Read Online IT Manager's Handbook: Getting Your New Job Done by Bill Holtsnider, Brian D. Jaffe - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Bill Holtsnider, Brian D. Jaffe
Tags: General, Computers, Business & Economics, Information Management, Information Technology, Enterprise Applications, Databases, Networking
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software, and services, and all that buying generally goes through a formal procurement process. In some organizations, IT purchases go through the company’s general Procurement group. In other organizations, IT purchases may be done directly by the IT team. If the former, you’ll want to form a strong relationship with the Procurement group to make sure your orders are handled quickly and accurately. If the latter, find out how your own procurement process operates.
• Legal: With that large budget and all that purchasing come a lot of paperwork and contracts with an awful lot of legalese. Whether it’s a maintenance contract or a volume agreement with a vendor, you’ll be working with the company’s Legal department to wade through it all.
• Audit: In all likelihood, especially if yours is a publicly traded company or if you work in a heavily regulated industry (e.g., finance, health care), you’ll be doing a lot of work with your internal audit team, sometimes referred to as the Risk Management group. This is a result of the ever-increasing scrutiny and demand for integrity in the IT professional in recent times. Chapter 8, Security and Compliance on page 205 details some of the topics that may have you working very closely with your Audit team.
Quick Introductory Meetings
Introductory meetings can be as short as 10 minutes or as long as an hour (usually it’s dependent on how much either of you enjoys talking). You can start off by saying up front that you don’t have a particular agenda and that you’re simply in the process of meeting key people in the company to establish relationships. Ideally, it’s best if you can go into these meetings with some background; for example, perhaps recent experiences (either good or bad) that this individual or department has had with IT or upcoming projects you know you’ll be working on together.
More than likely, the people you meet with will ask you about your background, how you like your new role so far, and similar questions. They’ll probably be reasonably honest, but polite, about their opinions of IT. As you meet with all the different people, you may begin to see a pattern emerge that tells you what kind of reputation your department has in the organization. This information can prove to be very valuable in figuring out where the strong and weak spots are.
Human Resource Issues
In short order, you’ll start to learn about the HR problems that you’ll be facing. Some you may have known about, others you may sense by intuition, but in all likelihood most of them will be brought directly to you, perhaps by your staff, the HR department, your boss and peers, and maybe even from the user community. Chapter 2, Managing Your IT Team on page 31 , has further discussion about this subject.
Some of your staff will be delighted to bring their pet issues to you, in hopes that a new manager will finally take care of things. Some things to be on the lookout for are:
•Staff who are unhappy with their job, title, or salary
•Those who are unhappy with their cubicle or office
•Employees who think they are being treated unfairly compared to others
•Issues of racial or sexual discrimination
•Staff who think some of their coworkers aren’t pulling their weight
•Individuals who feel their contributions aren’t being recognized
•Employees who feel that they should be much further along in their career given their experience, education, certifications, etc.
•Coworkers who simply can’t get along
As you become aware of these issues, it’s important that you listen objectively and effectively. Repeating what someone has said in your own words works well since it shows them that you heard what they said. Ask questions about the situation and take good notes about what you’re being told.
Soon, Later, and Tomorrow: When Should You Address Issues
Some issues may not require much follow-up aside from continued observation. For example, if an employee says he
• Legal: With that large budget and all that purchasing come a lot of paperwork and contracts with an awful lot of legalese. Whether it’s a maintenance contract or a volume agreement with a vendor, you’ll be working with the company’s Legal department to wade through it all.
• Audit: In all likelihood, especially if yours is a publicly traded company or if you work in a heavily regulated industry (e.g., finance, health care), you’ll be doing a lot of work with your internal audit team, sometimes referred to as the Risk Management group. This is a result of the ever-increasing scrutiny and demand for integrity in the IT professional in recent times. Chapter 8, Security and Compliance on page 205 details some of the topics that may have you working very closely with your Audit team.
Quick Introductory Meetings
Introductory meetings can be as short as 10 minutes or as long as an hour (usually it’s dependent on how much either of you enjoys talking). You can start off by saying up front that you don’t have a particular agenda and that you’re simply in the process of meeting key people in the company to establish relationships. Ideally, it’s best if you can go into these meetings with some background; for example, perhaps recent experiences (either good or bad) that this individual or department has had with IT or upcoming projects you know you’ll be working on together.
More than likely, the people you meet with will ask you about your background, how you like your new role so far, and similar questions. They’ll probably be reasonably honest, but polite, about their opinions of IT. As you meet with all the different people, you may begin to see a pattern emerge that tells you what kind of reputation your department has in the organization. This information can prove to be very valuable in figuring out where the strong and weak spots are.
Human Resource Issues
In short order, you’ll start to learn about the HR problems that you’ll be facing. Some you may have known about, others you may sense by intuition, but in all likelihood most of them will be brought directly to you, perhaps by your staff, the HR department, your boss and peers, and maybe even from the user community. Chapter 2, Managing Your IT Team on page 31 , has further discussion about this subject.
Some of your staff will be delighted to bring their pet issues to you, in hopes that a new manager will finally take care of things. Some things to be on the lookout for are:
•Staff who are unhappy with their job, title, or salary
•Those who are unhappy with their cubicle or office
•Employees who think they are being treated unfairly compared to others
•Issues of racial or sexual discrimination
•Staff who think some of their coworkers aren’t pulling their weight
•Individuals who feel their contributions aren’t being recognized
•Employees who feel that they should be much further along in their career given their experience, education, certifications, etc.
•Coworkers who simply can’t get along
As you become aware of these issues, it’s important that you listen objectively and effectively. Repeating what someone has said in your own words works well since it shows them that you heard what they said. Ask questions about the situation and take good notes about what you’re being told.
Soon, Later, and Tomorrow: When Should You Address Issues
Some issues may not require much follow-up aside from continued observation. For example, if an employee says he
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