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  • #2282200

    How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

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    by srijayk ·

    Managing Non IT Boss/ People:

    I am working in a Engineering company from last 3 Years as IT Manager. It has been tough journey since i jumped to this Industry from software development. Everything wents wrong on there end they blame it on the system. Till now i have been proving them wrong. Now i feel like giving up.
    My problem is i am very straight forward. If they do wrong i do not hesitate to tell them. This puts me in trouble.
    Pls. Help how to deal with it.

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    • #3366894

      Reply To: How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      by power natto ·

      In reply to How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      Your comment ‘Till now i have been proving them wrong’ rings alarm bells with me. I would suggest that few people in the world are happy being proved wrong even if they are obviously the worst offenders. Why not blame the system? it lets everyone off the hook and meantime you can shine by coming to the rescue and sorting out the errant system . . . The lay person’s incompetence is the IT techie’s meal ticket and we all should be grateful for it!

    • #3366893

      Reply To: How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      by power natto ·

      In reply to How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      Your comment ‘Till now i have been proving them wrong’ rings alarm bells with me. I would suggest that few people in the world are happy being proved wrong even if they are obviously the worst offenders. Why not blame the system? it lets everyone off the hook and meantime you can shine by coming to the rescue and sorting out the errant system . . . The lay person’s incompetence is the IT techie’s meal ticket and we all should be grateful for it!

    • #3366845

      Reply To: How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      by timthetoolman ·

      In reply to How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      I presume you had a great deal to do with the software development of the system that they’re now using?

      And now you’re the IT manager?

      Firstly you’ve got to let go of the system and turn to the people. If Engineering are having problems then no amount of showing them they’re wrong will ever help

      As a manager you need to address the people first. And then the system.

      I’d recommend setting up training sessions for starters and getting a few of the key users together to specifiy exactly where they think the deficiencies of the system are.

      Then after lots of consultation with the people who use it, suggest how you can change the system to suit the way they work better.

      You MUST spend lots of time and energy with the Engineering people.

      Also you MUST let go of the system and embrace the users needs.

      It takes practice and self discipline to do well.

    • #2726189

      Reply To: How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      by dc_guy ·

      In reply to How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      You say you are a “straightforward” person, so I assume you will not mind a little “straightforward” advice from a part-time ESL instructor.

      One of the most important “people skills” for any manager is good communication. Please forgive me for mentioning this, but you seem to be a little weak in that area. I counted twenty errors in approximately 85 words. An error rate greater than 20 percent in vocabulary, grammar, syntax, spelling, and punctuation is so high that it makes what you are saying a little difficult to understand.

      You don’t say where you are working, but if it’s the USA, our people are very short-tempered (or perhaps just lazy ^_^) when they have to work to understand what they are hearing or reading.

      You might sign up for some classes in business writing and public speaking. It could turn out that people will take what you are saying more seriously, if it is merely said with a little more polish.

      • #2599786

        Poor communicator

        by sestarr97 ·

        In reply to Reply To: How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

        What’s the first W for in WWW? Oh, that’s right, worldwide. How long will it take to learn that there’s a big world outside of your little sandbox. Anyway, your response shows your suffering from the same symptoms as him – jump straight in and *count the number of errors* instead of thinking a bit laterally???

        • #2602680

          Suffering?

          by vv_nolen ·

          In reply to Poor communicator

          My sandbox is international..as a business professional.There is so much suffering when we live in a world where there is so little sensitivity for the other person – do not assume put yourself in there shoes and see what it feels like to be on the other side. As a 28 year professional in this field – your journey will take you to many dimensions – it seems as if you are in the drivers seat for now..
          Welcome to the journey – we are constantly debugging our lifes and our careers.

    • #2719812

      Reply To: How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      by aboulezz ·

      In reply to How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      1- You have to document everything first
      2- Make short objective session to explain what’s going wrong & what it should be for business sucess.
      3- Share them in problem’s solving & let’m feel that they are partners.
      4- Avoid using you are wrong, use if we follow another way it could be better.

