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Ezine InformationThe Top Ten IT Management Mistakes and How To Avoid Them
by:
Joey Smith
The Top Ten IT Management Mistakes and
How to Avoid Them
Want to rise to the top without all the pain and suffering that goes on
with it? The following article wish help you soar by keeping you from production
costly career-ending mistakes.
Working with IT Managers on a regular basis allows me to see several great management styles and several equally poor ones. There are ten major mistakes that I see IT Managers do on a regular basis. Several of these errors have even as cost several managers their jobs. Spell there are for sure much than ten, if you want to prevent the most wide
ready-made mistakes, please see and endorse the following top ten.
Number 1 – Focusing On the Technology and Not the Business
Focusing on the technology and not on the business is an entire subject in and of itself. There are so many an IT Managers focusing on the wrong things, technology included. The typical IT Manager comes from a technical background in either infrastructure or development. Based on their technical roots, they tend to focus their efforts in their expertness once
in fact they should be looking for route to support, modify
and improve the business. In order to be successful, it is imperative that IT Managers become a business leader and turn their focus and expertness on business issues and problems 1st and foremost.
Number 2 – Thinking “Out of Sight is Out of Mind”
IT Managers are busy folk and have so many an priorities coming at them all the time. The problem with not having a record or checklist is that IT Managers tend to keep going, going, going without ever looking at their progress. The most powerful task an IT Manager could ever do is an assessment. There are several route to do this. First, you can do a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis. You could do a full blown formal IT Assessment and or you could use a record system to track wherever
you are as a department. See: http://techrepublic.com.com/5138-1035_11-5670861.html for a record developed specifically for this purpose. Not continually taking a check wherever
you are at leads to significant trouble. This is no several than continually checking your dashboard gauges in your car. No news is not nice news in IT. The IT Manager mantra should be “if it isn’t broke, fix it anyways.”
Number 3 – Thinking That Your Team Has It Covered
This idea is straight out of the lessons knowing from the popular hit show with Donald Trump “The Apprentice.” So many an teams concluded up in the council chamber because the leader delegated a job, but didn’t follow up to do sure it was done right. IT Managers are not exempt from this mistake. The major reason this happens is because “I” is not in team, but is in “IT”. Most IT employees are solo players. They activity well alone. This is due to the fact that they are generally introverts. There are several exceptions, but this is the majority. This has an adverse affect on various management, leadership and ultimately societal skills required to delegate effectively. The biggest skill in delegation is the follow-up or checkup. No, this is not micromanagement. It is your job as a leader to insure that the task gets done correctly. To avoid this mistake, you must follow up.
Number 4 – Not Inspecting What You Expect
This mistake has its roots in mistake number 3, but can be carried forward into else aspects of IT. For instance, you could possibly expect great performance out of your servers, but may not have a system to do sure they are running at peak capacity. This ultimately leads to poor planning, budgeting, staffing etc. If you want to avoid this common pitfall, do a comprehensive list of your expectations for your entire department which could include critical projects, network and server performance, client satisfaction and many an more. Double-check the list to do sure you are inspecting all expectations on a regular basis. Support a checklist or develop a daily disciplines worksheet to follow everything that of necessity
daily inspection. As Joe Joe dimaggio use to say, “It is the punch that you didn’t see coming that knocks you out.”
Number 5 – Not Creating a Partnership with Business Management
There is a difference between number 1 and number 5. The difference is folk and politics. I find a great deal of IT Managers reportage
to operations and finance personnel instead of presidents and CEOs. This is a major mistake and should be a fighting point on your agenda if this is you. The only way IT can be an effective and a strategic element to a business is through partnership with the business executives. A 360 degree leadership focus must be in place for the IT Manager. You must lead and influence your reports, peers and leaders to have a maximum impact on the organization. The faster
you can get on the leadership team, the faster
you wish have the ability to execute on number 1.
