and help you become significantly more productive as well as improve accountability and communication within your organization.

These are strong words so I think taking a look at a new user will be of benefit.

Background
Strattec is a large global manufacturing company based in Wisconsin. The company makes customized auto parts for many of the automobile manufacturers. Beth Ackley is their Director of Information Services. I first met Beth in 2004 when she attended my 4th IT Manager Institute. Since then she has put many of her managers through the program.

As I’ve gotten to know Beth I have always been struck by the fact that she approaches her IT support business very practically and she has a keen sense for supporting the business and delivering business value. In our discussions it is always apparent she is motivated as the Head of IT to help her company be more successful.

I worked with Appfluence for a few months to better understand the Priority Matrix system and to create some targeted IT manager templates. Then, I created an awareness campaign in late June of 2017 to make IT Manager Institute graduates aware of the power of the system.

One of the first to show an interest was Beth. Her comment to me was, “We were just talking about needing to find something that addresses our task management needs that will also help us attain better accountability and improve productivity.”

After doing her due diligence work and taking advantage of the Priority Matrix free trial period, Beth purchased licenses for her team.

I initially interviewed her after she had gained about 60 days of experience in using Priority Matrix. Then, we talked again after about a year of experience with Priority Matrix.  Here is what I found.

Implementation approach
Beth initially rolled the system out to just her IT managers and a few key people so they could gain insight and experience in using the new tool. This “test group” focused on discovering the best ways to use the system within Strattec and how to bring new users up to speed. Their implementation included internal training along with training from Appfluence plus I spent time with Beth to show her some of the highlights I had discovered in using the system.

At the time I caught up with Beth to explore how her team was using Priority Matrix she had 26 people in her IT organization using the system. Her ultimate goal was to have the entire IT team of about 45 IT employees using Priority Matrix by end of the year.

Her team stays very busy as do most IT organizations these days. In the interview she indicated they had approximately 65 active projects underway in various stages. Many of these projects are now managed and tracked using Priority Matrix.

While Beth’s IT team initiates efforts to standardize certain project types and processes using Priority Matrix, she stated that each person tends to use the system individually or a bit differently than the next person. This is an important aspect of Priority Matrix; it is very flexible so the system adapts to how you want to use it, not forcing you to use it in a predefined way.

One comment she made was that one of her senior software developers became productive with the system in about 10 minutes. My sense with this is that there are two reasons:

  1. The system is very intuitive.
  2. A quick orientation from a more experienced user makes the learning much faster.

Benefits in using Priority Matrix
Beth talked about many early benefits she and her management team are experiencing. Below is a list of key benefits she is getting from Priority Matrix:

  1. Master List – This feature allows you to see all your To Do’s for the week plus you can see across your team and what they need to get done. This makes you aware of what’s going on and puts you in better control. Beth believes this feature is really a strong selling point of the system.
  2. Eliminates confusion – Each customer has a Priority Matrix project which creates a single place to record all to do’s and issues that take place with the customer.
  3. Collaboration – The ability to collaborate in real time to resolve issues, complete tasks, and to discuss things proactively improves productivity and helps you get things done.
  4. Ability to find things easily – All the components dealing with a project, a client or whatever you use Priority Matrix to track can be stored in one place. This makes finding things easier and much more productive than the “folder chaos” we normally go through.
  5. Reduced e-mail clutter significantly – Because tasks and issues are handled interactively and updates are “real time”, significant amount of e-mail churn is eliminated. No more need to send e-mails back and forth to get updates on issues. This has a dual effect in that huge amounts of e-mail are eliminated plus being able to find prior correspondence is quick and easy by searching within the collaboration database. One of Beth’s quotes is, “It also means we don’t have to search through emails to find the tidbit of technical information that someone included in a discussion, but didn’t document in the product spec.”
  6. Deadlines and accountability – The ability to assign responsibility and due dates to tasks allows you to see what’s going on and anticipate things that need to get done. Beth mentioned that one of the great things was to be able to start Monday morning with the ability to all that needs to get done this week.
  7. Heat map – This feature helps you see the workload of your employees so you can make adjustments to balance workload when needed.
  8. Intuitive user interface – One of her programmers picked up the system in 10 minutes. Just a little insight makes using the system quick and easy.

