\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n
\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n
\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

My first 90 days as a CIO by David Gee<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - Pitfalls to be avoided","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-pitfalls-to-be-avoided","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1075","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1071,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:43","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

The First 90 Days in a New CIO Position by Steve Gallagher<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first 90 days as a CIO by David Gee<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - Pitfalls to be avoided","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-pitfalls-to-be-avoided","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1075","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1071,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:43","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

Some of the internet articles<\/strong> I mentioned in the first part of my article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First 90 Days in a New CIO Position by Steve Gallagher<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first 90 days as a CIO by David Gee<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - Pitfalls to be avoided","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-pitfalls-to-be-avoided","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1075","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1071,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:43","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

Watch carefully for the above pitfalls. Many a new CIO has fallen into one of these and been dragged under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the internet articles<\/strong> I mentioned in the first part of my article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First 90 Days in a New CIO Position by Steve Gallagher<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first 90 days as a CIO by David Gee<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - Pitfalls to be avoided","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-pitfalls-to-be-avoided","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1075","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1071,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:43","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

The result of this reasoning is that you tend to overbalance to the other side in your new job and become too rigorous. You have too many meetings. You ask for and send too many reports. This will drive your team, your manager and your peers crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch carefully for the above pitfalls. Many a new CIO has fallen into one of these and been dragged under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the internet articles<\/strong> I mentioned in the first part of my article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First 90 Days in a New CIO Position by Steve Gallagher<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first 90 days as a CIO by David Gee<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - Pitfalls to be avoided","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-pitfalls-to-be-avoided","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1075","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1071,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:43","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

This is a trap that affects most of us. You remember some of the things that feel that you could have done better in your previous job. And most of the time your reasoning will be that the things went wrong because you were not \"rigorous\" enough. You did not stick to processes fully. You did not insist that a project report should be sent every day! You did not talk to your stakeholders often enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result of this reasoning is that you tend to overbalance to the other side in your new job and become too rigorous. You have too many meetings. You ask for and send too many reports. This will drive your team, your manager and your peers crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch carefully for the above pitfalls. Many a new CIO has fallen into one of these and been dragged under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the internet articles<\/strong> I mentioned in the first part of my article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First 90 Days in a New CIO Position by Steve Gallagher<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first 90 days as a CIO by David Gee<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - Pitfalls to be avoided","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-pitfalls-to-be-avoided","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1075","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1071,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:43","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

5. The \"second project\" syndrome.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a trap that affects most of us. You remember some of the things that feel that you could have done better in your previous job. And most of the time your reasoning will be that the things went wrong because you were not \"rigorous\" enough. You did not stick to processes fully. You did not insist that a project report should be sent every day! You did not talk to your stakeholders often enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result of this reasoning is that you tend to overbalance to the other side in your new job and become too rigorous. You have too many meetings. You ask for and send too many reports. This will drive your team, your manager and your peers crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch carefully for the above pitfalls. Many a new CIO has fallen into one of these and been dragged under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the internet articles<\/strong> I mentioned in the first part of my article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First 90 Days in a New CIO Position by Steve Gallagher<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first 90 days as a CIO by David Gee<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - Pitfalls to be avoided","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-pitfalls-to-be-avoided","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1075","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1071,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:43","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

They say: Underpromise and overdeliver<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. The \"second project\" syndrome.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a trap that affects most of us. You remember some of the things that feel that you could have done better in your previous job. And most of the time your reasoning will be that the things went wrong because you were not \"rigorous\" enough. You did not stick to processes fully. You did not insist that a project report should be sent every day! You did not talk to your stakeholders often enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result of this reasoning is that you tend to overbalance to the other side in your new job and become too rigorous. You have too many meetings. You ask for and send too many reports. This will drive your team, your manager and your peers crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch carefully for the above pitfalls. Many a new CIO has fallen into one of these and been dragged under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the internet articles<\/strong> I mentioned in the first part of my article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First 90 Days in a New CIO Position by Steve Gallagher<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first 90 days as a CIO by David Gee<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - Pitfalls to be avoided","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-pitfalls-to-be-avoided","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1075","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1071,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:43","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

The same goes for promising to deliver projects without adequately planning for time and resources. \"We will deliver an organisational MIS in six months.\" Yeah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say: Underpromise and overdeliver<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. The \"second project\" syndrome.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a trap that affects most of us. You remember some of the things that feel that you could have done better in your previous job. And most of the time your reasoning will be that the things went wrong because you were not \"rigorous\" enough. You did not stick to processes fully. You did not insist that a project report should be sent every day! You did not talk to your stakeholders often enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result of this reasoning is that you tend to overbalance to the other side in your new job and become too rigorous. You have too many meetings. You ask for and send too many reports. This will drive your team, your manager and your peers crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch carefully for the above pitfalls. Many a new CIO has fallen into one of these and been dragged under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the internet articles<\/strong> I mentioned in the first part of my article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First 90 Days in a New CIO Position by Steve Gallagher<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first 90 days as a CIO by David Gee<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - Pitfalls to be avoided","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-pitfalls-to-be-avoided","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1075","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1071,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:43","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

Many of us fall into this trap. We talk to our stakeholders, we talk to our managers and then put together a grandiose plan that promises to deliver everything other than heaven. When you make plans and communicate this to the organisation, make sure that you can actually deliver. Many a time you will have to stick to a budget approved for the previous job-holder. And most of the money here will be to keep the lights going. Where are you going to get the money for any new things? It is important that you discuss with your manager (and maybe even the finance head) to ensure that whatever you are promising can be backed by the required budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same goes for promising to deliver projects without adequately planning for time and resources. \"We will deliver an organisational MIS in six months.\" Yeah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say: Underpromise and overdeliver<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. The \"second project\" syndrome.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a trap that affects most of us. You remember some of the things that feel that you could have done better in your previous job. And most of the time your reasoning will be that the things went wrong because you were not \"rigorous\" enough. You did not stick to processes fully. You did not insist that a project report should be sent every day! You did not talk to your stakeholders often enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result of this reasoning is that you tend to overbalance to the other side in your new job and become too rigorous. You have too many meetings. You ask for and send too many reports. This will drive your team, your manager and your peers crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch carefully for the above pitfalls. Many a new CIO has fallen into one of these and been dragged under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the internet articles<\/strong> I mentioned in the first part of my article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First 90 Days in a New CIO Position by Steve Gallagher<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first 90 days as a CIO by David Gee<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - Pitfalls to be avoided","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-pitfalls-to-be-avoided","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1075","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1071,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:43","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

4. Where's the money? <\/strong>Where's the time? <\/strong>Setting expectations that are not supported by budget and time availability<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us fall into this trap. We talk to our stakeholders, we talk to our managers and then put together a grandiose plan that promises to deliver everything other than heaven. When you make plans and communicate this to the organisation, make sure that you can actually deliver. Many a time you will have to stick to a budget approved for the previous job-holder. And most of the money here will be to keep the lights going. Where are you going to get the money for any new things? It is important that you discuss with your manager (and maybe even the finance head) to ensure that whatever you are promising can be backed by the required budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same goes for promising to deliver projects without adequately planning for time and resources. \"We will deliver an organisational MIS in six months.\" Yeah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say: Underpromise and overdeliver<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. The \"second project\" syndrome.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a trap that affects most of us. You remember some of the things that feel that you could have done better in your previous job. And most of the time your reasoning will be that the things went wrong because you were not \"rigorous\" enough. You did not stick to processes fully. You did not insist that a project report should be sent every day! You did not talk to your stakeholders often enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result of this reasoning is that you tend to overbalance to the other side in your new job and become too rigorous. You have too many meetings. You ask for and send too many reports. This will drive your team, your manager and your peers crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch carefully for the above pitfalls. Many a new CIO has fallen into one of these and been dragged under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the internet articles<\/strong> I mentioned in the first part of my article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First 90 Days in a New CIO Position by Steve Gallagher<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first 90 days as a CIO by David Gee<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - Pitfalls to be avoided","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-pitfalls-to-be-avoided","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1075","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1071,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:43","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

