Who Should Attend

• IT/IS Managers 

• IT/IS Directors 

• IT/IS Officers 

• IT/IS Project Managers 

• IT/IS Team/Project Leads

You Will Discover

Traditionally managers in IT/IS departments have been promoted from among the technical ranks.  They are usually people with education and advanced training in various technical disciplines who have demonstrated excellent performance.  They have seldom had much exposure to management training and the extensive research on managerial best practices.  They typically are great tacticians and not strategists.  They have focused more on achieving technical excellence than on communication and business skills.  This recipe for poor management is well known in the Information Technology/Information Services world.  With all of the challenges facing IT/IS today and the pressures to improve performance, IT managers today must develop an new tool set, heavy on the “soft” skills of delegating, motivating, coaching and communicating.  Effective IT/IS managers have always developed these skills.  Today, everyone must be effective.  This seminar introduces the basic management tool set and adapts it for work with the unique personalities of technical and professional staff.

Seminar Outline:

1. What is the management environment in today’s IT/IS department?

·         Handling the challenges of globalization, outsourcing, Sarbanes-Oxley

·         Understanding the new requirements for managing people in IT effectively

2. How do IT/IS technical and professional staff differ from other employees?

·         Understanding our own personalities and those of IT/IS staff

·         Applying an understanding of personality to IT/IS staff

·         Understanding the differences and similarities of IT/IS staff and other employees

3. How do you recruit, select, train and retain talented IT staff?

·         Defining the talent you need vs. the skills

·         Recruiting, interviewing and selecting for talent in IT/IS staff

·         Understanding how to train and retain talented IT/IS staff

4. How do we plan, manage and evaluate IT staff performance?

·         Basing individual performance plans on departmental plans

·         Developing individual performance plans with IT/IS staff

·         Evaluating individual staff performance

·         Continuously improving staff performance

5. How do you manage IT staff day-to-day performance?

·         Applying the power tools of delegation, motivation and coaching to IT/IS staff

·         Reviewing progress and providing ongoing feedback

·         Communicating effectively and developing effective communication skills in IT/IS staff

6. How do we manage conflict and encourage teamwork?

·         Using conflict constructively and effectively

·         Applying the Problem Solving model to deal with conflict

·         Building teams of IT/IS staff effectively

7. How do we plan for managing individual performance in a changing environment?

·         Using performance planning tools to respond to change effectively

·         Developing flexibility in IT/IS staff

8. How do we manage the new realities of contractors, remote and outsourced teams?

·         Managing contractors as part of a team

·         Communicating effectively and efficiently with far-flung IT/IS teams

·         Managing outsourced functions and staff

9. How do we integrate the best practices available for IT/IS staff effectiveness?

·         Establishing infrastructure without bureaucracy for effective results

·         Applying ISO 9000:2000, Six Sigma, and other internationally recognized principles with IT/IS staff

·         Using current models of software quality effectively