Additional thoughts
Beth and her team are one year into the use of Priority Matrix and they continue to discover additional benefits as they use the system. Their initial experience appears that the system is delivering many tangible benefits and is changing the way they work so her team can become more productive and accountable as they get things done.

Discover more about PRIORITY MATRIX at:  https://appfluence.com/it-management-software/

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IT Leader GROWTH SUMMIT 2018

Posted on May 11, 2018 | Leave a comment

I’ll be presenting in the first IT Leader GROWTH SUMMIT held by Xuviate the week of May 20-24, 2018. This is a FREE online event with over 40 speakers from around the globe on a great list of IT management topics.

REGISTER for FREE and you will receive free access to the presentations during the week of the Summit. They also offer a low cost lifetime All-Access to all presentations. If you decide to take advantage of this, be sure to use the discount code ITLGSMS104 to receive a 25% discount that I negotiated for my audience.

My topic is, Triple Threat to IT Success. In this program I’ll walk you through the 3 key causes of IT failure and what you can do to prevent them followed by interview questions and discussion with the Program Host. After my presentation, Mathias Tolken asks me a few questions and I provide candid input on a few things to help IT managers achieve more.

Many of the Presenters like me include BONUS tools and downloads designed to help you in your IT manager role.

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How much is client service worth?

Posted on January 29, 2018 | Leave a comment

3 examples of companies that will show how you should never underestimate the value of client service in IT.

Client service is a big and important part of your IT organization’s support. In fact, it may be worth a lot more than you think.

In your IT manager role it is important to understand the value of client service and what it can do for your IT organization.

To illustrate how important client service is to a company, I’ll use three personal examples. These three company examples will give you a sample of just how important it is with companies that understand the value of client service.

Example 1: IBM

I worked for IBM way back in the “mini-computer” days when small and medium companies were buying their first computer. It was an exciting time that included lots of fun as well as hard work.

What I initially thought was that IBM’s revenue came mainly from new client sales. I was wrong and quickly learned that about 70 percent of the revenue at that time came from existing customers. This is true in many companies today if you look closely at their revenue makeup.

What this means is that existing clients are very important to a company’s success. So, retaining clients and maximizing the sales potential from existing clients is going to be a strong focus.

IBM placed a huge emphasis on client retention. The way they did this was to build incentives into their sales plan for marketing reps. If a company left IBM and went to a competitor, the marketing rep accountable for the client paid IBM back the current commission value of the lost business.

That’s right, you paid IBM back even if you did not sell the business many years earlier.

The message was simple: IBM marketing reps need to be on top of the client satisfaction of their assigned clients. Future business is dependent upon it so IBM places a high value on their existing clients.

I can assure you that the risk of losing real dollars creates real incentive.

Example 2: Infiniti

I have owned five Infiniti automobiles and still drive one today. A major reason is due to a client service experience I had with my first Infiniti car in 1990.

What happened is that I got in my car one Monday morning to go to work and the car wouldn’t start. The reason I learned later was because I had accidentally left the car door ajar over the weekend and the battery was dead.

I went to work in my wife’s car and asked her to call the Infiniti dealership to see about getting the car checked out. At this point we were not sure what the problem was although we suspected it was simply a dead battery.

To make a long story short, Infiniti received the “support call” and took care of the situation.

While they were doing all of this, they called my wife six times to keep her updated on their progress and the status of the car. Here is how it went:

  • Infiniti receives the support call.
  • Infiniti calls owner, “A technician is on his way and will be there in approximately 30 minutes.”
  • Infiniti technician arrives, charges the battery and transports the car to the dealership to inspect it more fully to insure there were no additional issues.
  • Infiniti calls owner, “Your automobile has arrived; we are checking it out and will call back once we know what the issue is.”
  • Infiniti calls owner, “We have inspected your automobile; the problem was a dead battery. We are charging it fully and will call you once the repair is completed.”
  • Infiniti calls owner, “Your automobile is repaired and should be returned in approximately 30 minutes.”
  • Automobile is returned.
  • Infiniti calls owner, “Calling to confirm you have received your automobile in good working order.”
  • Infiniti calls owner, “How did we do in taking care of your problem?”

By this time, my wife is saying, “Enough already!”, but she was also very happy.