Never fall into this trap. There is no easier way to lose the respect of your manager and your peers than bad-mouthing your predecessor. You may find that some of the previous job-holder's peers may talk badly of this person, but you should be careful not to stoke that fire. For one thing you may be being unfair to that person. You do not know about him\/her and his\/her working style or performance. Secondly nobody likes a bad-mouther.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Where's the money? <\/strong>Where's the time? <\/strong>Setting expectations that are not supported by budget and time availability<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us fall into this trap. We talk to our stakeholders, we talk to our managers and then put together a grandiose plan that promises to deliver everything other than heaven. When you make plans and communicate this to the organisation, make sure that you can actually deliver. Many a time you will have to stick to a budget approved for the previous job-holder. And most of the money here will be to keep the lights going. Where are you going to get the money for any new things? It is important that you discuss with your manager (and maybe even the finance head) to ensure that whatever you are promising can be backed by the required budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same goes for promising to deliver projects without adequately planning for time and resources. \"We will deliver an organisational MIS in six months.\" Yeah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say: Underpromise and overdeliver<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. The \"second project\" syndrome.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a trap that affects most of us. You remember some of the things that feel that you could have done better in your previous job. And most of the time your reasoning will be that the things went wrong because you were not \"rigorous\" enough. You did not stick to processes fully. You did not insist that a project report should be sent every day! You did not talk to your stakeholders often enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result of this reasoning is that you tend to overbalance to the other side in your new job and become too rigorous. You have too many meetings. You ask for and send too many reports. This will drive your team, your manager and your peers crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch carefully for the above pitfalls. Many a new CIO has fallen into one of these and been dragged under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the internet articles<\/strong> I mentioned in the first part of my article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First 90 Days in a New CIO Position by Steve Gallagher<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first 90 days as a CIO by David Gee<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - Pitfalls to be avoided","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-pitfalls-to-be-avoided","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1075","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1071,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:43","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Never fall into this trap. There is no easier way to lose the respect of your manager and your peers than bad-mouthing your predecessor. You may find that some of the previous job-holder's peers may talk badly of this person, but you should be careful not to stoke that fire. For one thing you may be being unfair to that person. You do not know about him\/her and his\/her working style or performance. Secondly nobody likes a bad-mouther.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Where's the money? <\/strong>Where's the time? <\/strong>Setting expectations that are not supported by budget and time availability<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us fall into this trap. We talk to our stakeholders, we talk to our managers and then put together a grandiose plan that promises to deliver everything other than heaven. When you make plans and communicate this to the organisation, make sure that you can actually deliver. Many a time you will have to stick to a budget approved for the previous job-holder. And most of the money here will be to keep the lights going. Where are you going to get the money for any new things? It is important that you discuss with your manager (and maybe even the finance head) to ensure that whatever you are promising can be backed by the required budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same goes for promising to deliver projects without adequately planning for time and resources. \"We will deliver an organisational MIS in six months.\" Yeah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say: Underpromise and overdeliver<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. The \"second project\" syndrome.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a trap that affects most of us. You remember some of the things that feel that you could have done better in your previous job. And most of the time your reasoning will be that the things went wrong because you were not \"rigorous\" enough. You did not stick to processes fully. You did not insist that a project report should be sent every day! You did not talk to your stakeholders often enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result of this reasoning is that you tend to overbalance to the other side in your new job and become too rigorous. You have too many meetings. You ask for and send too many reports. This will drive your team, your manager and your peers crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch carefully for the above pitfalls. Many a new CIO has fallen into one of these and been dragged under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the internet articles<\/strong> I mentioned in the first part of my article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First 90 Days in a New CIO Position by Steve Gallagher<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first 90 days as a CIO by David Gee<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - Pitfalls to be avoided","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-pitfalls-to-be-avoided","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1075","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1071,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:43","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

3. S\/he was no good:<\/strong> Bad mouthing previous job-holder<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Never fall into this trap. There is no easier way to lose the respect of your manager and your peers than bad-mouthing your predecessor. You may find that some of the previous job-holder's peers may talk badly of this person, but you should be careful not to stoke that fire. For one thing you may be being unfair to that person. You do not know about him\/her and his\/her working style or performance. Secondly nobody likes a bad-mouther.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Where's the money? <\/strong>Where's the time? <\/strong>Setting expectations that are not supported by budget and time availability<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us fall into this trap. We talk to our stakeholders, we talk to our managers and then put together a grandiose plan that promises to deliver everything other than heaven. When you make plans and communicate this to the organisation, make sure that you can actually deliver. Many a time you will have to stick to a budget approved for the previous job-holder. And most of the money here will be to keep the lights going. Where are you going to get the money for any new things? It is important that you discuss with your manager (and maybe even the finance head) to ensure that whatever you are promising can be backed by the required budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same goes for promising to deliver projects without adequately planning for time and resources. \"We will deliver an organisational MIS in six months.\" Yeah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say: Underpromise and overdeliver<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. The \"second project\" syndrome.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a trap that affects most of us. You remember some of the things that feel that you could have done better in your previous job. And most of the time your reasoning will be that the things went wrong because you were not \"rigorous\" enough. You did not stick to processes fully. You did not insist that a project report should be sent every day! You did not talk to your stakeholders often enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result of this reasoning is that you tend to overbalance to the other side in your new job and become too rigorous. You have too many meetings. You ask for and send too many reports. This will drive your team, your manager and your peers crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch carefully for the above pitfalls. Many a new CIO has fallen into one of these and been dragged under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the internet articles<\/strong> I mentioned in the first part of my article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First 90 Days in a New CIO Position by Steve Gallagher<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first 90 days as a CIO by David Gee<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - Pitfalls to be avoided","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-pitfalls-to-be-avoided","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1075","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1071,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:43","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

What I have learned is that no organisation is absolutely good or absolutely bad. Yes, there will be certain things that are going wrong and need to be corrected. But \"everything\" cannot be wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. S\/he was no good:<\/strong> Bad mouthing previous job-holder<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Never fall into this trap. There is no easier way to lose the respect of your manager and your peers than bad-mouthing your predecessor. You may find that some of the previous job-holder's peers may talk badly of this person, but you should be careful not to stoke that fire. For one thing you may be being unfair to that person. You do not know about him\/her and his\/her working style or performance. Secondly nobody likes a bad-mouther.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Where's the money? <\/strong>Where's the time? <\/strong>Setting expectations that are not supported by budget and time availability<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us fall into this trap. We talk to our stakeholders, we talk to our managers and then put together a grandiose plan that promises to deliver everything other than heaven. When you make plans and communicate this to the organisation, make sure that you can actually deliver. Many a time you will have to stick to a budget approved for the previous job-holder. And most of the money here will be to keep the lights going. Where are you going to get the money for any new things? It is important that you discuss with your manager (and maybe even the finance head) to ensure that whatever you are promising can be backed by the required budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same goes for promising to deliver projects without adequately planning for time and resources. \"We will deliver an organisational MIS in six months.\" Yeah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say: Underpromise and overdeliver<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. The \"second project\" syndrome.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a trap that affects most of us. You remember some of the things that feel that you could have done better in your previous job. And most of the time your reasoning will be that the things went wrong because you were not \"rigorous\" enough. You did not stick to processes fully. You did not insist that a project report should be sent every day! You did not talk to your stakeholders often enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result of this reasoning is that you tend to overbalance to the other side in your new job and become too rigorous. You have too many meetings. You ask for and send too many reports. This will drive your team, your manager and your peers crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch carefully for the above pitfalls. Many a new CIO has fallen into one of these and been dragged under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the internet articles<\/strong> I mentioned in the first part of my article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First 90 Days in a New CIO Position by Steve Gallagher<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first 90 days as a CIO by David Gee<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - Pitfalls to be avoided","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-pitfalls-to-be-avoided","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1075","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1071,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:43","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

