better chance

Ensuring project success

Sun, 06 May 2007 20:01:36 -0400

IT projects have a better chance of succeeding if the company has dedicated a project manager to coordinating them. The project manager is charged with making sure expenses don't run amok, that time spent on the project is within reasonable limits, and that the delivered product meets customers' quality expectations. Other responsibilities include risk and change management and contingency planning. A successful project manager is adept at leadership, communication, negotiation and planning. To choose the right person for this critical job, make sure internal customers have a say.

Read more about the importance of project management:
- read the article at ComputerWeekly

ALSO: read this on the value of project management

Getting the most out of your IT team

Thu, 03 May 2007 20:01:39 -0400

The only way to succeed as a leader while getting the best from your IT team is by setting up your team members to succeed. To do that, focus on results and productivity, not the punch clock. Take stock of your team members' talents and reshuffle the deck if it means that your team has a better chance of success. Assign people to projects that they are passionate about. Put your best performers on your biggest opportunities. Create a culture of performance by setting aggressive goals and holding your employees accountable for regularly reporting on their progress. Trust your team members, and let them know it. Avoid blame by doing a post-mortem to determine what went wrong and to learn from it. Foster innovation by killing projects the right way. Don't provide all of the answers; instead, make your employees think. Build consensus by letting people know why you have made a particular decision.

Learn more about effective team management:
- read the article at TechRepublic

ALSO:
- read this for tricks on keeping the "A" team in place
- and this on the group dynamics: the golden team

Moving up the corporate ladder

Sun, 08 Apr 2007 20:01:39 -0400

Climbing from CIO to COO can be accomplished if you follow some tried and true advice. First, make sure you have the skills to do everything a Chief Operating Officer does before trying to reach your goal and make it obvious to the CEO that you have what it takes. To do that, provide leadership beyond IT, learn to talk finance, demonstrate your knowledge of the business, let your boss know you're ambitious and recruit and build an IT team (because if you can build an organization that the rest of the company can admire, you will build credibility for the COO role). And finally, choose the right company and ensure your goal is actually attainable. For example, if you work for a company where IT is core to the business, you have better chance of growing beyond the CIO role.

Learn more about moving from CIO to COO:
- read the column at CIO

ALSO:
- read this on reaching the next level
- this about clawing your way to the top
- this about climbing the corporate ladder
- and this on climbing the executive ladder

Making a case for Service-Oriented Architecture

Mon, 22 Jan 2007 19:01:38 -0500

The concept of SOA, or Service-Oriented Architecture, should be recognized as an organization-wide business strategy that goes beyond IT. It takes some strategizing to get this concept across to senior decision-makers, but it is key to the success of this burgeoning and often beneficial infrastructure change. Selling the concept can be hard, but if you explain the value and benefits in business terms instead of calling it SOA--while building consensus throughout the company--you'll have a better chance of success.

For more on selling a SOA:
- read more on this at TechTarget
- read even more about this at CIO