RFID
I have to say I am a believer in RFID for IT asset management. Automated tracking of assets makes it much easier.. More to come..
Effective IT
Keep your job, get a raise?
Many people are feeling the pain of this recession, and even those keeping their jobs - know someone who has lost theirs. Being laid off is serious business. Now, more than ever, you have to take control of your career and accept responsibility for the things you can do to improve your situation, or keep out of the crosshairs of being laid off. The danger is not just being laid off, but the possibility of other actions - like having your work time decreased, or a reduction in salary, or your salary staying flat. Like most things in this world, you don't have total control, but you do have responsibility - for understanding and accepting the forces at work, and looking out for yourself. Keep in mind -
1. You are employed because you provide some value to your company. During tough econonic times, the company must cut costs, and the largest costs are often people. Don't take it personally, and while its understandable to be emotional, don't let emotions guide your attitude at work or decision making.
2. Your employment there, and salary, are based on your percieved value to the company. Companies expect a certain function to be performed and associate a value to that function (ie.. salary bands). You may - or may not - get an objective look from management. Don't worry about that so much, it is out of your control.
3. Most important! You must be a high-performer, that is, you must be incredible at your job. If it's something where you have natural talents - great - if not, get training or help to get better. Do it on your own if your company won't invest. Then, your excellence must be recognized by people above you, expecially those in high places.
Being great, and having that greatness recognized, are two different things. There are many more modest people in the world - than braggarts. It needs to be common knowledge at your workplace that you are extremely talented and the company is making (or saving - saving is same as making) money by you being there. This is done by actions and exceptional performance. Of course, bragging or self-promotion is counterproductive.
4. Maybe sad but true, but - who you know - matters. It helps to have relationships with higher-ups in the company, but don't be a sycophant. That said - probably doesn't help here, because either you have those relationships already or not.
5. Your job, is not a personal favor given to you by the company. Just as your working for them is not a personal favor to them. It is a partnership that is expected to benefit both parties. Should that relationship end, especially when its unexpected and not a result of performance (ie.. you spit at a customer) - as in layoffs during a recession - it is difficult and unfortunate, however its just business. For whatever you do for a living - there are thousands or even millions of opportunities to work somewhere else. More when the economy rebounds. The odds are in your favor. Don't forget that.
Every company builds the same thing - leaders
Lets shake up our assumptions about what our organization does. Every company makes something and sells that product or service. They make shoes, or cars, or deliver professional services, or deliver mail, or milk. But lets pretend that our company really doesn't do what we think it does. Lets imagine that our company does only one thing - building great leaders.
Leaders, in the organizational sense, in that they develop their specific skill that they apply in their role, and mentor and train other more junior level staff. Leaders know what to do. Leaders don't need to be motivated. They lead by example and live the values that they ask others to uphold. This way, instead of training people to do specific and sometime repetitive jobs, people are encouraged to develop skills that will benefit them in any role. Written and verbal communication, negotiation, ethics, international business, and motivation are particular areas that can be developed.
Customer Service and Profits
We tend to look at revenues and profits, as generated by customers. This is useful, because it reinforces efforts toward good customer service. We must care about customers and focus completely on satisfying their needs. Better customer service. Some have taken this to fanatical levels, essentially saying that customers are all that matters. Without them, we are nothing and the company does not exist.
Now let's re-examine this and look at things a different way. That revenues and profits are delivered by employees and not customers. That employees are responsible for all income and profits. Entirely responsible. This does not mean that customers are not important, or that their satisfaction does not matter. Certainly if customer service is poor, customers will be lost and the business will suffer, but lets make that a secondary consideration. We credit our salesperson for making the sale, not the customer for buying. We should deliver for that customer and make them happy, but that was initiated by people inside the organization. Employees. We pay our respect and thanks to them and their efforts in gaining and servicing a customer, not to the customer for buying. We're grateful that they bought. But, they did not buy out of a sense of goodwill or as a special favor to us, for which we should feel grateful. They bought because of the efforts of those inside our organization that made that happen. Most directly, those involved with the sale, and those involved in any support role that helps gain and keep the account.
Employees are now given their just credit for the revenues of the company. Also, now they are responsible for those ongoing revenues. It is not just the job of the sales force to keep sales going. It is everyone's responsibility. Everyone has their role to play and they are not all direct sales roles, but all must be supporting some revenue generation effort. Customers must be propected for and sold to. The only good situtation is one where both the buyer and seller feel they are satisfied with the deal, but make no mistake that it is the employees who have generated that sale.
Looking at things differently than the prevailing wisdom of "customer first" may be useful in reminding us that the employees are the real value in the organization.