Remember that giving vent to this feeling publicly will certainly upset your manager, especially if she has been the manager for some time. Any faults within the system will also reflect on the manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I have learned is that no organisation is absolutely good or absolutely bad. Yes, there will be certain things that are going wrong and need to be corrected. But \"everything\" cannot be wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. S\/he was no good:<\/strong> Bad mouthing previous job-holder<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Never fall into this trap. There is no easier way to lose the respect of your manager and your peers than bad-mouthing your predecessor. You may find that some of the previous job-holder's peers may talk badly of this person, but you should be careful not to stoke that fire. For one thing you may be being unfair to that person. You do not know about him\/her and his\/her working style or performance. Secondly nobody likes a bad-mouther.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Where's the money? <\/strong>Where's the time? <\/strong>Setting expectations that are not supported by budget and time availability<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us fall into this trap. We talk to our stakeholders, we talk to our managers and then put together a grandiose plan that promises to deliver everything other than heaven. When you make plans and communicate this to the organisation, make sure that you can actually deliver. Many a time you will have to stick to a budget approved for the previous job-holder. And most of the money here will be to keep the lights going. Where are you going to get the money for any new things? It is important that you discuss with your manager (and maybe even the finance head) to ensure that whatever you are promising can be backed by the required budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same goes for promising to deliver projects without adequately planning for time and resources. \"We will deliver an organisational MIS in six months.\" Yeah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say: Underpromise and overdeliver<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. The \"second project\" syndrome.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a trap that affects most of us. You remember some of the things that feel that you could have done better in your previous job. And most of the time your reasoning will be that the things went wrong because you were not \"rigorous\" enough. You did not stick to processes fully. You did not insist that a project report should be sent every day! You did not talk to your stakeholders often enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result of this reasoning is that you tend to overbalance to the other side in your new job and become too rigorous. You have too many meetings. You ask for and send too many reports. This will drive your team, your manager and your peers crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch carefully for the above pitfalls. Many a new CIO has fallen into one of these and been dragged under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the internet articles<\/strong> I mentioned in the first part of my article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First 90 Days in a New CIO Position by Steve Gallagher<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first 90 days as a CIO by David Gee<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - Pitfalls to be avoided","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-pitfalls-to-be-avoided","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1075","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1071,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:43","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

Many new CIOs fall into this trap. Early on you only see the organisation superficially and some of the things that may be going wrong at the surface may give you the impression that things are wrong deep-down. This may not necessarily be so. Before you judge what is right and what is wrong you will need to study the situation and come to proper conclusions. This is why I have emphasised the point that you can start detailed planning only after the 90 day knowledge gathering phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember that giving vent to this feeling publicly will certainly upset your manager, especially if she has been the manager for some time. Any faults within the system will also reflect on the manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I have learned is that no organisation is absolutely good or absolutely bad. Yes, there will be certain things that are going wrong and need to be corrected. But \"everything\" cannot be wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. S\/he was no good:<\/strong> Bad mouthing previous job-holder<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Never fall into this trap. There is no easier way to lose the respect of your manager and your peers than bad-mouthing your predecessor. You may find that some of the previous job-holder's peers may talk badly of this person, but you should be careful not to stoke that fire. For one thing you may be being unfair to that person. You do not know about him\/her and his\/her working style or performance. Secondly nobody likes a bad-mouther.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Where's the money? <\/strong>Where's the time? <\/strong>Setting expectations that are not supported by budget and time availability<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us fall into this trap. We talk to our stakeholders, we talk to our managers and then put together a grandiose plan that promises to deliver everything other than heaven. When you make plans and communicate this to the organisation, make sure that you can actually deliver. Many a time you will have to stick to a budget approved for the previous job-holder. And most of the money here will be to keep the lights going. Where are you going to get the money for any new things? It is important that you discuss with your manager (and maybe even the finance head) to ensure that whatever you are promising can be backed by the required budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same goes for promising to deliver projects without adequately planning for time and resources. \"We will deliver an organisational MIS in six months.\" Yeah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say: Underpromise and overdeliver<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. The \"second project\" syndrome.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a trap that affects most of us. You remember some of the things that feel that you could have done better in your previous job. And most of the time your reasoning will be that the things went wrong because you were not \"rigorous\" enough. You did not stick to processes fully. You did not insist that a project report should be sent every day! You did not talk to your stakeholders often enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result of this reasoning is that you tend to overbalance to the other side in your new job and become too rigorous. You have too many meetings. You ask for and send too many reports. This will drive your team, your manager and your peers crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch carefully for the above pitfalls. Many a new CIO has fallen into one of these and been dragged under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the internet articles<\/strong> I mentioned in the first part of my article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First 90 Days in a New CIO Position by Steve Gallagher<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first 90 days as a CIO by David Gee<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - Pitfalls to be avoided","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-pitfalls-to-be-avoided","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1075","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1071,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:43","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

2 .Nothing is right here:<\/strong> Insinuating that everything is bad in the organisation and that you are here to put things right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many new CIOs fall into this trap. Early on you only see the organisation superficially and some of the things that may be going wrong at the surface may give you the impression that things are wrong deep-down. This may not necessarily be so. Before you judge what is right and what is wrong you will need to study the situation and come to proper conclusions. This is why I have emphasised the point that you can start detailed planning only after the 90 day knowledge gathering phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember that giving vent to this feeling publicly will certainly upset your manager, especially if she has been the manager for some time. Any faults within the system will also reflect on the manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I have learned is that no organisation is absolutely good or absolutely bad. Yes, there will be certain things that are going wrong and need to be corrected. But \"everything\" cannot be wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. S\/he was no good:<\/strong> Bad mouthing previous job-holder<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Never fall into this trap. There is no easier way to lose the respect of your manager and your peers than bad-mouthing your predecessor. You may find that some of the previous job-holder's peers may talk badly of this person, but you should be careful not to stoke that fire. For one thing you may be being unfair to that person. You do not know about him\/her and his\/her working style or performance. Secondly nobody likes a bad-mouther.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Where's the money? <\/strong>Where's the time? <\/strong>Setting expectations that are not supported by budget and time availability<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us fall into this trap. We talk to our stakeholders, we talk to our managers and then put together a grandiose plan that promises to deliver everything other than heaven. When you make plans and communicate this to the organisation, make sure that you can actually deliver. Many a time you will have to stick to a budget approved for the previous job-holder. And most of the money here will be to keep the lights going. Where are you going to get the money for any new things? It is important that you discuss with your manager (and maybe even the finance head) to ensure that whatever you are promising can be backed by the required budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same goes for promising to deliver projects without adequately planning for time and resources. \"We will deliver an organisational MIS in six months.\" Yeah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say: Underpromise and overdeliver<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. The \"second project\" syndrome.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a trap that affects most of us. You remember some of the things that feel that you could have done better in your previous job. And most of the time your reasoning will be that the things went wrong because you were not \"rigorous\" enough. You did not stick to processes fully. You did not insist that a project report should be sent every day! You did not talk to your stakeholders often enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result of this reasoning is that you tend to overbalance to the other side in your new job and become too rigorous. You have too many meetings. You ask for and send too many reports. This will drive your team, your manager and your peers crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch carefully for the above pitfalls. Many a new CIO has fallen into one of these and been dragged under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the internet articles<\/strong> I mentioned in the first part of my article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First 90 Days in a New CIO Position by Steve Gallagher<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first 90 days as a CIO by David Gee<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - Pitfalls to be avoided","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-pitfalls-to-be-avoided","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1075","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1071,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:43","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

