+1 for Manager Tools. On Tue, Jan 7, 2014 at 8:13 AM, Evan Pettrey <[email protected]> wrote: > I forgot to add one of the other great tools I've utilized which is the > Manager Tools podcast (and its sister podcast, Career Tools). > > I highly recommend listening to these, almost every single podcast has > something of good value to offer. If you have a long drive or take the train > into work, this is the perfect time to listen to them! > > > > > > On Tue, Jan 7, 2014 at 10:58 AM, Evan Pettrey <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Hi Peter, >> >> I've been there and in many ways I'm still there! Just like our technical >> challenges required us to be constantly learning, so too, do our managerial >> challenges. The good news for you is that you've already taken the most >> important step toward getting better which is to realize where you are >> lacking and making an effort to make conscious improvements. >> >> There are four levels of understanding anything, in this case how to be a >> leader: >> >> Unconsciously Incompetent - you don't know that you don't know how to lead >> a team >> >> Consciously Incompetent - you know that you don't know how to lead a team >> >> Consciously Competent - you know how to lead a team but need to closely >> concentrate on what you're doing to accomplish this >> >> Unconsciously Competent - you are such a good leader that it now comes >> naturally without even thinking about it! >> >> It sounds like you're on somewhere between step 2 and 3 and are willing to >> put in the hard work to get to step 3 and beyond, which is a great place to >> be. >> >> >> With that out of the way, there are a few things that have helped me >> dramatically since moving into a management role: >> >> Project Management - Earlier in my career I worked for a company who was >> very strict in their processes and we even obtained our ISO 20000 and >> CMMI:Level 3 certifications. This helped me a lot as I was forced to learn >> what is the "certified" way to manage tasks. However, what I found was that >> much of it overcomplicated things and I really need to adapt what I learned >> with these hardened processes actually worked and develop this into >> something that could allow my team to operate at the Unconsciously Competent >> level. >> >> To do this, we started using a Kanban Board (we use >> http://www.kanbanpad.com which is really helpful and free). Each of my >> employees has their own task board and larger projects also have their own >> task board. >> >> An employee task board includes 4 columns: >> >> To-Do - Work that is in queue but has not been started >> In Progress - exactly what it says, work that is currently in progress but >> has not been completed >> Verification - this is the testing phase for our work which has to be >> verified as working by myself or our team peers >> Completed - work that is finished moves into this queue and each Monday is >> moved to the "Finished" bucket where we can quickly and easily look back on >> the year in review to determine what was accomplished >> >> >> In addition to project management, there have been a few books in >> particular that have helped me as a leader: >> >> The Phoenix Project (and The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement) - >> These two books really help you take a step back and look at the big >> picture. While The Phoenix Project is written specifically for DevOps I >> think The Goal is the better of the two books but I recommend reading both >> >> The Effective Executive - Written by Peter Drucker in the 80s this is >> still widely considered one of the best books any leader can read today. It >> will teach you to think like a leader, how to manage your time effectively, >> and how to accomplish all your goals >> >> >> >> There are a number of other things that have been immensely helpful to me >> as I've been transitioning from a technical resource to a leader but what >> I've listed above were the things that really helped me start moving in the >> right direction. >> >> If you have any specific questions, I'll be happy to discuss. >> >> >> >> Best, >> Evan >> >> >> On Tue, Jan 7, 2014 at 10:15 AM, Peter Grace <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> Hello list, >>> >>> Well, I've been an IT Director for about half a year now. In this time I >>> have learned quite a bit more about what it takes to be a manager and the >>> amount of self discipline it requires to keep all of the pieces on the >>> chessboard moving safely. >>> >>> After 6 months, my self evaluation is I suck at being in charge of an IT >>> department, and by gosh I want to fix that. I am asking for your opinions >>> on all manners of self-help: certification ideas, books that have helped you >>> "grok" how a department should work properly, ways to improve process >>> management, things of this nature. I want to be the best I can be and I >>> know that a lot of the people on this list have "been there, done that" and >>> have lived to tell the tale. I'd love to hear yours. >>> >>> I struggle since the place where I work still has a lot of startup >>> mentality but they're getting to the size where we need to start making it >>> "enterprisey" to keep things moving smoothly. A lot of the people in the >>> organization feel like making things more enterprise-like means that they'll >>> be mired in paperwork and mucky-muck and it's tough to break that opinion. >>> What are your experiences? >>> >>> Thanks in advance, >>> >>> Pete >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Discuss mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> https://lists.lopsa.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss >>> This list provided by the League of Professional System Administrators >>> http://lopsa.org/ >>> >> > > > _______________________________________________ > Discuss mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.lopsa.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss > This list provided by the League of Professional System Administrators > http://lopsa.org/ >
-- Perfection is just a word I use occasionally with mustard. --Atom Powers-- _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list [email protected] https://lists.lopsa.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss This list provided by the League of Professional System Administrators http://lopsa.org/