Number 6 – Burning Yourself Out
I can’t tell you how many an IT Managers I coach that have not had vacations in a year or longer and habitually
activity over 70 hours per week. This is not only a mistake, but is a formula for disaster. Sometimes the thinking is that your business cannot live without you. I hate to burst your bubble if this is your thinking. You are utterly
incorrect. Your business cannot live with you burning yourself out. This only leads to less productivity and eventually you quitting, giving up or effort disgruntled. Do yourself, business, employees and family a favor and take several time off. Recharging your batteries is extremely important for peak performance. Always remember to finish and smell the roses. If you don’t, a train wreck is about the corner. It wish not be a matter of “if”, but “when.”
Number 7 – Not Testing Your Backup Resolution
I always tell my new IT Managers that one of the most important aspects of their jobs is insuring a reliable backup. Breakdowns in technology hardware are inevitable. The next better thing is fault tolerance, but I have even as seen that fail. Under this circumstance, you can either be the hero or a person in the state
line. Don’t think for a minute that if you have tapes and if everything looks ok in your system that everything is ok. Do sure you test backups regularly. Do test disasters and do sure you can recover. I call this IT Manager calisthenics. Athletes train continually before they compete. You need to do this as well with backups. If you haven’t tested your backup resolution lately, do it immediately.
Number 8 – Not Asking For Help
All too often have I seen costly mistakes ready-made by managers and technicians alike trying to solve an issue solo without informing anyone or even as reading the manual! This is a costly mistake in terms of time, expense as well as potential disasters. If you get in over your head, do the right thing and seek help. The key to flourishing IT Management is not knowing the right answers, but being able to find them and corporal punishment a resolution as quickly and cost effectively as possible. Don’t hesitate to bring in the experts wherever
necessary. This wish not do you look bad. There is nothing wrong admitting you don’t cognize how to fix a problem. Rather than wasting you or your company’s time, bring in an expert and do it a learning experience. The key here is psychological feature
transfer. By including training in every outside engagement, you build you and your team’s depth and expertise. Last comment; there is nothing wrong with reading the manual.
Number 9 – Not Devoting Time to Personal Development
There is no excuse in mistake number 9. Personal development is not your company’s responsibility. Plain and simple, it is yours. Only you determine your success, attitude and altitude. I can always tell a person’s success potential by the last 5 books they have see and by the seminars they attend. Every IT Manager should be devoting at least 30 minutes a day in personal development. The truly flourishing and top ten per centum in their field devote even as much and in several cases in upwards of two hours or much per day. The most common excuse I ordinarily hear is that they don’t have the time or money. There are two things I cognize for sure. Number one, money is ne'er
the problem and number two, neither is time. Several excuses are inside
the manager’s control. The underlying key is in the flourishing management of money and time. The most valuable investment in any career is that of personal development. It is an investment that multiplies chop-chop and pays over and over over again
for life.
Number 10 – Not Finding a Mentor or Coach
The fastest
way to success is to find causal agency who has been there and emulate them. The fastest
road to pain, hardship and failure is to go the journey alone and is therefore the biggest mistake an IT Manager can make. Whether you are in management or not, you should always have a mentor or coach and you should always be mentoring or activity causal agency else. A coach wish just help you bring home the bacon much than you could by yourself by transmission
wisdom, responsibility and crucial proposal
wherever
necessary. By activity or mentoring causal agency else, you are doing the same, but you are likewise activity your own concepts by teaching them to others. If you do not have a coach, acquire one as presently
as possible. There is no such thing as an Olympic Gold Medalist without a coach. If you want extraordinary results, you have to go on the far side
ordinary. To win the IT Gold, you must have a coach or mentor. For much information on obtaining an IT coach, go http://www.itoctane.com/coach/
Just about the author:
Joey Smith is the CIO, Founder and Executive Coach of HigherHill, Inc. Joey is likewise the only two-time competition for the prestigious Georgia CIO of the Year Award and two-time winner for the Microsoft Project of the Year. For much of Joey's IT management insight, tips and tricks take a look at his Ezine entitled IT Octane! http://www.itoctane.com/
All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2005 Higherhill, Inc & Joey Smith
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