This attitude also means that you start making plans before you get inputs from all the stakeholders and before you have understood the correct situation. Even though you should make broad plans as you start you need to be ready to modify this based on inputs received from the stakeholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 .Nothing is right here:<\/strong> Insinuating that everything is bad in the organisation and that you are here to put things right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many new CIOs fall into this trap. Early on you only see the organisation superficially and some of the things that may be going wrong at the surface may give you the impression that things are wrong deep-down. This may not necessarily be so. Before you judge what is right and what is wrong you will need to study the situation and come to proper conclusions. This is why I have emphasised the point that you can start detailed planning only after the 90 day knowledge gathering phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember that giving vent to this feeling publicly will certainly upset your manager, especially if she has been the manager for some time. Any faults within the system will also reflect on the manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I have learned is that no organisation is absolutely good or absolutely bad. Yes, there will be certain things that are going wrong and need to be corrected. But \"everything\" cannot be wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. S\/he was no good:<\/strong> Bad mouthing previous job-holder<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Never fall into this trap. There is no easier way to lose the respect of your manager and your peers than bad-mouthing your predecessor. You may find that some of the previous job-holder's peers may talk badly of this person, but you should be careful not to stoke that fire. For one thing you may be being unfair to that person. You do not know about him\/her and his\/her working style or performance. Secondly nobody likes a bad-mouther.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Where's the money? <\/strong>Where's the time? <\/strong>Setting expectations that are not supported by budget and time availability<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us fall into this trap. We talk to our stakeholders, we talk to our managers and then put together a grandiose plan that promises to deliver everything other than heaven. When you make plans and communicate this to the organisation, make sure that you can actually deliver. Many a time you will have to stick to a budget approved for the previous job-holder. And most of the money here will be to keep the lights going. Where are you going to get the money for any new things? It is important that you discuss with your manager (and maybe even the finance head) to ensure that whatever you are promising can be backed by the required budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same goes for promising to deliver projects without adequately planning for time and resources. \"We will deliver an organisational MIS in six months.\" Yeah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say: Underpromise and overdeliver<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. The \"second project\" syndrome.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a trap that affects most of us. You remember some of the things that feel that you could have done better in your previous job. And most of the time your reasoning will be that the things went wrong because you were not \"rigorous\" enough. You did not stick to processes fully. You did not insist that a project report should be sent every day! You did not talk to your stakeholders often enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result of this reasoning is that you tend to overbalance to the other side in your new job and become too rigorous. You have too many meetings. You ask for and send too many reports. This will drive your team, your manager and your peers crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch carefully for the above pitfalls. Many a new CIO has fallen into one of these and been dragged under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the internet articles<\/strong> I mentioned in the first part of my article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First 90 Days in a New CIO Position by Steve Gallagher<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first 90 days as a CIO by David Gee<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - Pitfalls to be avoided","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-pitfalls-to-be-avoided","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1075","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1071,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:43","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

This attitude may also turn off your manager (especially) and also your peers and users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This attitude also means that you start making plans before you get inputs from all the stakeholders and before you have understood the correct situation. Even though you should make broad plans as you start you need to be ready to modify this based on inputs received from the stakeholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 .Nothing is right here:<\/strong> Insinuating that everything is bad in the organisation and that you are here to put things right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many new CIOs fall into this trap. Early on you only see the organisation superficially and some of the things that may be going wrong at the surface may give you the impression that things are wrong deep-down. This may not necessarily be so. Before you judge what is right and what is wrong you will need to study the situation and come to proper conclusions. This is why I have emphasised the point that you can start detailed planning only after the 90 day knowledge gathering phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember that giving vent to this feeling publicly will certainly upset your manager, especially if she has been the manager for some time. Any faults within the system will also reflect on the manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I have learned is that no organisation is absolutely good or absolutely bad. Yes, there will be certain things that are going wrong and need to be corrected. But \"everything\" cannot be wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. S\/he was no good:<\/strong> Bad mouthing previous job-holder<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Never fall into this trap. There is no easier way to lose the respect of your manager and your peers than bad-mouthing your predecessor. You may find that some of the previous job-holder's peers may talk badly of this person, but you should be careful not to stoke that fire. For one thing you may be being unfair to that person. You do not know about him\/her and his\/her working style or performance. Secondly nobody likes a bad-mouther.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Where's the money? <\/strong>Where's the time? <\/strong>Setting expectations that are not supported by budget and time availability<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us fall into this trap. We talk to our stakeholders, we talk to our managers and then put together a grandiose plan that promises to deliver everything other than heaven. When you make plans and communicate this to the organisation, make sure that you can actually deliver. Many a time you will have to stick to a budget approved for the previous job-holder. And most of the money here will be to keep the lights going. Where are you going to get the money for any new things? It is important that you discuss with your manager (and maybe even the finance head) to ensure that whatever you are promising can be backed by the required budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same goes for promising to deliver projects without adequately planning for time and resources. \"We will deliver an organisational MIS in six months.\" Yeah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say: Underpromise and overdeliver<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. The \"second project\" syndrome.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a trap that affects most of us. You remember some of the things that feel that you could have done better in your previous job. And most of the time your reasoning will be that the things went wrong because you were not \"rigorous\" enough. You did not stick to processes fully. You did not insist that a project report should be sent every day! You did not talk to your stakeholders often enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result of this reasoning is that you tend to overbalance to the other side in your new job and become too rigorous. You have too many meetings. You ask for and send too many reports. This will drive your team, your manager and your peers crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch carefully for the above pitfalls. Many a new CIO has fallen into one of these and been dragged under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the internet articles<\/strong> I mentioned in the first part of my article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First 90 Days in a New CIO Position by Steve Gallagher<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first 90 days as a CIO by David Gee<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - Pitfalls to be avoided","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-pitfalls-to-be-avoided","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1075","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1071,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:43","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