Eight Principles of Quality Management - 3 - Involvement of People
Principle 3, the involvement of people, holds that people at all levels are the essence of an organization. Certainly their involvement is critical for success. Their abilities must be fully utilized for the benefit of the organization. Their innovation and creativity will further the efforts of the organization to meet its objectives. When they are accountable for their own performance and eager to participate and contribute to continual improvement, their efforts have maximum impact.
When people will accept responsibility for their own performance, identify areas to improve, and assume responsibility for their part in solving problems and helping the organization to improve, they can be trusted to do their part in the team efforts within the organization.
Eight Principles of Quality Management - 2 - Leadership
Principle 2 of ISO's Eight Principles of Quality Management is Leadership. ISO's description is:
Leaders establish unity of purpose and direction of the organization. They should create and maintain the internal environment in which people can become fully involved in achieving the organization's objectives.
While most organizations and especially IT groups are organized in a top down and hierarchical structure, it is helpful to motivate people in ways other than the monitary and job security incentives. People have many desires other than money and to keep one's job. Most people want to feed proud of their work and the contribution they are making to the organization's goals.
Ultimately, the goal is to have each employee understand the company objectives and be motivated towards helping the company achieve these objectives. Among those employees then, leadership must organize the efforts of those people in a way the maximizes the impact of their combined efforts. In this scenario, the product of the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts. Leadership establishes the vision for the company's future, sets goals and targets, and creates the environment that influences the ultimate capability of the organization to succeed and excel.
Trust is a very powerful factor, with both employees and customers. It motivates people conciously and sub-conciously towards different inclinations. When an environment has been created where employees can trust the organization, it will greatly influence their dedication to contributing to the overall objectives.
Fear is also powerful, and somewhat of a contradication in that it is said to be harmful, but is commonly used in many facets of life for many reasons, including as a motivator. Sometimes as a 'last resort' to force allegiance, but ultimately may or may not be in the best interests of the organization. Clearly, many workers in difficult and hightly fearful environments are ultimately not producing as well as they could. While they may outwardly appear dedicated, there are many ways to secretly underperform out of a sense of fear or mistrust with one's co-workers or leaders.
Leaders establish the environment everyone works in, and clearly set the tone for the organization.
Eight Principles of Quality Management - 1 - Customer Focus
Value, as defined by Wikipedia, is an assumption upon which implementation can be extrapolated.
Within IT, things tend to be organized by projects and implementations, but the most value is created when these efforts are directly focused toward organizational goals. It is helpful for IT, or any service organization to have at its core, a set of values that is clearly articulated by management and embedded in the organizational culture.
An excellent guide is the eight Quality Management Principles from the ISO standards.
- Customer focus
- Leadership
- Involvement of people
- Process approach
- System approach to management
- Continual improvement
- Factual approach to decision making
- Mutually beneficial supplier relationships
You can see that these are managerial and not technical principles. It is very helpful to separate this completely from any technical implementation details, such as certain technology choices or architectural decisions, so we are not locked in to a particular implementation.
When these principles are formally established in the organization, the efforts must also tie to these principles.
1. Customer Focus. Customer focus begins by recognizing that the organization exists to serve its customers. This principle is talked about, but not always followed. The organization should strive to exceed customer expectations. The customer loyalty gained is the foundation for a longer relationship and repeat business. The organization must set customer expectations appropriately, then tie its activities directly to customer needs and expectations.
Measurement of customer satisfaction is very important, as is prompt action on the results, and finally, managing the customer relationship should be systematic and consistent across the customer base.
ITIL process model
Working with client companies to improve their IT
Recently, I have had the opportunity to compare two very different scenarios that consultants may find themselves with a client. One, where interaction with a client is at a lower level, and consultants are brought in to accomplish some task. This is more of a staff augmentation role, where the job may be to complete an IT project. Access to senior IT management is limited or non-existent. The other, a more typical management consulting situation, where consultants have access to (are consulting to) executive management. From the consultant's perspective, it's easy to see why the latter is preferable, but it also provides a greater chance for ultimate success. Eliminating the layers of management means clear communication, of expectations - which must be clear for the consultant to be able to deliver for the client, and status - which helps the client ensure that progress is being made. After working in both environments, the dynamic is so different that there is a sizeable difference in what ultimately gets delivered to the client.
The importance of people
The Effective IT organization is an extension of the effective business. Certainly the IT org will inherit certain aspects of the business culture, good and bad. The IT groups that are part of an effective overall business should thrive, leveraging those successful management practices that have caused the business to succeed.
In less fortunate environments, where inefficiency, chaos, and hidden agends are common, the business can never realize the full benefit of their IT investment. IT can add value in two ways, driving revenues and reducing operational cost. This is essentially done by people, technology is only a tool. The best management teams will be able to cut through the hype and get the most results for their IT dollars.
