I recently returned from a two week vacation on the beach. While some may look forward to vacations with anticipation, I tend to see them as bittersweet. Taking vacations has always been difficult for me because thoughts of work piling up haunt me while I’m away. I also don’t like the idea of others doing work in my stead. I learned from reading this article that I was not unlike many Americans in this respect.
"Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results." --Andrew Carnegie
Teamwork is extremely important in any position; especially when IT teams can be spread out due to multiple locations, telecommuting, international teams, etc. . . When your IT team isn’t physically all in the same location, how do you develop a strong team bond? Your ability to build and secure your team relationships is a direct reflection on your success as a leader. Remember these four thoughts when working on building that all important teamwork.
Read More
Have you ever worked on a project that seems to have urgent changes and items that need to be addressed constantly? As an EDI/data integration consultant, every project varies and some just don’t seem to go as smoothly as others. This week I had the privilege of being called to a 'hot' client meeting, an 'SOS' meeting, the 'sky is falling' meeting by a client team member.
After having been out of the office in the morning, I returned to what some would call “email blow up”. I counted them...93 emails all authored by one person, as if each time enter was hit the person thought of one more detail, thought, and opinion to convey in the mail chain. You ask if I read each mail? Goodness no, I know this author way too well to bother reading until I see a good 15-20 minutes of total silence and no new incoming mail. Then I open the last mail, scroll to the bottom and start reading up.
Read More
We've all seen it. John knows the ins/outs of a particular process. John boasts his knowledge, skills of that process, John knows it all, John is the man. Everyone goes to John, "John is out today? He’s the only one that can help us, we have a deadline. Did he leave notes on what we should do? He knew this was due today". "What am I supposed to tell the customer? How do I respond to the customer?"
John is part of a team of eight, a well skilled and knowledgeable team of eight. Each member of the team brings something different to the table but John, he knows everything, and he’s the “go to guy”.
"You want me to do what?" That's the thought that runs through my mind each time I'm told "you are going to write a blog". This time when they said it, they meant it. All I could say was "seriously, what could I possibly contribute that anyone would be interested in reading".
Read More
