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Communication skills often trump computer savvy when colleges go looking for tech-staff members. But sometimes hiring the guy who only talks to machines is a good move. Scott Carlson and Warren Arbogast list qualities to look for in the applicant pool.
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Looks like there is more options for google and blackberries.
October 30, 2008
links for 2008-10-30
October 21, 2008
links for 2008-10-21
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October 20, 2008
links for 2008-10-20
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This is a good report as it provides a comparison point of the state of technology on college/university campuses. Worth reading with a critical eye as with any report of its type.
Received My 3×5 Index Card in the Mail Today.
Funny coincidence today, the day that I return to the office from day 2 of NERCOMP’s IT Manager Series, I received the note card I sent to myself at day 1 of the series.
The card was to force us to check in with myself about a goal set during the during one of the sessions on that first day. My card asks -
How well have you shifted your communication strategies to meet the communication styles/needs of the people your work with?
The answer is – I’m not sure. I have spent a lot of time on talking about communication, what is being done, what we want to convey, what we need to learn, how to be inclusive, etc..But have I shifted my strategies or just attacked communication from my perspective and style and not actually communicated in a manner that works for the various communication styles and information needs of those I work with.
I will need to think about this a bit. – Any constructive criticism from the peanut gallery?
October 16, 2008
Reflections on Budgeting and Finance Session
We are about half way through the budget and finance section and my mind is about full so I am checking out for a minute or two to post a few reflections on my forming beliefs on how to manage the user services budget.
First – The story of where the money is and how it is spent is more important to me than the numbers when discussing budget. This gives me the context of how to make choices between project requests. It also gives others the context for what is happening with the budget and why it was choosen to spend it in such a manner.
Secondly – Numbers do matter as I am the steward of this portion of the college’s budget I need to be prudent in the expenditure of the funds the college entrusts to me. I need to make the decisions about the budget to impact learning, professional growth, professional accomplishments, and generally position the college for the future. This means spending wisely and cautiously but not always choosing the cheapest option (there is a reason that it is so cheap).
Third – I need to continue to develop an awareness of expenditures to make sure the money is used consistently throughout the year to minimze the perception of a spending frenzy at the end of the fiscal year. For example the maintence and repair budget is one that is hard to predict from year to year whether or not the budget will be tapped at year’s end or if there will be a remainder. I think having a list of important (but not critical) projects that could be completed with these funds is important because then I can tell the story of why the project was planned and necessary project should funds become available and not a frivolity purchased with “free year-end” money.
This is a clear area that I need to grow into as it it news to me but I have good examples at my institution which is fortunate. Suggestions and tips are appreciated as I am still working out this part of my managerial philosophy.
Work Breakdown Structure
We are moving to the next segment of the project management session.
Dwight made the point of this is something that most skimp on but is something where the time and energy will pay off.
Start with major categories of work and then break it down into tasks. It is so important as it allows you (and others) to know what needs to get done and if you are on task. I bet people skip this step as they “know” what needs to happen and they will save time. Much the same way that teachers (new and old) skip lesson planning.
Breaking down the task of assessment/e-portfolio project
Starting with a brainstorming session of all of the work that needs to get done.
Following the brainstorming try to arrange big buckets to assemble the tasks into.
The bigger buckets for this project were determined to be
- Project Management
- Infrastructure
- Training
- Support
- Communication
From this point you would need to work out if their are sub-buckets and then organize tasks under that and you then move on to the project scheduling.
dotproject.net is a free online tool (others are MS Project and Basecamp)
Which pieces of a tool are important
- Ability to Monitor Tasks
- Gantt views of a project
- Critical Paths
- Inputs for Multiple Teams
- Dependencies
- Resources assigned to tasks
Above all it is important to be able to show the project in “picture” format to the sponsor (which is normally at an executive level)
As project manager you need to be intimately involved in the project management software the question is how much do and who do you trust to have the add/modify/delete. I think this is a floating line as team members and projects require different levels of authority/control/support depending on the circumstances and their role in the project.
New Technology Jargon – Swag
SWAG
S – Silly
W – Willed-
A – Assed
G – Guesses
These are rough ballpark estimates of costs and time used at the beginning of a project to avoid the sink hole that eats up time before it starts.
Thinking About the Project Plan
Knowing your audience/team is paramount in developing a project plan.
In a project plan you should outline -
- Project Goal and Objective
- Sponsor -
- Stakeholder -
- Timeline – this normally is a killer of projects. This goes with what ethan and I are talking about with deadlines are a project manager’s friend.
- Resources Required
- Deliverables
- Decision making
- Assumptions
- Risks
- Business process changes
- Project manager
- Project team
- Budget
- Signature
Your project plan is an official document but it is a work in process.
While it is important to know the details of each tenant of a project plan. It is also of paramount importance to know thy self and accomplish your project planning within the culture of your organization and your style as a manager/leader.
Having a good relationship with consituents seems to overcome a lot of the personal/political organizational stuff of project planning. – (aside – We need to get people out in the departments to get face time outside of of fixing problems. How to do this?)
Live from Norwood; It’s Project Management with Dwight Fischer
The starting point is that understanding principles of project management is different than implimenting good project management techniques. Every project is different and has its own set of problems and variables.
Some thoughts from Dwight’s presentation.
- A lot of IT projects come from the needs of others – This makes sense as Technology Services are a service to others on campus. Typically it falls to IT to manage the process and project this also makes sense as Tech folk know the most about technology but what about the cultural part of the project.
- The life cycle of enterprise level technology is shortening.
- Framing the project and developing a good plan is a starting point as it give people a road map of what needs to get done to check of a project.
- How important is it to have a 30 sec speech on each of the projects you work on?
- A project is a temporary endeavor under taken to create a unique product or service.
- Someone is always in charge. It may be that the person who is in charge needs to be reminder they are in charge so they can take on the leadership role. (bottom up projects)
- Project management is about changing behaviors (need to think about this as part of the web help desk implementation).
- Knowing why projects fail is important to know as it helps you understand what needs to be laid out in the project plan.
- It is important to know what you are responsible for in the project. Are you responsible for total success or just successful implementation. This comes down to the issue of who is the sponsor or initiator of the project.
- A good charter process is going to tease out more questions and key points that need to be resolve.
Layers of Project Management
- Managing Self – understanding of ones role in the organization and how to organize the information and tasks you are responsible for
- Manage Process or Project – manage a single project
- Manage Multiple Projects – as you become a leader/manager you are probably at this level
- Manage Exex Attn & Decisions – When you are good at project management you get the attention of the top level administrators and thusly, their projects.
Reasons for Project Failure -
- Failure to align project with organizational objectives
- poor scope
- unrealistic expectation
- lack of executive sponsorship
- lack of project management
- inability to move beyond the individual and personality conflicts.
October 13, 2008
Weezer Video on Yahoo Music.
I am posting this video as I came across it tonight and I actually watched the whole thing thanks to Yahoo Music.
I like it because Weezer reminds me of my brother. And now that the lead singer has a ’stache, I am sure that my brother will grow his again.