Here is the key point and something IT managers should think about when supporting their clients. Infiniti communicated often to keep their customer aware and in the loop. My wife never had to guess about the status of the situation and this creates a “peace of mind” that is valuable.

It set the tone for me purchasing more automobiles from this dealership.

Example 3: 4imprint

Recently I ordered 50 personalized journals for a class reunion we were having from 4imprint, a company I had ordered similar journals from before.

The journals arrived in three boxes. We opened the smaller of the three boxes to inspect the journals and were very happy with them. All is good, or so we thought.

Fast forward a month later and it is Thursday around noon only two days before the big reunion. At the last minute I decide to put an ink pen in the journal loops. I assigned this important task to my wife and she starts adding a pen to each journal.

Then I hear those terrible words, “Mike, we have a problem!”

The ten journals in the small box we had inspected were perfect, just what we ordered. But the two large boxes had some other company’s journals which were completely different from ours.

It was our fault for not checking all of the boxes when we received them, but we still have a problem. I’m thinking we will probably not be able to give our classmates a journal at the reunion. Instead, I’m preparing to hold one up and tell them, “This is what your journal will look like.”

I call 4imprint and get routed to one of their client service reps. I explain the problem, she asks me a few questions, and then she tells me she is going to contact their production facility to determine what options we have. She also says she will call me back as soon as she talks to the production people.

The end result was that we received the replacement journals within 24 hours of my call, unbelievable client service. The other thing that impressed me was how well the client service rep communicated the status of our situation; I was never left in the dark.

I was so impressed that I sent the president of the company a nice note and told him how happy I was with their products and client service. I will order more from this company in the future.

What does this all mean?

Great client service creates advocates for your company, , , or for your IT organization. These advocates buy more products and services from you or they become partners and support agents for you and your team.

Plus, and this may be the biggest benefit, they tell others about their positive experience.

Great client service adds tremendous value to your company or to your IT organization. The bottom line is that client service is important and providing excellent client service reaps big benefits.

And what do you think is the key component to delivering great client service?

You bet, , , it is communicating well. That’s the trick.

So, you want to take full advantage of creating great client service by communicating and following-up well. It pays real dividends.

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Get More Done With a Simple TO DO List

Posted on January 22, 2018 | Leave a comment

A simple To Do List can filter the noise and distraction you encounter so you can focus on important priorities and get more done.

IT managers deal with considerable pressure from new and changing priorities that occur in today’s dynamic work environment. These distractions will negatively impact your team’s performance unless you do something to help you and your team stay focused on the important issues.

Our work environments get crazier and more hectic all the time. Guess what: it probably isn’t going to change anytime soon.

Technology innovation has been super in giving us tools to do so much more in our working lives and to access these systems from virtually anywhere and at any time.

The downside with all this “greatness” comes the fact that in today’s world it is hard to get away from the work, especially in IT. User needs and their dependencies upon technology have expanded and will continue to do so. This brings with it an ever increasing list of To Do’s that present major challenges for IT managers every day.

We need something to help us focus on what’s important and to eliminate as much of the “noise” as possible.

What I use is a simple Weekly To Do List. I’ve been using “my system” for 30 years since my early IBM days. It’s a very simple system that helps keep you focused in order to get more accomplished plus help ensure you focus on the right things, , , or you can call them the most important things.

Here is how it works 

I actually start with a Monthly Objectives or TO DO List that gives me an overall set of things I want to accomplish in a month. Recently, I’ve simply been putting it in a work journal shown below.

Every weekend I create a list of the key things I need to accomplish the following week, , , pulled from my Monthly Objectives List or things that help me complete them. These Weekly tasks are quite often more detailed and might include several “reminder tasks” to get accomplished in the week.

When I have my week sorted out, I rank the Weekly To Do’s in order of highest priority to lowest priority, , , or sometimes just in “A, B or C” priority.

If something comes up with a high priority during the week it gets added to the list in the appropriate position I think is warranted.

During the week, I force myself to focus on the top priority things on this Weekly To Do List. Quite often, the fun thing to work on is not really the top priority so my To Do List is always there to help me stay on track.

If something does not get completed during the week it goes on next week’s list if it is still important.

On a weekly basis, I also refer to the Monthly Objectives List to gauge how well I’m getting through the major objectives for the month.

