Loading ...Four Tips for IT Managers: Go Lateral with IT Projects, Not Top Down
(2010-11-09) – Contributed by Dennis McCafferty
http://www.smartertechnology.com – SmarterTechnology Ziff Davis Enterprise Holdings Inc Generated: 23 January, 2011, 14:36
The more you plan and communicate a project’s worth in advance, the better the results, according to authors of a recent book on project management, Lateral Approach to Managing Projects.
At a prior organization where I worked, IT managers and their teams generally operated in a “We’ll supply it/you’ll use it” capacity, aka a “top down” approach. Whether it was a new version of a writing/editing/designing program, a communications system or our organization’s online assets, there simply wasn’t much exchange between those
who provided the end result and those who had to use it.
Case in point: One day, we were told that we had a new e-mail spam filter, and that the spam filter had actually already been installed and operating for two weeks. This came as a surprise to us, since the IT department never mentioned anything up until then. We were walked through the access procedures and then discovered that the new “improved”
spam filter actually contained about three-fourth spam and one-fourth “mission-critical” valid e-mails that remained unanswered for that two-week period. Accessing the filter was also a tedious, multilayered process. The resulting reaction was predictable: initial anger over the lack of communications about the tool’s launch and the missed e-mails; a continued inability for the new filter to distinguish legit e-mail from spam; a failure to explain why a system that required a multilayered access process was an “improvement” over self-filtering of spam that didn’t require any
such steps. Eventually, the IT team allowed for us to opt out if we wanted to. So co-workers and I did just that. Project fail.
Given the wealth of these and similar experiences within organizations, the book “Lateral Approach to Managing Projects” (Lateral Approach Publishing) provides essential guidance to help managers avoid these outcomes. “Lateral” here essentially translates to integration. No, not the “IT” translation of integration. But the integrating of communications and leadership qualities on the part of managers throughout the organization from the project’s beginning to well after its completion.
Authors Ho Wing Sit and Ling Bundgaard weave hypothetical scenarios with concrete, clear action steps to provide needed insight. Sit is the chief strategy officer of Accela, a government-software company. Bungaard is a longtime Intel corporate executive who is now an international business consultant.
Here are four “best practices” from their book for IT managers to consider:
Realize that project management is about much more than project management. Your IT teams and customers expect you to be more than simply a custodian of a project—making sure all deadlines are met and specs delivered. They’re looking for a leader. What kind of long-term vision are you conveying? How much time do you spend hovering and micromanaging as opposed to motivating, providing concrete direction and then letting your IT teams take flight? When you’re in a room with employers or customers, do you convey doubt and indecision, or confidence and authority? There are really just three standards that determine a project’s success or failure: the abilities to meet deadlines, create value and obtain acceptance. Focus on those, filter out all other distractions, and you’ll emerge as a project leader instead of a “bus driver.”
Understand that project “acceptance” is a gray area. After the launch of an IT initiative, users who are impacted may accept the results by adapting the new technology. But that doesn’t mean they’ve accepted it as an unqualified success. Follow-through is needed to determine whether the resulting product stands up to predetermined, measurable expectations. Find out if it’s really being used effectively, or if it simply sits on the desktop. Do users embrace the product, or do they simply put up with it?
Define “value” from the beginning. It’s not enough to simply provide an upgrade or a brand-new system because it’s the latest or greatest. It needs to accomplish a business objective. An IT project manager must work with teams to establish these objectives—whether they represent cost savings, increased revenue stream, greater efficiency, better use of existing data, etc.—and clearly designate how the achievement of these objectives will be measured incrementally along the way and post-launch. Communicate clearly to eventual users what the intended value is throughout the process. Speak in their language too: Most end users are not “techies,” so don’t blindside them with jargon. Don’t over-promise either. If you raise expectations unrealistically, the project is bound to disappoint.
Educate your end users. You and your IT team simply can’t create something, say “voila!” and figuratively dump it on the end user’s desk. Make sure you walk end users through the process of effectively maximizing use of the new tool. Answer all of their questions. The more education you provide upfront, the less you and your teams will be called to
put out fires later.