It is easy to slip into this error. You have done this before and have seen it all. What can possibly be a challenge for you? I will set everything right here. The problem here is that you assume that this organisation is very similar to your old organisation and will behave in a similar manner. This may not be the case at all.  If you automatically react to situations in a way that has worked well for you in your previous organisation, you may be in for a surprise. Organisational culture may be different, people are, of course, different, processes are different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This attitude may also turn off your manager (especially) and also your peers and users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This attitude also means that you start making plans before you get inputs from all the stakeholders and before you have understood the correct situation. Even though you should make broad plans as you start you need to be ready to modify this based on inputs received from the stakeholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 .Nothing is right here:<\/strong> Insinuating that everything is bad in the organisation and that you are here to put things right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many new CIOs fall into this trap. Early on you only see the organisation superficially and some of the things that may be going wrong at the surface may give you the impression that things are wrong deep-down. This may not necessarily be so. Before you judge what is right and what is wrong you will need to study the situation and come to proper conclusions. This is why I have emphasised the point that you can start detailed planning only after the 90 day knowledge gathering phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember that giving vent to this feeling publicly will certainly upset your manager, especially if she has been the manager for some time. Any faults within the system will also reflect on the manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I have learned is that no organisation is absolutely good or absolutely bad. Yes, there will be certain things that are going wrong and need to be corrected. But \"everything\" cannot be wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. S\/he was no good:<\/strong> Bad mouthing previous job-holder<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Never fall into this trap. There is no easier way to lose the respect of your manager and your peers than bad-mouthing your predecessor. You may find that some of the previous job-holder's peers may talk badly of this person, but you should be careful not to stoke that fire. For one thing you may be being unfair to that person. You do not know about him\/her and his\/her working style or performance. Secondly nobody likes a bad-mouther.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Where's the money? <\/strong>Where's the time? <\/strong>Setting expectations that are not supported by budget and time availability<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us fall into this trap. We talk to our stakeholders, we talk to our managers and then put together a grandiose plan that promises to deliver everything other than heaven. When you make plans and communicate this to the organisation, make sure that you can actually deliver. Many a time you will have to stick to a budget approved for the previous job-holder. And most of the money here will be to keep the lights going. Where are you going to get the money for any new things? It is important that you discuss with your manager (and maybe even the finance head) to ensure that whatever you are promising can be backed by the required budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same goes for promising to deliver projects without adequately planning for time and resources. \"We will deliver an organisational MIS in six months.\" Yeah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say: Underpromise and overdeliver<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. The \"second project\" syndrome.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a trap that affects most of us. You remember some of the things that feel that you could have done better in your previous job. And most of the time your reasoning will be that the things went wrong because you were not \"rigorous\" enough. You did not stick to processes fully. You did not insist that a project report should be sent every day! You did not talk to your stakeholders often enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result of this reasoning is that you tend to overbalance to the other side in your new job and become too rigorous. You have too many meetings. You ask for and send too many reports. This will drive your team, your manager and your peers crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch carefully for the above pitfalls. Many a new CIO has fallen into one of these and been dragged under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the internet articles<\/strong> I mentioned in the first part of my article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First 90 Days in a New CIO Position by Steve Gallagher<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first 90 days as a CIO by David Gee<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - Pitfalls to be avoided","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-pitfalls-to-be-avoided","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1075","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1071,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:43","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

1. Know it all:<\/strong> Coming in with the feeling that you know everything and giving that impression to the others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is easy to slip into this error. You have done this before and have seen it all. What can possibly be a challenge for you? I will set everything right here. The problem here is that you assume that this organisation is very similar to your old organisation and will behave in a similar manner. This may not be the case at all.  If you automatically react to situations in a way that has worked well for you in your previous organisation, you may be in for a surprise. Organisational culture may be different, people are, of course, different, processes are different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This attitude may also turn off your manager (especially) and also your peers and users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This attitude also means that you start making plans before you get inputs from all the stakeholders and before you have understood the correct situation. Even though you should make broad plans as you start you need to be ready to modify this based on inputs received from the stakeholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 .Nothing is right here:<\/strong> Insinuating that everything is bad in the organisation and that you are here to put things right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many new CIOs fall into this trap. Early on you only see the organisation superficially and some of the things that may be going wrong at the surface may give you the impression that things are wrong deep-down. This may not necessarily be so. Before you judge what is right and what is wrong you will need to study the situation and come to proper conclusions. This is why I have emphasised the point that you can start detailed planning only after the 90 day knowledge gathering phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember that giving vent to this feeling publicly will certainly upset your manager, especially if she has been the manager for some time. Any faults within the system will also reflect on the manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I have learned is that no organisation is absolutely good or absolutely bad. Yes, there will be certain things that are going wrong and need to be corrected. But \"everything\" cannot be wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. S\/he was no good:<\/strong> Bad mouthing previous job-holder<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Never fall into this trap. There is no easier way to lose the respect of your manager and your peers than bad-mouthing your predecessor. You may find that some of the previous job-holder's peers may talk badly of this person, but you should be careful not to stoke that fire. For one thing you may be being unfair to that person. You do not know about him\/her and his\/her working style or performance. Secondly nobody likes a bad-mouther.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Where's the money? <\/strong>Where's the time? <\/strong>Setting expectations that are not supported by budget and time availability<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us fall into this trap. We talk to our stakeholders, we talk to our managers and then put together a grandiose plan that promises to deliver everything other than heaven. When you make plans and communicate this to the organisation, make sure that you can actually deliver. Many a time you will have to stick to a budget approved for the previous job-holder. And most of the money here will be to keep the lights going. Where are you going to get the money for any new things? It is important that you discuss with your manager (and maybe even the finance head) to ensure that whatever you are promising can be backed by the required budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same goes for promising to deliver projects without adequately planning for time and resources. \"We will deliver an organisational MIS in six months.\" Yeah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say: Underpromise and overdeliver<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. The \"second project\" syndrome.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a trap that affects most of us. You remember some of the things that feel that you could have done better in your previous job. And most of the time your reasoning will be that the things went wrong because you were not \"rigorous\" enough. You did not stick to processes fully. You did not insist that a project report should be sent every day! You did not talk to your stakeholders often enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result of this reasoning is that you tend to overbalance to the other side in your new job and become too rigorous. You have too many meetings. You ask for and send too many reports. This will drive your team, your manager and your peers crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch carefully for the above pitfalls. Many a new CIO has fallen into one of these and been dragged under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the internet articles<\/strong> I mentioned in the first part of my article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First 90 Days in a New CIO Position by Steve Gallagher<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first 90 days as a CIO by David Gee<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - Pitfalls to be avoided","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-pitfalls-to-be-avoided","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1075","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1071,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:43","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

