Welcome to this edition of  Practical IT Manager Tips Newsletter.

This week's article
Take aim at success by staying focused
What does an IT organization have in common with a Marine combat unit or a high school football team? Actually, the success of all three hinges on being able to focus each team member's responsibilities and for each individual to perform his job. Focus is required to succeed in any team effort.

Read the article below.

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Take aim at success by staying focused

I've always been a manager who uses images, scenarios, and anecdotes to drive home a point. These techniques help the people I manage and me focus on the issue at hand. In this column, I want to discuss how to focus, a key to success for any organization.

Figure A

Figure A represents two examples of the "lines of fire" that can be used by a small Marine Corps "fire team." One of them has a much higher rate of success than the other. Which one gives the best coverage? How does this relate to technology? Hang on; we will get there.

Fire Team A looks very organized and appears to cover all areas of the field in front of the team. The diagram for Team B looks very chaotic and disorganized. The fact is that the fields of fire laid out for Team B will cover the area much more effectively than Team A's plan because the lines of fire overlap, a technique that is particularly important when one Marine is reloading his weapon or taken out of the battle.

As you can see, each Marine is responsible for a specific line of fire. Once he deviates from his responsible area, the full capacity of the team begins to weaken. The same is true with an IT organization. Every team organization is dependent upon individual team members. Marines stay focused because they learn to obey orders and are trained over and over again for the scenarios they will encounter. Keeping your IT team focused requires different skills, but the theory is the same.

As a CIO, I picked up a new IT organization many years ago through a company acquisition. My assessment indicated that senior managers and the operations groups of the company had very little confidence in the IT organization. The IT staff's impression was that they were overworked, had no support, and lacked the staff and money to do the job properly. This wasn't exactly the case as I saw it.

There were plenty of staff members but no focus or organization about how they were going about their work. Everyone was trying to do everything. No one could identify his or her own responsibility. Yes, they were working hard but not working productively. Because of the lack of focus, the organization was spending money in many of the wrong places.

Slowing down the treadmill and assigning specific "lines of fire" (responsibilities) to each employee made all the difference because everyone's role was clearly identified, and they became more focused. As their focus improved, so did their productivity and effectiveness in what the were trying to accomplish.

For example, we broke down the programming responsibilities. Some people began supporting existing applications, a different group developed application enhancements, and another team focused only on hospital interfaces, a key initiative for the Operations Division's needs.

We created change management procedures and introduced quality assurance processes that were previously nonexistent. Initially, there was a strong feeling by the senior people in IT that this strategy would just add to the delay in delivering software changes to our clients. After two months, they could see that the plan actually improved productivity because the time spent reworking and scrambling to catch up was reduced. It also reduced duplication and improved user acceptance.

It was an example that I've used many times in my career. In order to go faster, we first have to slow down, organize and focus our efforts. Focus is so important to succeed in any type of team initiative so pay attention to it as it can make a huge difference in both your team's success as well as your own individual success, no matter what position or title you hold.

Another way to look at the situation is through Figure B below. Think of your IT team as you would the offense of a football team. In the offensive component of football, you have many different types of responsibilities, such as blocking, receiving a pass, and carrying the ball, all of which are led by the actions of the quarterback. You have the same organization in your IT team. You have programmers, business analysts, help desk resources, and network administrators, all led by a manager.

In football, you design plays to handle your opposition. In this case, the defensive players represented by the triangles have one objective - to stop the offensive team from moving forward. You can relate IT support to the defense by thinking of client needs and issues as the defensive players. Look at the business applications support requirements of an organization, and you will find that your clients have many different needs, from day to day support, software enhancements, customized programming services, installation services, training, documentation, etc.

The team scenario in Figure B shows that Players 1 and 2 focus on one need of the offense, to block only one player because that defender is so strong. On the other hand, Player 5 has to try to handle two defensive players. The point is that each player has an assigned responsibility and is expected to take care of his assignment. If each player succeeds in handling his responsibility, we move the ball down the field.

The same need for focus exists in your IT department.

Change the defensive player names to application enhancements, daily support needs, new installations, training needs, etc. and you begin seeing the need to focus each of your IT employees on specific areas of responsibility. You run the risk of duplicated and wasted effort if your IT team is not organized to take care of a specific set of responsibilities. Some key assignments may simply be missed if the members of your IT team are not focused.

Assigning specific responsibility to your team members and giving them the tools and knowledge they need to succeed also empowers each individual. There is nothing like being part of a team that is focused on its mission and each employee is empowered to accomplish his part of the mission.

Take the time to organize and establish specific responsibilities for your staff. You will reap big rewards in doing so. Once you have everyone's responsibilities quantified, empower and motivate your employees to take care of their business in a manner that supports the team. If you lay out your "lines of fire," you are well positioned to win the battle and have a lot more fun.

Special note: If you have the opportunity to attend my Orlando weekend retreat on June 17-18, you will hear more about the models discussed in this article and many others - there are 72 models in my IT Management Models book. Participants receive a free copy and many other bonus items that sell for more than $700.00. Models are great tools to help you discuss technology issues and concepts, coach your staff, etc. We hope to meet many of our newsletter subscribers in June.



Best of success,
Mike Sisco, ITBMC Founder

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