    • #2713322

      Reply To: How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      by daya_hs ·

      In reply to How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      I wonder you are a IT Manager and telling you are not able to manage the people. No matter you belong to which department. You might think of going communication classes, underwriting classes or any bloddy things wherein you will end up losing your hard-earned money. One thing you need to understand is ‘what is going wrong at what situation’ you need to act as per the situation and you need to allow others work in your system. A system will not function efficiently overnight. You need to allow it to work in case if your facing problems in the system.

      Suppose if you are facing the difficulties with respect to people management. I would suggest you to have patience when you are working in an business environment. You need to have the skills of handling people no matter in which level/cadre you work. You need to allow others to speak before you can have control on them. You need to understand what their problem then onwards only you can think of solving the problems of your system or your people. I feel i may need somemore details from your side what exactly is happening with you. If you are interested and if you won’t feel bad of getting advises then please revert back to me. My email address is daya_hs@yahoo.com.

    • #2717426

      Reply To: How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      by limatik ·

      In reply to How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      This is a classic example where your negotiation and management skills are put to test.

      If you think you are right (and you verified that you are) and you have the role and responsibility to correct (other people’s) errors, then do it.

      If things do not always work as it should, escalate the problems and your recommendations to your superior.

      I do not agree with the other opinion, I think that giving up and giving in when you are right (and when you seek improvement for the whole organization) is not ethical.

    • #3307835

      Reply To: How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      by briefcasebob ·

      In reply to How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      First of all no one likes to be told they are wrong. If you feel you must do this you should use this technique. Use a positive (compliment them), tell them what the problem is, and then use another positive. This will make a big difference.
      One must remember that if you aren’t part of the solution then you are part of the problem. When I have a problem like this I use this approach. I go to the staff involved and tell them “WE” have a problem and I need them to help with the solution. At this point everyone involved gets to see their part in the problem and what needs to be done to correct the problem or makes them feel apart of the solution instead of being told they are the problem. You may even find some more solutions that will make it easier for all involved.

    • #3293671

      Reply To: How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      by barnumthomas ·

      In reply to How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      I would suggest that you should evaluate the system more closely. Many times, when end users are making mistakes, it is directly related to poor usability in the design of the system.

      Were they involved in the planning for implementation? Remember this key principle: People are more committed to that which they feel they’ve created. Involving them in the planning allows them to feel, at least in part, like the creator.

      Consider reading How to Win Friends and Influence People. I think it would help a lot.

      Sincerely,
      Thomas Carpenter
      Senior Consultant – BarnumThomas
      http://www.BarnumThomas.com

    • #3318289

      Reply To: How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      by zakdustin ·

      In reply to How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      Dear IT manager, I must say that I agree 90% with DC_GUY. It’s an art to communicate with people, specially when one has been working with computers day in day out. Eventually one becomes like the computer, it’s certainly not the way
      around, we can all agree on that. Computers are
      easy, it’s either 0 or 1, people have so
      many other variables that have to be taken under
      consideration in order to make them function in
      your way, because that is exactly the job of a
      manager. To work with and through people to
      accomplish a task with limited recourses.

      I believe being a manager requires diplomacy and lot of knowledge in philosophy and psychology.
      I don’t mean that you have to be able to quote
      Aristotle’s or platon or turn your meetings to a
      psychoanalysis session every time somebody
      disagrees with you. No sir that is not what I mean.
      I mean that one should try to understand why somebody makes a mistake( because there is a
      reason even if we sometimes don’t want to believe
      or comprehend it ) and try to fix the core
      problem so that it won’t occur again.

      As Einstein said once “The reason I get angry and
      furious about something is because I don’t
      understand it”.
      It is fortunately that simple. It will be very tough for you in the beginning to swallow all the
      words you want to scream at every person who has
      done wrong instead trying to understand them,
      but after a while you’ll see that the results
      will be the ones you are looking for.

      Please let me know how it goes, I’m interested to know.