Picture Source: arcplan.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Know it all:<\/strong> Coming in with the feeling that you know everything and giving that impression to the others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is easy to slip into this error. You have done this before and have seen it all. What can possibly be a challenge for you? I will set everything right here. The problem here is that you assume that this organisation is very similar to your old organisation and will behave in a similar manner. This may not be the case at all.  If you automatically react to situations in a way that has worked well for you in your previous organisation, you may be in for a surprise. Organisational culture may be different, people are, of course, different, processes are different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This attitude may also turn off your manager (especially) and also your peers and users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This attitude also means that you start making plans before you get inputs from all the stakeholders and before you have understood the correct situation. Even though you should make broad plans as you start you need to be ready to modify this based on inputs received from the stakeholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 .Nothing is right here:<\/strong> Insinuating that everything is bad in the organisation and that you are here to put things right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many new CIOs fall into this trap. Early on you only see the organisation superficially and some of the things that may be going wrong at the surface may give you the impression that things are wrong deep-down. This may not necessarily be so. Before you judge what is right and what is wrong you will need to study the situation and come to proper conclusions. This is why I have emphasised the point that you can start detailed planning only after the 90 day knowledge gathering phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember that giving vent to this feeling publicly will certainly upset your manager, especially if she has been the manager for some time. Any faults within the system will also reflect on the manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I have learned is that no organisation is absolutely good or absolutely bad. Yes, there will be certain things that are going wrong and need to be corrected. But \"everything\" cannot be wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. S\/he was no good:<\/strong> Bad mouthing previous job-holder<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Never fall into this trap. There is no easier way to lose the respect of your manager and your peers than bad-mouthing your predecessor. You may find that some of the previous job-holder's peers may talk badly of this person, but you should be careful not to stoke that fire. For one thing you may be being unfair to that person. You do not know about him\/her and his\/her working style or performance. Secondly nobody likes a bad-mouther.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Where's the money? <\/strong>Where's the time? <\/strong>Setting expectations that are not supported by budget and time availability<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us fall into this trap. We talk to our stakeholders, we talk to our managers and then put together a grandiose plan that promises to deliver everything other than heaven. When you make plans and communicate this to the organisation, make sure that you can actually deliver. Many a time you will have to stick to a budget approved for the previous job-holder. And most of the money here will be to keep the lights going. Where are you going to get the money for any new things? It is important that you discuss with your manager (and maybe even the finance head) to ensure that whatever you are promising can be backed by the required budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same goes for promising to deliver projects without adequately planning for time and resources. \"We will deliver an organisational MIS in six months.\" Yeah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say: Underpromise and overdeliver<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. The \"second project\" syndrome.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a trap that affects most of us. You remember some of the things that feel that you could have done better in your previous job. And most of the time your reasoning will be that the things went wrong because you were not \"rigorous\" enough. You did not stick to processes fully. You did not insist that a project report should be sent every day! You did not talk to your stakeholders often enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result of this reasoning is that you tend to overbalance to the other side in your new job and become too rigorous. You have too many meetings. You ask for and send too many reports. This will drive your team, your manager and your peers crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch carefully for the above pitfalls. Many a new CIO has fallen into one of these and been dragged under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the internet articles<\/strong> I mentioned in the first part of my article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First 90 Days in a New CIO Position by Steve Gallagher<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first 90 days as a CIO by David Gee<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - Pitfalls to be avoided","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-pitfalls-to-be-avoided","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1075","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1071,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:43","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: arcplan.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Know it all:<\/strong> Coming in with the feeling that you know everything and giving that impression to the others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is easy to slip into this error. You have done this before and have seen it all. What can possibly be a challenge for you? I will set everything right here. The problem here is that you assume that this organisation is very similar to your old organisation and will behave in a similar manner. This may not be the case at all.  If you automatically react to situations in a way that has worked well for you in your previous organisation, you may be in for a surprise. Organisational culture may be different, people are, of course, different, processes are different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This attitude may also turn off your manager (especially) and also your peers and users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This attitude also means that you start making plans before you get inputs from all the stakeholders and before you have understood the correct situation. Even though you should make broad plans as you start you need to be ready to modify this based on inputs received from the stakeholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 .Nothing is right here:<\/strong> Insinuating that everything is bad in the organisation and that you are here to put things right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many new CIOs fall into this trap. Early on you only see the organisation superficially and some of the things that may be going wrong at the surface may give you the impression that things are wrong deep-down. This may not necessarily be so. Before you judge what is right and what is wrong you will need to study the situation and come to proper conclusions. This is why I have emphasised the point that you can start detailed planning only after the 90 day knowledge gathering phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember that giving vent to this feeling publicly will certainly upset your manager, especially if she has been the manager for some time. Any faults within the system will also reflect on the manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I have learned is that no organisation is absolutely good or absolutely bad. Yes, there will be certain things that are going wrong and need to be corrected. But \"everything\" cannot be wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. S\/he was no good:<\/strong> Bad mouthing previous job-holder<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Never fall into this trap. There is no easier way to lose the respect of your manager and your peers than bad-mouthing your predecessor. You may find that some of the previous job-holder's peers may talk badly of this person, but you should be careful not to stoke that fire. For one thing you may be being unfair to that person. You do not know about him\/her and his\/her working style or performance. Secondly nobody likes a bad-mouther.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Where's the money? <\/strong>Where's the time? <\/strong>Setting expectations that are not supported by budget and time availability<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us fall into this trap. We talk to our stakeholders, we talk to our managers and then put together a grandiose plan that promises to deliver everything other than heaven. When you make plans and communicate this to the organisation, make sure that you can actually deliver. Many a time you will have to stick to a budget approved for the previous job-holder. And most of the money here will be to keep the lights going. Where are you going to get the money for any new things? It is important that you discuss with your manager (and maybe even the finance head) to ensure that whatever you are promising can be backed by the required budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same goes for promising to deliver projects without adequately planning for time and resources. \"We will deliver an organisational MIS in six months.\" Yeah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say: Underpromise and overdeliver<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. The \"second project\" syndrome.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a trap that affects most of us. You remember some of the things that feel that you could have done better in your previous job. And most of the time your reasoning will be that the things went wrong because you were not \"rigorous\" enough. You did not stick to processes fully. You did not insist that a project report should be sent every day! You did not talk to your stakeholders often enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result of this reasoning is that you tend to overbalance to the other side in your new job and become too rigorous. You have too many meetings. You ask for and send too many reports. This will drive your team, your manager and your peers crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch carefully for the above pitfalls. Many a new CIO has fallen into one of these and been dragged under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the internet articles<\/strong> I mentioned in the first part of my article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First 90 Days in a New CIO Position by Steve Gallagher<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first 90 days as a CIO by David Gee<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - Pitfalls to be avoided","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-pitfalls-to-be-avoided","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1075","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1071,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:43","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

Now, let me also tell you that you should watch out for a few pitfalls<\/strong> that you can blunder into.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: arcplan.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Know it all:<\/strong> Coming in with the feeling that you know everything and giving that impression to the others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is easy to slip into this error. You have done this before and have seen it all. What can possibly be a challenge for you? I will set everything right here. The problem here is that you assume that this organisation is very similar to your old organisation and will behave in a similar manner. This may not be the case at all.  If you automatically react to situations in a way that has worked well for you in your previous organisation, you may be in for a surprise. Organisational culture may be different, people are, of course, different, processes are different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This attitude may also turn off your manager (especially) and also your peers and users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This attitude also means that you start making plans before you get inputs from all the stakeholders and before you have understood the correct situation. Even though you should make broad plans as you start you need to be ready to modify this based on inputs received from the stakeholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 .Nothing is right here:<\/strong> Insinuating that everything is bad in the organisation and that you are here to put things right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many new CIOs fall into this trap. Early on you only see the organisation superficially and some of the things that may be going wrong at the surface may give you the impression that things are wrong deep-down. This may not necessarily be so. Before you judge what is right and what is wrong you will need to study the situation and come to proper conclusions. This is why I have emphasised the point that you can start detailed planning only after the 90 day knowledge gathering phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember that giving vent to this feeling publicly will certainly upset your manager, especially if she has been the manager for some time. Any faults within the system will also reflect on the manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I have learned is that no organisation is absolutely good or absolutely bad. Yes, there will be certain things that are going wrong and need to be corrected. But \"everything\" cannot be wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. S\/he was no good:<\/strong> Bad mouthing previous job-holder<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Never fall into this trap. There is no easier way to lose the respect of your manager and your peers than bad-mouthing your predecessor. You may find that some of the previous job-holder's peers may talk badly of this person, but you should be careful not to stoke that fire. For one thing you may be being unfair to that person. You do not know about him\/her and his\/her working style or performance. Secondly nobody likes a bad-mouther.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Where's the money? <\/strong>Where's the time? <\/strong>Setting expectations that are not supported by budget and time availability<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us fall into this trap. We talk to our stakeholders, we talk to our managers and then put together a grandiose plan that promises to deliver everything other than heaven. When you make plans and communicate this to the organisation, make sure that you can actually deliver. Many a time you will have to stick to a budget approved for the previous job-holder. And most of the money here will be to keep the lights going. Where are you going to get the money for any new things? It is important that you discuss with your manager (and maybe even the finance head) to ensure that whatever you are promising can be backed by the required budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same goes for promising to deliver projects without adequately planning for time and resources. \"We will deliver an organisational MIS in six months.\" Yeah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say: Underpromise and overdeliver<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. The \"second project\" syndrome.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a trap that affects most of us. You remember some of the things that feel that you could have done better in your previous job. And most of the time your reasoning will be that the things went wrong because you were not \"rigorous\" enough. You did not stick to processes fully. You did not insist that a project report should be sent every day! You did not talk to your stakeholders often enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result of this reasoning is that you tend to overbalance to the other side in your new job and become too rigorous. You have too many meetings. You ask for and send too many reports. This will drive your team, your manager and your peers crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch carefully for the above pitfalls. Many a new CIO has fallen into one of these and been dragged under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the internet articles<\/strong> I mentioned in the first part of my article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First 90 Days in a New CIO Position by Steve Gallagher<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first 90 days as a CIO by David Gee<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - Pitfalls to be avoided","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-pitfalls-to-be-avoided","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1075","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1071,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:43","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

