Payson Hall is a consulting project manager for Catalysis Group, Inc. in Sacramento, California. Payson consults on project management issues and teaches project management. Email Payson at [email protected]. Follow him on twitter at @paysonhall.
In games like Everquest, World of Warcraft, or Diablo there are significant milestones when you accumulate enough experience to “go up a level”. It’s always rewarding to watch a project manager do that in real life.
At the beginning of our careers, we know a little bit of theory and have a little bit of practice but worry that the “adults” around us are going to embarrass us when they realize we don’t know everything about everything.
Projects should have clearly defined goals, schedule targets, and resource allocations. When projects are described as “ongoing” that is often a red flag suggesting that either this isn’t a project, or it is not being well-managed.
No one likes process for process’s sake. Most of us are naturally resistant to change. Modifying standards or processes is an organizational change task. How do we encourage people to embrace change?
The role of IT professionals is to help users get the most value from their systems. If IT systems aren’t working efficiently or correctly, it isn’t just an “IT Problem” and the nice folks in IT can’t solve it effectively without user participation.
IT managers often begin their careers as engineers, problem solvers, and innovators. If you are a technical person who aspires to a management role you must learn to embrace and work with budget and priority constraints.