      /Dustin
      Project Manager, IS/IT-Coordinator

    • #3346586

      Reply To: How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      by green_geek ·

      In reply to How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      Speaking from my own experience, when dealing with my customers, who range from line staff to top executives, I always find a way to let them save face. I also approach issues as “we” should have done this, “we” should remember this for next project, so that it is clear I don’t blame them. I have never seen an IT project go flawlessly, no matter how much planning goes into it, so you might as well accept that this is life in IT and stop trying to place blame (even if others do it!). Just work on “lessons learned”, because one of these times it really will be you, or your system that is to blame and you will be grateful for that attitude when you are on the receiving end of it! And always get signoff from users before implementing a change, not to prove faults, but to help ensure everyone involved understands what is about to change, and to give them a chance to identify potential problems before they are an issue in your production environment. Signoff makes it everyone’s project/system, not just yours….
      Hope this gives food for thought!

    • #3329961

      Reply To: How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      by sgt_shultz ·

      In reply to How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      I wonder what kind of trouble you are in.

      Ask your boss what you should do. Say you want to learn. Write it down. Then do it.

      imho

    • #3250954

      Reply To: How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      by craig herberg ·

      In reply to How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      Listen to your customers and address their concerns., i.e., fix the problems. If you insist on blaming those forced to use poorly designed software, expect to be unemployed soon.

      Good luck.

      Craig Herberg

    • #3339716

      Reply To: How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      by angry_white_male ·

      In reply to How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      Educate your users. For example, despite the fact we have a mailfilter on our mail gateway, some users still get SPAM and they complain about it (even if it’s just a few SPAM’s a day). I took the time to explain it to my user community in non-techie terms how the mail filter works and how legitimate mail may get blocked if I turn the filter up too much.

      I find that a lot of techie types have a difficult time explaining things to their users in layman’s terms. We as IT people can never fix every problem out there. Between staffing issues and workload, you’ll never be able to have 100% user satisfaction. However, the more knowledge you impart upon your users, the easier your job will be. Communication is everything.

    • #3245548

      Reply To: How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      by leisureman ·

      In reply to How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      I am not sure that this is the wisest way to do it, but try this (I’ll be happy to hear if that worked for you).

      1. Write a short memo: we have this and that. If we go this way, we could end up there. If we follow that way, it could bring us there and there. Do not concentrate much on ‘whys’. Focus on ‘wheres’.

      2. Read it. Edit it to make sure that it is calm. Imagine that you are tired and not in a hurry. Use the language that comes into your head in this state.

      3. Read it again an hour later, if possible, the next day. If the text is short and clear and seems to include facts and not comments, bring it to the bosses. (I am not agaist comments, I am for leaving them for yourself. Mostly).

      4. If it provokes ‘whys’from the bosses, address those ‘whys’.

      5. if it works, stick to it.

      Good luck.

    • #3058912

      Reply To: How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      by bea94457 ·

      In reply to How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      Nobody likes to be show that they did something wrong if you can blame a system it would be better. Train the non IT better people are trained the better they will understand your frustrations and it makes feel a part of a team.

    • #3087370

      Reply To: How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      by ou jipi je ·

      In reply to How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      greetings sir, and good morning to you too. I have a little problem with your post. Hopefully you can help me out so I (and possibly others) can help you out in return. First of all you mention “everything went wrong there”. Then you say “they blame it on the system” and then you say “till now I have been proving them wrong”. So, what is “everything”, who is “they” and what have you “proven”? If you have proven them wrong why is _everything_ going wrong? Have you proven _them_ wrong or have you proven that _system_ is wrong? if _they do wrong_ you do not hesitate to tell them – fair enough – but it could also be read as that you sit around and criticize everyone “proving them wrong” while “everything is going wrong” in your area. I don’t understand how any of the people below could provide you for any advice based on such vague problem description. Deaf leading the blind? Please be more specific as to what exactly the problems are and please try to omit words like “everything” and “they”.

    • #3263522

      Reply To: How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      by ken.hor ·

      In reply to How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      Hi IT MANAGER,

      What DC_guys & Zakdustin said is right… this might not be accept by the others member here but I hope you can think through it wisely…

      Communication and the Arts of Speaking is the most important Skillset that must have inside an IT Manager…

      No matter how well your software is perform, If you and the User was having communication breakdown (what I mean here is when we communicate with the Non-IT users, we have to use some layman term to communicate with then rather then communicate with some IT term). They still start jumping on you with unreasonable complaints or request, even pushing the blame to the system?