\n

In the previous posts (see last post<\/a>) I had told you what you should do in the first 90 days in the CIO's job.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, let me also tell you that you should watch out for a few pitfalls<\/strong> that you can blunder into.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: arcplan.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Know it all:<\/strong> Coming in with the feeling that you know everything and giving that impression to the others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is easy to slip into this error. You have done this before and have seen it all. What can possibly be a challenge for you? I will set everything right here. The problem here is that you assume that this organisation is very similar to your old organisation and will behave in a similar manner. This may not be the case at all.  If you automatically react to situations in a way that has worked well for you in your previous organisation, you may be in for a surprise. Organisational culture may be different, people are, of course, different, processes are different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This attitude may also turn off your manager (especially) and also your peers and users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This attitude also means that you start making plans before you get inputs from all the stakeholders and before you have understood the correct situation. Even though you should make broad plans as you start you need to be ready to modify this based on inputs received from the stakeholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 .Nothing is right here:<\/strong> Insinuating that everything is bad in the organisation and that you are here to put things right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many new CIOs fall into this trap. Early on you only see the organisation superficially and some of the things that may be going wrong at the surface may give you the impression that things are wrong deep-down. This may not necessarily be so. Before you judge what is right and what is wrong you will need to study the situation and come to proper conclusions. This is why I have emphasised the point that you can start detailed planning only after the 90 day knowledge gathering phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember that giving vent to this feeling publicly will certainly upset your manager, especially if she has been the manager for some time. Any faults within the system will also reflect on the manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I have learned is that no organisation is absolutely good or absolutely bad. Yes, there will be certain things that are going wrong and need to be corrected. But \"everything\" cannot be wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. S\/he was no good:<\/strong> Bad mouthing previous job-holder<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Never fall into this trap. There is no easier way to lose the respect of your manager and your peers than bad-mouthing your predecessor. You may find that some of the previous job-holder's peers may talk badly of this person, but you should be careful not to stoke that fire. For one thing you may be being unfair to that person. You do not know about him\/her and his\/her working style or performance. Secondly nobody likes a bad-mouther.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Where's the money? <\/strong>Where's the time? <\/strong>Setting expectations that are not supported by budget and time availability<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us fall into this trap. We talk to our stakeholders, we talk to our managers and then put together a grandiose plan that promises to deliver everything other than heaven. When you make plans and communicate this to the organisation, make sure that you can actually deliver. Many a time you will have to stick to a budget approved for the previous job-holder. And most of the money here will be to keep the lights going. Where are you going to get the money for any new things? It is important that you discuss with your manager (and maybe even the finance head) to ensure that whatever you are promising can be backed by the required budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same goes for promising to deliver projects without adequately planning for time and resources. \"We will deliver an organisational MIS in six months.\" Yeah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say: Underpromise and overdeliver<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. The \"second project\" syndrome.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a trap that affects most of us. You remember some of the things that feel that you could have done better in your previous job. And most of the time your reasoning will be that the things went wrong because you were not \"rigorous\" enough. You did not stick to processes fully. You did not insist that a project report should be sent every day! You did not talk to your stakeholders often enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result of this reasoning is that you tend to overbalance to the other side in your new job and become too rigorous. You have too many meetings. You ask for and send too many reports. This will drive your team, your manager and your peers crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch carefully for the above pitfalls. Many a new CIO has fallen into one of these and been dragged under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the internet articles<\/strong> I mentioned in the first part of my article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First 90 Days in a New CIO Position by Steve Gallagher<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first 90 days as a CIO by David Gee<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - Pitfalls to be avoided","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-pitfalls-to-be-avoided","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:16:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1075","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1071,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:43","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 45 and 60 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 75 and 90 days (the third month)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth thing<\/strong> to do (first 75 days) is to look externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: nationalreview.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the competing organisations doing? You will need to set up meetings with CIOS of some of the key similar \/ competing organisations and seek their inputs on how you can bring the best practices into your new organisation. I suggest that you meet at least three (3) such organisations in this first phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also look at emerging technologies and look at the possibilities of bringing some of these technologies into your organisation. You can also use this time to talk to some of vendors to get inputs on implementing new ideas and how much these will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sixth thing<\/strong> to do (first 90 days) is to consolidate all the inputs you have received so far and put together a detailed plan for the next three months and a broad plan for the year. The plan at the least should include revisiting or creating the IT strategy, quick win ideas, cleaning any unhygienic systems or processes, a stakeholder map, improvement ideas and clearing up any pain points of key users. Of course, in addition to this, you need to ensure that the plans will cover day to day operations of the organisation. Before you put these plans into paper you will need to make sure that you have access to sufficient budgets to implement these ideas. You should not be promising things that you cannot implement. These plans need to be discussed with your manager and her approval received. You should take the effort to get back to all the stakeholders you have met with your plans to make them aware of how you have addressed their concerns in your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can prepare a detailed plan for the year and beyond over the next three months when you start getting actual working (post-honeymoon period!) inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me summarise<\/strong> these six \"things\" in a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
15 days<\/span><\/td>\n30 days<\/span><\/td>\n45 days<\/span><\/td>\n60 days<\/span><\/td>\n75 days<\/span><\/td>\n90 days<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Meet manager and understand expectations<\/span><\/td>\nMeet and understand stakeholders<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand systems, applications, infrastructure etc.<\/span><\/td>\nUnderstand organisation processes<\/span><\/td>\nLook externally. Meet similar organisations<\/span><\/td>\nPlan based on these inputs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind<\/strong>, we have only talked about the first ninety days! Your \"real\" work starts after this. After three months most of your stakeholders will consider you to be a regular part of the organisation and will not give you any consideration as a \"newbie\". Your managers and other stakeholders will expect you to start delivering as per organisational needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to keep in mind<\/strong> that from the day one you may be called upon to keep the lights burning. There may be many day-to-day issues that you will have to deal with which may cut into your grand 90-day plan. Please be aware of this so that you can prepare yourself in terms of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first ninety days is very critical. You will not get another opportunity to make a first impression. You will have to work very hard. It will be very backbreaking. But the rewards are worth it. Who is that who said that a thing well begun is half done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at some of the pitfalls to be avoided in the first 90 days of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The third month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-third-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:15:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1071","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1068,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:26","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:26","post_content":"\n