Using this process does three important things for me:

  1. Provides focus and keeps me on track during the week. I’m convinced this helps me get more done every week.
  2. Reduces procrastination because I have clarity on what to do.
  3. Gives me a sense of accomplishment as I check things off the list.

What you will find is that this process is simple, does not require a lot of time, and it reduces a lot of the “noise” and helps you focus, , , and when you focus you get more accomplished. You will also discover that when you have clarity of what to focus on it reduces stress.

Let’s face it, juggling all the issues and needs that find their way onto your desk can be overwhelming at times. I’ve even seen managers “lock up” because they can’t determine what to work on when they have a heavy list of To Do’s. A system like this helps you cut through the chaos and focus.

My system started with pen and paper when I started my career with IBM, and I migrated to Excel spreadsheets later. Now, I use a journal for the most part.

When there is some “heavy lifting” requirements, I use a workflow system for IT managers called Priority Matrix that automates many of the things I had to do manually.

I created a To Do List template for the Priority Matrix System that you will be able to see on their web site.

Use a system that helps you focus on the important priorities that need your attention and you will achieve more success. The tool is not so important as the process of listing out your To Do’s and making yourself focus on what’s important.

Good luck and success in organizing yourself.

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2018 IT Manager Training Schedule

Posted on January 18, 2018 | Leave a comment

I’m excited about the training we have lined up for 2018. Take a look at the schedule to the right and click on the image to learn more about this year’s training.

GOLD MEMBERS receive new training every month plus access to over 100 recorded classes and our entire IT Manager Resources Library. Check it out at: http://itmanagerstore.com/member.

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Budgeting For IT Made Simple

Posted on August 30, 2017 | Leave a comment

foundation blocksBudgeting for an IT Organization does not have to be difficult. In fact, it’s actually a simple process when you have insight and tools that help.

The reality is that many IT managers struggle when it comes to budgeting. This struggle is caused by one of two things:

  1. Not being prepared
  2. Not knowing how to go about it

The other reality is that far too many IT managers “miss their budget”. What I mean by this is that they submit a budget and then end up spending more than was planned.

When you budget, it is just as important to create an achievable budget where you will succeed in spending right at the number or a bit less than forecasted.

Senior managers of your company NEED YOU TO ACHIEVE YOUR PLAN! If you fail to meet your plan, they have to make up for your deficit somewhere else, and this is NOT a good thing!

The cause of “missing your budget”?

Not knowing how and where to include buffers so you have a conservative and achievable financial plan.

Don’t let this happen to you. I can teach you how to create an IT Budget the simple way TODAY, , , step by step and with tips and insight that will make it easier plus help you budget faster.

Budgeting that’s easier, faster, and achievable.

It’s all in my IT Budgeting Made Simple bundle that contains three parts:

  1. Training class – IT Budgeting Made Simple (1 hour, 45 minutes). It’s recorded so you can view it anytime when it fits your schedule.
  2. E-book – IT Budgeting: Operating and Capital Budgeting Made Easy
  3. IT Budgeting Tools and Templates that you can use “as is” or customize for your specific needs

$ 99.00

If you have struggled with budgets in the past or maybe this is your first budget, take a look at this bundle.

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Review of PRIORITY MATRIX – a workflow system that will revolutionize how IT managers work

Posted on June 29, 2017 | Leave a comment

This is a BOLD CLAIM, I know, , , but I believe wholeheartedly this system is going to create a paradigm shift in how IT managers work. Let me explain below or go view the video I created to learn more:

https://appfluence.com/it-management-software/

A paradigm shift is needed
IT managers have three major challenges and now there is software available to attack all three.

The “BIG THREE” challenges are:

  • Prioritizing work
  • Managing projects successfully
  • Communication

These three challenges are the sources of what I have called the Triple Threat To IT Success for many years.

Appfluence, a Palo Alto company, released a new version of their PRIORITY MATRIX software this week that includes specially designed “IT Manager Templates” to help address these three challenges.

Having used the system for a few months I can tell you that it addresses these three major challenges very effectively.

PRIORITY MATRIX is a very powerful workflow system that places an emphasis on improving productivity and accountability. It even eliminates a considerable amount of your email.

