Help for the Newly Minted Project Manager

Congratulations! Due to the recent [acquisition / divestiture, market expansion / contraction, organizational realignments, other] you have been identified as a Critical Resource for this particular bit of business process change. And, to help us implement these changes, you have been named the Project Manager for this effort. So now you are a Project Manager (PM, for short); what does that mean? You may be vaguely aware that people get certifications for this sort of thing, or that Microsoft sells…

IT and the Business are Closer Than You Think

A few passing observations from the last few months; contrary to what many (IT/business) folks believe, they are just as good or just as bad in managing processes and projects as their counterparts in (business/IT). Problem Resolution is Everybody's Problem A few weeks ago I was discussing issues that came up with one of our systems, and the team was a bit dismayed that the user community was still finding errors (we should be trapping for that stuff!) I pointed…

When is a project a Project? How to prevent the buildup of backlogged requests

I just wrote something up (internal wiki) that I thought was common knowledge, but I think it's one of those soft-skills things that makes total sense once you hear about it - but somebody needs to tell you. I think of one of the reasons that IT (at times) intimidates the business - or why IT gets the cold shoulder when it comes to process improvement efforts - is that we can get a bit too wrapped up in the…

Customer Service, Roles and Responsibilities

25 September, 2004
Change Management
0 Comments

This week the marketing group is getting a bit frustrated, because we're having a difference of opinion about service levels, resource availability, access to databases and servers - all exacerbated by the new owners handing down edicts for reporting requirements that are absolutely taking priority over all other work, no matter what expectations may have been set in the past. Observation #1: Is the term "Customer Service" applicable to IT? Some of the pushback I get comes in the form…