In the previous post<\/a> on this topic we discussed the first 15 and 30 days of a new CIO's life. In this post we will look at the first 45 and 60 days (the second month)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 45 days) is to understand the systems, applications, infrastructure, communication systems, support requirements etc. Remember that these are your \"wares\". These are what you are selling to your users. Your team will be an important input point here. You will also need to talk to your vendors and contractors. You will need to talk to the IT officers of the different countries. Laws, infrastructure availability, support arrangements - all these will be different in these countries. There may a lot of wasted services and capacities  in this area.  It is in this area that you will find that you can make the most changes and improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image Source: dreamstime.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important that you look at data security and information security needs of the organisation and ensure that these have been implemented properly. If not you will need to plan to address these. Another key area is business continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Green IT\" is an area that you will need to discuss with your manager and key stakeholders. This may be an area that the board of the organisation has been wanting the organisation to implement but the previous dispensation has been unable to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are the CIO of a non-profit sector organisation, you will find that you are under a lot of pressure from some of the stakeholders to implement \"open source systems.\" Remember to make no commitments on this till you have studied the total picture. While you may be able to implement open source systems in the head office with some effort, it may be a different story in the far-flung countries where support for open source systems may not be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to look at the system development, maintenance and support processes and ensure that these are up to standard and is being followed properly. Look at the project management and program management processes. In some organisations, you may find that the IT group supplies project management  processes for the other departments also. This then becomes another \"ware\" for you and you need to clearly understand the mechanics of this interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are technologies or systems in the new organisation that you are not familiar with, you should spend time trying to familiarise yourself with these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth thing <\/strong>to do (in the first 60 days) is to understand the processes of the organisation. This is a very critical part of your job. This is one of the areas that is normally overlooked by new managers. First understand what your authority is. What is your approval limit? I have known new managers approving purchases that are more than 10 times their approval limit! Make sure that you know what your budgets are and what lines they are split into. Some organisations are keen to keep a close watch of spending against different lines while some are OK if you keep to your overall budget and you use great leeway on how you spend it. Make sure that you understand the planning and budgeting processes and cycles of the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Picture Source: aimsinnovation.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing is to understand the governance processes. How are projects initiated, approved and reviewed? How are purchases approved. Is there an approved vendor list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the governance structure for monitoring the IT strategy and plans? Is there an IT governance board? And what are their processes? You may find the CIO and the IT group have a set of metrics and \/ or a scorecard to measure up to. You will need to clearly understand this so that you can prepare to feed into this process properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need to understand the SLAs that your department has agreed to with the various user groups. Are these SLAs realistic? Do you need to make any changes? Understand clearly how the IT department engages with the user groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key thing to understand is the performance planning and evaluation systems of the organisation. You will need to use this process soon to ensure that you set the plans of your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the third month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The second month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-second-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1068","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"20","post_date":"2014-08-11 04:26:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-08-10 22:56:00","post_content":"\n

I recently read the book \"The First 90 Days\" by Michael Watkins. It is quite good and is a book worth reading. The book is an excellent resource for \"anyone being promoted, onboarding onto <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

a company or taking on a new professional role\". Reading this book got me thinking. What don't I put on paper what I think is the best use of the first 90 days of a new CIO? I could see many articles of this nature on the internet. Some of them are listed at the end of this article. There are many more such. All these articles give unique perspectives on your priorities in the first 90 days of a CIO's job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I would like to give my perspectives. These observations are based on my experience, both positive and negative. In this first post, I look at what a new CIO should do in the first 15 days and the first 30 days (the first month). The first thing<\/strong> (first 15 days) to remember is that the people who hired you went through a harrowing time trying to decide who the right person is for the job. And they chose you. Let us be very clear that all the other candidates who made the final cut were at least as good as you. They decided on you because they felt that you had the slight edge over the others in areas they consider as priority for the organisation. The one key point<\/strong> here that the your manager (through the interview board) has put her neck on the line by putting her confidence in you. You need to prove to the organisation that she was right in choosing you. It is important that you meet with her in the first few days and chalk out your plan for the first 90 days, the first six months and for the first year. These plans can be very broad initially but you can make it more specific as you go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 The other key point<\/strong> here is organisational priority. As I mentioned before, you were chosen so that you could start working on implementing the organisation's priorities. Understand from your manager what these priorities are and make sure that your plans address these. Also ensure you understand what her expectations from you are. In these meetings you should also understand the anatomy of the organisation, who's who, the organisational strategy, yearly plans and how the IT plans and budgets fit into the organisational plans. Many a time you will be presented with an IT strategy that you need to execute. This is not a bad thing. Go over this with your manager ensure that all objectives are still valid and they are in line with the organisational strategy. After the first 90 days you will have enough information to make any changes required to this strategy. Of course, if there is no current IT strategy or the strategy is obsolete, you will need to look at making a new one. But, here is a caveat. Do this only after understanding the organisation and its needs well. That is, after your first 90 days. The second thing<\/strong> to do (in the first 30 days) is to get to know your stakeholders. Your first lot of key stakeholders are your manager, your peers, your manager's peers, your manager's manager and of course, your team. Schedule meetings with all these people, understand their concerns, priorities and pain points with respect to IT. The other lot of key stakeholders will be the business users. Your manager and your peers will help you figure out who are the key people here. You need to ensure that the influential people in this group are on your side. Make sure that you discuss your broad plans with these people and as with the other group understand their concerns, priorities and pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a stakeholder map and figuring out who is likely to support you, who is likely to be neutral and who is likely to oppose you when you go ahead with your plan implementation is very critical. You may want to work with your manager to figure out how to convert some of the \"sceptics\" to either \"friends\" or \"neutrals.\" One way to convert some of the sceptics is to show some quick wins<\/strong> in their pain areas. These are especially effective in areas of systems for personal productivity that has been plaguing them for a long time.<\/span> Remember that at this point  you are in the meeting to ask questions and understand their needs, not to offer solutions. So ask away. Don't forget to meet and understand the expectations of the support departments like Admin, HR etc. If your role is that of global CIO of an organisation with an integrating role, you will need to ensure that you talk to some of the most powerful of the Executive Directors of the countries and understand their needs properly. Discuss your overall plans with them and ensure that you set the right expectations with them. You will need to be keenly aware of any cultural nuances and differences so that you do not misinterpret any discussion points. It will be a good idea to write back to the people you have met outlining what was discussed and their key concerns and pain points. You can seek any additional inputs from them also at this stage. It goes without saying that you should meet your team a few times both in a group and one-on-one with each team member. You will need to figure out who are good at their jobs and who are only average. Don't be in a hurry to fire people. Giving the impression that you are a cowboy may not bode well for future interactions and work. Of course, after your first 90 days, you may find that a couple of people are quite poor performers and that they are a drag on the others. You will need to work with your manager and HR to figure out a way to sort this issue out. You may need to retrain them, assign them to other jobs or, if everything else fails, ultimately fire these people. One of the things that your manager may tell you is that you need to \"restructure\" your department. This may be a process that is going on in other departments. My suggestion to you here is that you should not be in a hurry. You can make plans for this and implement this after you have properly understood the organisation and the people and the role each person plays. You may be asked, for example, to cut your staff by \"half.\" In these cases it is best to ensure that you know who your best people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next post<\/a> we will look at the second month of a CIO's new job.<\/p>\n","post_title":"The first 90 days of a CIO - The first month","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"the-first-90-days-of-a-cio-the-first-month","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-29 08:14:16","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=1064","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":317,"post_author":"30","post_date":"2014-06-24 10:02:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-24 04:32:00","post_content":"\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is always hard to let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get so attached to something that has become familiar or something that we feel is our own creation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In taking up a role of a Project Manager, there are many things that we need to let go \u2013 which were possibly our strengths as individual contributors or first level [technical] leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having been good at whatever we did, we rose to accept new and greater responsibilities. With the objective of delivering or creating something much larger than what we could do as individuals. But deep inside, we continue to enjoy doings things that we were good at..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, that does not do justice to the new expectations from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we tend to be very protective of our children. Yes, we have a responsibility towards them, but not at the cost of stifling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us treat our team members as colleagues and give them room to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series of posts, I intend sharing some of my own experiences with letting go. Sometimes, when I could, and many times, when I could not. Sometimes when the approaches worked and sometimes, when it did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture you see the way a cat carries her kitten. It might appear hard to bite the neck of a young one, but that is surely not hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, who owns the responsibility? The mother or the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a contrasting style, where the responsibility is with the child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hint: think of our origins.. and share your thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat picture copyright : <\/span>https:\/\/ankurlearningsolutions.wordpress.com\/tag\/marjala-kishora-nyayam\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Letting go: For new Project Managers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"letting-gofor-new-project-managers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-13 20:46:24","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-13 15:16:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/blogs.pm-powerconsulting.com\/blogs\/?p=317","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":12},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

Leadership

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