I know what you are saying to yourself, “Right Mike, , , eliminate most of my email, , , who are you kidding?”.

It’s the same thing I thought when I first heard this statement. Well, I saw it happen first hand when I used the system in a real project. It eliminated 90% of the email I would have had with the people working on this project and we completed the project much more productively.

It’s just one of the reasons I have been so impressed with the Priority Matrix system and wanted to make IT managers aware. This is going to be a major step in my company mission of, “helping IT managers of the world achieve more success“.

How Priority Matrix works
The PRIORITY MATRIX system provides a simple interface that uses the Eisenhower Principle for Decision Making. This principle has been around since the 1940’s and is actually well known. Many use this method in their work including:

  • Dr. Stephen R. Covey in his highly acclaimed book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
  • David Allen’s book titled, Getting Things Done
  • SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)
  • Evernote even has an Eisenhower template

The Eisenhower Principle uses the “4 quadrant concept” where the two boxes in the top row are “important” and the two boxes in the bottom row are “not important”. The left-hand column of two boxes is “urgent” and the right column of two boxes is “not urgent”.

So you have:
Quadrant 1 – Important and Urgent
Quadrant 2 – Important but Not Urgent
Quadrant 3 – Not Important but Urgent
Quadrant 4 – Not Important and Not Urgent

You can use the 4 quadrant concept any way you wish, not just how General Eisenhower (and later 34th President of the US) used it.

Flexibility and adaptability to what you need is the “name of the game” when it comes to the PRIORITY MATRIX workflow system and how they use this 4 quadrant concept.

The 4 quadrant layout in Priority Matrix’s user interface allows you to organize and categorize tasks, projects, or virtually anything you want.

The possibilities in using the 4 quadrant methodology are virtually limitless.

The real power is behind the simple user interface
PRIORITY MATRIX uses the 4 quadrants as the main part in their approach, but there is a big difference in what I see with their implementation. They have a powerful workflow engine beneath the simple 4 quadrant user interface you see.

This engine automates many workflow things we always had to do manually, and it places an emphasis on prioritizing work and completing the work productively. You would never know this unless you worked with the system.

Here is a sample of P/M’s key features and benefits:

  1. Organize virtually anything you want. The 4 quadrant structure is very flexible; you decide how you want to use it.
  2. Prioritize tasks or items by assigning a due date. When you do, the system automatically tracks this and notifies you with alerts and reports.
  3. Assign tasks to teammates. The system keeps track of this automatically so you and others of your choosing can see what is getting done and when things are coming due.
  4. Collaborate in real time to resolve issues. This aspect improves productivity considerably and will eliminate a major part of your email. I didn’t believe this at first but it definitely does reduce email significantly.
  5. Easily include notes, attached files, screenshots, url links and more in your communications.
  6. The system maintains detailed documentation of all communication and notes on all tasks. This is great for documenting what actually happens for future reference. If you work in an environment where tracking work activity is important then this system is definitely worth looking into.
  7. GANTT charts are created automatically and you can even work from the GANTT chart interface to update projects, change dates, reassign tasks, etc.
  8. The CALENDAR interface works the same way.
  9. Manage dozens of projects and easily see all that’s going on by project, by quadrant, by teammate and more.
  10. Build a project from scratch or use one of the predefined project templates to get up and running quickly.
  11. Tag projects, tasks or items so you can filter views or reports by tag. Very helpful.
  12. The system is a great place for storing reference material and other resources.
  13. The system is cloud based so all your devices have access.
  14. Tremendous scalability and security using Amazon Web Service’s S3 storage capability.
  15. Communication updates are automatic when people are assigned or participating in a task or project. This is a major benefit for IT managers.
  16. Easily monitor employee workload when you define tasks with “effort required” and “start & end dates”.

I discovered PRIORITY MATRIX by accident a few months ago and now that I’m familiar with it I’m wondering, “Where have you been all my life?”

The manual To Do List system I’ve used for 30 years is obsolete with a tool like this so I’ll be using PRIORITY MATRIX from now on.

I was so impressed with the PRIORITY MATRIX system that I wanted to invest time and energy to help the company create IT Manager awareness of their system.

I created 6 IT manager templates and they are available for free to new users from the Appfluence web site. Create projects in these categories in just a few minutes, , , there will be more templates created and available soon.