      You must really know how to handle your Customer wisely, always tackle the key person, if you can convince him, he/she will help you to convince the others…

      Sometimes is not the system that fail the project? is people? ?human communication?…

      cheers…

    • #3106772

      Reply To: How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      by rcsi_it ·

      In reply to How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      End-users in my company are generally Techno-Phobic. They will normally blame us for any disruption in system processing and all errors coming out in the system while in fact it has been running for several years already. I am also very honest for any incident and would explain to them the source of such error. I would normally issue out memo copy furnished the top management to explain and give solutions even if the cause was due to incompetency of the users. Management takes it well and appreciates knowing that I am attending to the problem.

    • #2600052

      Some Suggestions on How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      by vv_nolen ·

      In reply to How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      Communication has always been one of the most challenging career objectives – especially for technically trained professionals with other non-IT professionals. It has been my experience that the first step is to learn more about the background of the Boss/non-It staff and listen to them. Toastmasters(teaches Communications and Leadership skills) has also been an excellent tool; seek to partner with the non-It professionals – often time the perception is ‘that we IT professionals aren’t concerned with nor have any desitre to build and bridge a partnership’. Also, meet with the non-IT professionals – periodically and build that trust.

      As a Business System Analyst – I have learned that this is an on-going journey that is worth taking…

      Val Nolen
      Consultant
      v_nolen@yahoo.com

    • #2599910

      Are they wrong?

      by m.johns ·

      In reply to How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      Hi I’m not sure if this helps but….Are they wrong? They may technically be doing something wrong, but from their point of view was the task set to follow in their logic or yours. Maybe a way to fix this is not to prove to them they did it wrong but to understand why they did it wrong and fix that issue. rgds, martin

    • #2599901

      people don’t like having it handed to them

      by triathlete1981 ·

      In reply to How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      even if their incompetence is so blatantly obvious that it’s a flashing neon sign above their head.

      in sw development, maybe you didn’t work with people that much. you wrote code all day long, nothing wrong with that. but IT provides a service in the company. and like with any server industry, the customer (end-user) likes being catered to.

      yes, IT people always make fun of idiot users. it’s venting our frustrations, but also fun.

      if you keep pointing out people’s errors, eventually no one will like you and you’ll be out of a job pretty soon. who wants to give up a manager’s salary? not me.

      besides, we IT ppl started an IT career b/c we concentrated on IT fields. salespeople concentrated on sales. accountants concentrated on accounting. thank god for those people because if everyone concentrated on IT, no one would have an IT job. and on top of that, all your frustration that people are dumb users did what? get you frustrated. there will always be dumb users. believe me, no matter how many times you tell them to save their documents occassionally (or whatever else), they’re NOT going to do it. part of the job.

      good luck!

    • #2599785

      Maybe the system is the problem

      by sestarr97 ·

      In reply to How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      If the system allows the users to make so many errors then maybe it needs to be changed to meet the business process.

    • #2602635

      What is going wrong?

      by josb ·

      In reply to How to Manage non-IT Boss/People

      ‘Everything’ means nothing to me.
      There is some kind of business process that also involves an IT solution and somewhere the process is not functioning the way it should.
      IT excists to help business processes.
      It appears that in this case, you have to help them understand what the root cause of the problem is. By just proving they are wrong you are not helping to solve the problem.

      Being straight forward is no problem, but you have to know how to communicate a message.
      I hardly ever tell people they are wrong.
      I just go to them and let them explain what they want and why they experience something else in our systems.
      That way, you can show you understand the problem someone is facing and you can help solving it.
      This could be education, change in the process or an IT change.

      Telling people they are wrong offends them.
      Your message is that they lack knowledge in their field of work.
      That might be true from your point of view, but not from theirs.
      Both views are equally right and wrong.

      I have been in a situation where an IT person was clearly wrong about a network problem.
      But I also knew he was regarded an expert by himself and many others.
      And he knew nothing about my networking background, and thus would not see me as expert.
      So I decided not to get into an argument, but just hire an outside expert to help solve the problem.
      In the end, he learned what the problem was from someone he regarded an expert.

      There is a difference between telling someone he’s wrong and helping them understand they are wrong.

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