Mike Sisco's Practical IT Manager Tips Newsletter


	Happy New Year Everyone, We hope you had a great holiday and are looking forward to the new year ahead. Our free newsletter is taking a new approach in 2004. It's going to be "out with the formal approach and in with an informal style". It's also time for a name change. I've been considering changing the newsletter name for some time. The essence of my message every month is to help IT Managers and technology Executives achieve more success. Introducing Practical IT Manager Tips. The new format will provide more frequent messages that provide quick insights to what it takes to manage technology resources effectively. I know you are extremely busy. If you are like me, it's difficult to find 30 minutes to read a lengthy newsletter, so our new approach will give you quick "snippets" that we hope will help you in your responsibilities. The 2003 newsletters included seven sections every month. It was one of the more content rich IT management related newsletters available providing practical information to help you accomplish more. The first weekly article of the new year follows. It's time to take inventory Every year, I develop a set of New Year Resolutions as mentioned in the December newsletter. The primary purpose is to set new goals. You accomplish more when you target specific goals and objectives. What do I mean by taking an inventory? Very simple. Before you get caught up into the new year's hustle and bustle, step back and take a look at what you are doing and ask yourself a few questions. "Are we focusing on the right priorities?" "Are my customers pleased with the IT support they receive?" "Is my IT staff happy with our company?" "Am I happy with what I'm doing?" "What are the things we can and should do better?" There are many more questions like these that you can ask yourself. I find that asking these "introspective" questions during a transition can be helpful. Transitioning from the "old year" to a "new year" is a transition and happens to be a good time to do some reflecting. It's important to know that you can always affect almost any situation if you think about it enough and do something to change it. Granted, some issues are much tougher than others, but there are always options in dealing with any situation. I've been in situations over my 30-year career where I felt "trapped" or powerless to deal with problematic situations. Most of us will encounter a few of these situations in the course of our business career. You are not "powerless". Step away from the situation, take a deep breath, and think through the options you have: - Can you improve the situation? - Can someone help you make a change that improves the situation? - Is it really a big problem, or is the problem with your perspective of the situation? Possibly, you don't know all the issues. - Can you deal with the situation in a positive, objective manner? - Are you prepared to take the highest risk in dealing with the issue? It could cost you your job. - Does compromising hurt someone or create liability for yourself, your employees, or your company? Review your project initiatives Another specific area that I try to "take inventory" several times a year is with the projects and IT initiatives we have in place. Company situations change, especially in the dynamic environment we live in. Technology is changing and improving faster than any time in our history. It's easy to encounter situations that warrant a change in project focus and priority. I believe it's important to review the project initiatives you have targeted often to assess whether you are still on the right path for your company. This is not to suggest that you need to "second guess" yourself constantly. What I recommend is that you review certain parameters concerning your technology initiatives periodically to "validate" that they still make sense to focus your technology resource assets on. Ask questions like: "Is the value still going to be there by completing this project?" "Will we still achieve the ROI we expected?" "Has our company's priority changed such that makes this project less important in our IT priorities?" "Have we learned something that makes this project a lower priority?" Evaluate how well you deliver projects Another thing you should take measure of is whether your project initiatives are getting completed on time and within budget. Managing projects effectively is the cornerstone that allows you to become an effective IT Manager. When you cannot deliver projects predictably (which means on time and within budget and also what the customer expected would be delivered), then you will not be successful. It's as simple as that. Managing projects effectively has been a primary focus of all of my IT Organizations for more than 20 years. I learned early on in my IBM Systems Engineer role the value of delivering projects effectively. Strong project management skills are important for any level of management you hope to attain. If you don't have them, make 2004 the year to get them. You don't have to invest in a PMP (Project Management Professional) certification to learn the primary project management skills needed to deliver projects predictably. What you have to have is a project management process that works, tools to help you manage projects, and insight on where to focus your attention to be effective. If you want to improve your organization's ability to deliver projects more effectively, I encourage you to invest in a process and tools that work. There are many options out there. Here are a few you can consider. IT Project Management: a practical approach - my book includes a process and tools that I have used to install or convert hundreds of systems. It is very simple and uses Microsoft EXCEL templates for ease of use and communicating with others. This month's special includes the ebook, tools, and ten bonus items that are guaranteed to simplify your project management efforts for more success. Information is available at: http://www.mde.net/itpm . TenStep Project Management Process and Tools - Tom Mochal offers the most comprehensive and practical project management tools and resources I know of. His proprietary TenStep Project Management Process and other tools take all types of projects into consideration and use a scalable philosophy to "implement the structure, process, and tools to match the project". In other words, one size does not fit all. TenStep, Inc. also has a project management process that is aligned to the Project Management Institute (PMI) PMBOK (Project Management Book of Knowledge). They have other products covering portfolio management, PMOs and the project lifecycle. Information is available at: http://www.tenstep.com. Receive a 10% discount on any of Tom's products when you mention "Mike Sisco" or "MDE Enterprises". Project Management Institute PMI offers many tools and is the governing body for obtaining the PMP (Project Management Professional) certification. Membership is very reasonable and gives you access to many materials including the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK). Information is available at: http://www.pmi.org . Local educational organizations Most educational institutions offer a project management class. The key here is to find something that's practical versus theory. Theory doesn't go very far in the real world. Gantthead.com This is a web site dedicated to IT project management. Here, you will find many articles and resources to help you in your project management efforts. Information is at: http://www.gantthead.com Well, that's it for the first weekly article of 2004. I hope the information is helpful and that you find the new format beneficial. Look for the second article next week. We would like to get your feedback about the new format. You can tell us what you prefer by sending one of the three email messages below. Add comments as you wish to give us more insight in our efforts to provide you value that helps you in your efforts. 1. I like the new format for 2004 - weekly articles that focus on a specific point. Send this email: 2004@mde.net 2. I prefer the 2003 format with several articles included once a month. Send this email: 2003@mde.net 3. I prefer something different. Please elaborate. Send this email: different@mde.net Our mission at MDE Enterprises is to provide practical tools and resources that help IT Managers throughout the world achieve higher levels of success. MDE resource links: Education www.mde.net/schedule Register by January 15th to receive a 25% discount. Books and tools www.mde.net/cio Newsletter archive www.mde.net/ezine Consulting - contact me at mike@mde.net - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Join me at Hilton Head in April for a unique conference. It's the 3,,2,,1 Technology Conference. 3 great seminars Up to 2 full weeks 1 great location This conference is unique in the industry and allows you to sign up for as little as one day or for an entire 2-week program. Lots of flexibility to meet your time and budget needs to focus on three key topic areas: - IT Manager development (hosted by Mike Sisco) - Project Management focus (hosted by Tom Mochal) - Technology awareness (hosted by Bill Carico) Information is available at: www.mde.net/321 Register by January 15th and receive a 25% discount. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - We appreciate your support and the ability it gives us in providing services to assist IT Managers. Best of success. Mike Sisco MDE Enterprises mike@mde.net 931-490-6932 Help us reach IT Managers throughout the world by sharing this free newsletter. To subscribe, go to: http://lb.bcentral.com/ex/manage/subscriberprefs.aspx?customerid=22846