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The revolution in the IT department (department). Is it necessary?

Coming to a new company as an IT director, we, colleagues, involuntarily encounter the mistakes of our predecessors.

Of course, in bouts of perfectionism, we are eager to fix everything right away. Well, how can you work like that? This is wrong! You can not do it this way! And so on ...

And here many of us make a big mistake.

Do not rush to make decisions that fundamentally turn over the company's established business processes.

After all, no matter how bad the system was built, no matter how hard mistakes were made; - in any case, the system worked, the system allowed business personnel to earn money and a whole bunch of reasons :)

Where do i start


It seems to me that the very first of the actions of the new IT director in the new company is an audit. And here you don’t need to listen to Western books, which says something like "Do not completely go into everything in the first wave of the audit." It is necessary, comrades, it is necessary! The faster you plunge into the processes, the faster you will be able to understand why this system works in this way, why these decisions were made here, why people work that way ... And another million why and why. And it is precisely a complete and quick dive that will not allow you to make a number of extremely undesirable mistakes, the so-called “Golden Age”. (first 90 days of work in a new company).

How to do this, when in the "golden period" you are torn by everyone and sundry. Everyone is trying to solve their problems that could not be solved with the previous IT wizard. The answer is simple: “communicate with people, no matter how difficult they are for you. Do not be silent. " It is necessary to inform people that your task here and now is to make the work of all users of the company's IT systems as clear and convenient as possible. To do this, you need to take some important nuances, which, unfortunately, never lie on the surface.

Involve such company employees in your audit. Even if at the beginning it seems to you that they are “empty-headed empty-bells” - believe me, this is not so. In this way, employees show you their cry of the soul. But in such an often unpleasant way.

Patience, colleagues! Our work does not tolerate haste and impulsive conclusions.

However, it is impossible to take and delve into everything at once. Naturally impossible.

Find key figures in the company. This, by the way, is in most cases not TOPs :)

It is these people who will help you see the root of evil. Often, you will have to deeply study from 3 to 4 tasks at a time. Having solved them, you can achieve the so-called “primary stabilization”. This will provide an opportunity to take a breath and continue the audit.

In addition, it should be clearly understood that quick victories in “primary stabilization” are the growth of your person in the eyes of the employer.

I propose a little more discussion on the topic of “primary stabilization”.

Primary stabilization


What is primary? What is secondary? What is tertiary?

In fact, this is a difficult and acute question.

There is no correct answer to this question. So what to do now? - you say.

Do not panic!

Listen to your colleagues talk. What are they talking about. After all, it is in their speeches that the whole salt of the problems lies. It seems to us that the only person who is able to adequately talk about the problems of the company is the CEO or owner. No, colleagues, no.

The company management always sees its brainchild on the other hand. As a child for parents - no matter how he is scolded, he is the best and most unique. So it is for a businessman. His business is unique, unique, one of a kind, etc. And all the problems are lazy workers (although this expression has its own share of truth).

But just the stories of ordinary workers or office cleaners are a storehouse.

From them you will learn not only the details of the personal life of each employee, but also about business problems that the owner or CEO do not see at point blank range (which, by the way, is absolutely normal). Look for valuable emotional outbursts from these people. They will help to further figure out where the dog rummaged.

Well enough about espionage.

So, after talking with people for several days, you begin to gradually grasp the essence. However, do not flatter yourself - there is still a lot of work ahead. You need to process all the information you collect. Separate the grain from the chaff.

You have found a few bottlenecks, roughly understand where the narrow neck of the system (or situation) is now.

Right now, nothing needs to be fixed. I would not want to. You can’t do that.

Analyze and study further. Dig deeper. Ask direct and suggestive questions to participants in the processes where failures were detected.

Now you need to understand what is failing. System? People? Lack of regulations? Together?
So your time has come to plunge deeply into this problem.

As soon as you clearly identify the source of failure, go to the manual and talk about it in a short presentation. Do not keep silent about the details, there should be a lot of details opposite, this will show the employer that you are a deep and systemic person. Accordingly, they will listen to you in a different way.

Be sure to suggest how this can be fixed. And it is very desirable to offer not one option, but several at once.

And if you manage to express these options in monetary terms (what financial advantages the head of the company and the company as a whole will get) - consider that you started earning a reputation from a pretty decent height.

After justifying your proposals to the management, urgently proceed to “primary stabilization”.

Develop a detailed plan scattered by dates and forth.

How and who will do this is another matter. These are your skills as a manager. No skills?

Learn!

This is how “primary stabilization” is done.

Control measurements


A certain amount of time has passed and you have already completed the “primary stabilization”.

What to do now? Got into the optimization of current processes? Can optimize IT budget? Can take on total automation?

No, colleagues!

No wonder the previous process was called “primary stabilization”. And then the idea immediately arises - to do "secondary optimization"!

And again, no.

Now it is very important to make control measurements of what has already been implemented by you.

Do in a form that will be convenient for you. Plates, drawings, graphics - it does not matter. The point of your understanding of the control measurement is important here.

For example, I always make a table:



As can be seen from the table, under the name “control measurements” lurks the usual comparative table “before” and “after”.

Looking at this table, you already understand which actions have yielded results and which have not.
This makes it possible for the IT director to quickly adapt to the current situation in the company.

Generally convenient and effective.

Having made “control measurements”, we may very well proceed to “secondary stabilization”.
Oh yes! Do not forget to show the results of control measurements to the employees who participate in these processes and to your immediate supervisor. These people should not have the opinion that you are doing something there, it is not clear (for them) what, and what you need to wait for something, it is unclear how much time. Now for you this is the worst option. Keep everyone posted. Your communication skills should be at their best, especially during this difficult period.

Secondary stabilization


So, in front of you is a table (or what you have created for yourself), where the flaws of "primary stabilization" are indicated.

We work with them.

We identify employees who are directly related to these processes, conduct repeated audits.

At this stage, we try to clarify with the participant in the process as many subtleties and nuances as possible, which he kept silent about during the first communication (or maybe you yourself forgot what he said about it). Done? Fine! Ask this person a question: “How does he see this process? What did he do for optimization? So that he removed, added, changed, or maybe completely got rid of such a process? ” Believe me, when you ask the opinion of people regarding their work - ideas about optimization just flow like water. Of course, this is not always the right advice. In most cases, this is ordinary stupidity. However, try to listen and draw conclusions from your professional side.

After that, we put the puzzle together and re-do the stabilization schedule. Do not forget to tell the participants in these processes and the management. Also, do not forget to argue your decisions (and it is advisable to express your arguments in financial terms).

So, the “secondary optimization" is over - we are doing one more control measurements. We analyze and draw conclusions.

Enough time has passed so that you can adequately see the main processes of the company. You are already able to understand the essence, identify the owners of processes, analyze the resources of processes and understand the reason for the erroneous results of these very processes.
Well, the time has come to provide management with a “vision” of the department entrusted to you within the company.

As you can see, we were able to avoid an unnecessary revolution, and besides, we managed to establish ourselves as an excellent manager and an excellent performer.

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