To Lead #3

I read a hand out today which had around 10 points on how to be a successful IT manager. Here are the points i felt are important.

How to become a great IT manager

IT is not only the technology or engineering; its is an art in great. Most IT activities though very complex to handle are desk managed compared to other disciplines which requires extensive filed or labour orientation.
The following suggestions can help you be a great IT manager...

1. Spend time and money developing your people
   IT is a constantly changing field and many IT workers love to learn and aqcuire new skills. But not all find the learning enjoyable its your job to get appropiate training and encouragement to your people to learn new things.
2. Get to know what your staff really does
   You must understand your staff's normal work routine and familiarize youself with each person's responsibilities.
3. Don't do it for them
   If you have moved in from an IT worker role to one that of a manager you must remember that even though you may be better then your staff you should not take the reins in your hands too quickly. This helps your empolyees to grow and learn themselves.
4. Know the business and make sure they know you
   You must understand the company's vision and ensure that business administrators understand what IT does for them.
5. Treat communication as a busy, fast-moving, two-way street
   Information should be allowed to flow freely between you and your workers. Dont keep anything to yourself unless its absolutly confidential. Something that is not relevent to you might be helpful for your worker.
   
6. Encourage everyone to work as a team
   IT projects a cannot be completed succesfully without good team work. Make sure your employees get well along as a team.
7. Provide feedback regualarly
   It is always said that negative feedback is better then no feedback. You must be constantly in touch with your workers to make sure they know that you understand whats going on.
8. Hire well
   Hiring poorly can be more costly than not hiring at all. Make sure you the person you hire can adequately integrate with the team.
   
9. Understand best IT practices
   As an IT manager you must be familiar with good IT practices like Disaster Recovery, Service oriented Architecture, Security etc. Make sure you have regular assessments.
10. Be a good project manager
    And last but not the least make sure that you yourself are a good employee and work well on projects. If you havent had any formal project management training, find and invest in a good program.
    

Tags: IT Manager, Project Manager