For more than 20 years, I've been hearing complaints, concerns and panicked hysteria about the end of the IT career as we know it. Just below the surface, we all seem to think that we're about to get the ax. And that's because we persistently misunderstand what our business partners want most from us. We think they just need the best technician, but they don't.
The first meeting for a project is a tense affair. There can be a lot of new things coming at you all at once. New co-workers. New technology. New processes. And, perhaps most problematic, new business partners.
Every IT professional has been here: A business person asks you a question, and your thorough answer just isn't good enough. You try to give more specific information in an attempt to break through the communication barrier. But the more you try, the worse things seem to get. In the end, the business person is seething with impatience, so you start to get confused and angry.
Early in my career, I prided myself on my ability to follow orders well. But eventually, I realized that truly serving my boss required more than just doing as I was told -- or as I thought I'd been told.
The morale of our people is just terrible," the CTO of a government agency recently confided in me. "What can I do about it?" he asked.
A while back, I read a survey that showed that, other than directors of human resources, CIOs were considered the least influential senior executives in most organisations.
As an IT management consultant, I look at a lot of processes. They're everywhere. And so are the misconceptions about what makes them useful.
"How do I make my people more accountable?" As a management consultant, I get this question all the time. In fact, I'd have to say that in general, making people more accountable is one of the top aspirations of technical managers. So it's worth answering the question here are simply as I can.
With the economy ailing, the US presidential election in full swing and surveys showing cuts in next year's IT budgets, get ready to hear more and more about jobs. People will lose jobs. Evil corporations will export jobs. We will need more jobs. We will need better jobs. Not McJobs.
How you manage the inevitable letdown after an intense, creative project determines whether you'll keep or lose your best people.
I often hear complaints about how unmotivated technical groups can be, but managers sometimes seem to miss some of the most important opportunities to create an environment in which motivation can grow.
If you want to really help your organization, one of the more subtle things you need to learn to do is to effectively change the subject.
As the seasons change, my thoughts often turn to the future. One of the common questions for IT professionals thinking about the future is whether to pursue a career in management.
At some point in every IT professional's career, he realizes that the secret to having happy customers is not fulfilling their every wish and desire but keeping their expectations reasonable. Low expectations are the secret to satisfaction, if not happiness.
We've all seen it happen. Self-destruction. Career-limiting behaviour. Professional suicide. Some previously normal and capable IT manager suddenly starts acting strangely and destructively. He figuratively sets his hair on fire and runs around the building screaming of cabals at the top of his lungs. And we all stand by, watching the slow-motion train wreck, shaking our heads and whispering yet not knowing what to do.