IT Manager Resources
IT Manager TO DO LIST
Employee Performance Planning
IT Project Portfolio Process
IT Project Risk Analysis
IT Project Value Analysis

FREE TRIAL
Go to: https://appfluence.com/it-management-software/ and take advantage of the FREE 30-day TRIAL offer of the PRIORITY MATRIX System for IT Managers.

I encourage you to take a look at the PRIORITY MATRIX system. Believe me, it’s going to revolutionize the way you do things and make you much more productive in achieving more success.

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Cut through the chaos

Posted on June 19, 2017 | Leave a comment

IT managers have a very tough job. At times it can be almost overwhelming with all the issues you deal with on a daily basis.

  • Client priorities change, , , quite a bit don’t they?
  • Technology is changing faster than ever. We love this but it creates lots of pressure for us to manage.
  • Employees, , , well, something is going on with them all the time.

When all of these changes happen it creates clutter and chaos in an IT manager’s world, , , so much clutter that you can even get to a point where you don’t know what to focus on. I’ve even seen managers freeze up because they are so overwhelmed.

I’ve been there and can even experience the feeling of being overwhelmed today if I allow it in my life.

OK, so what do we do about it?

Well, what breaks through chaos is

FOCUS

At any given time each of us have a lot of things we need to accomplish. Let’s call it our “list of to do’s”. This list can be anything from a minor item like completing a travel expense report to a major task like developing next year’s budget.

I always have a long list of TO-DO’s, , , ALWAYS!!!  You are probably just like me in this regard. It’s normal to have 20 or more important things on your TO-DO List at any given point of time.

If you aren’t careful, this daunting list will put you into a sort of “stalemate” where you can’t quite figure out what you need to focus on. It’s awful when this happens.

It’s obvious we can’t get everything done immediately, but our need to address everything nags at us to do it all NOW. When this happens, we start analyzing and debating within ourselves about what to do. What can happen is that we don’t do anything and waste valuable time which adds to our frustration.

The worst thing you can do is DO NOTHING!

The solution is to organize your TO-DO’s and prioritize them so you can FOCUS. What I’ve done for 30 years is to create a WEEKLY TO-DO LIST that does a few things:

  1. Quantifies all my TO-DO’s (projects, miscellaneous, and personal TO-DO’s)
  2. Organizes my workload so I can see the entire list of things I need to accomplish
  3. Allows me to prioritize the list so I work on the most important items first
  4. Gives me a sense of accomplishment when I start ticking items off the list as they are completed

Weekly To-Do’s work best for me. Some prefer a monthly list and I know a few who work with Daily To-Do’s. Use whatever method works best for you.

My process works like this:
STEP-1 – Develop an Annual Goals and Objectives List. This includes the major things I want to accomplish during the year. I do this during the holidays and the first week of every New Year. It’s a tradition I look forward to each year.

STEP-2 – At the beginning of each month I list the TO-Do’s I need to accomplish this month. I refer to the Annual Goals List to be sure I’m focusing on things that help me achieve these goals.

STEP-3 – Every weekend I create a WEEKLY TO-DO LIST from my monthly objectives list. This is what I focus on during the week and I work hard to accomplish everything on the list. I identify the priorities of what is on the list so I work on the most important items early.

STEP-4 – Emergency items or important issues come up from “out of the blue”. These items are added to this week’s list.

STEP-5 – The following weekend I move any unfinished tasks to next week’s TO-DO List and add new items from the monthly list that need to prioritized.

I have used pencil and paper combined with an EXCEL spreadsheet most of my life. Recently I discovered a system that can assist in this process that is light years ahead of my manual system. It is so powerful that I’ve made a commitment to work with the company to do some things that will benefit IT managers. I’ll announce something major soon so watch for my posts.

My Weekly TO-DO List is very simple as you can see below. It doesn’t need to be complex. All you need is the Task and a column to put a priority on it. For my Annual and Monthly Lists, I use A, B, and C. For my Weekly List, I number them to give them a chronological priority.

Having a TO-DO List in front of you helps you stay on track and it will help you get more things done. Whenever you begin feeling overwhelmed, , , go back to your TO-DO List and knock out a few items. It will “pump you up”.

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