What constitutes the “right” IT management skills in the current IT environment?
Hint: It’s more than understanding today’s trends.
Information Technology is a very dynamic field. You can always expect
something new to be introduced, making what you know now outdated. Add
to that the changing business climate wherein IT managers are not just a
part of the operations but also play catalysts for the growth of
businesses.
Companies today rely more and more on their IT departments to help
their businesses survive and grow. As the IT environment evolves, the
need for professional skills in the field — beyond certified technical
skills — are becoming more valuable than ever.
At present, what do you need to do to become successful and effective in IT management?
Here are the seven main skills you need to consider developing:
1. Learn how to run a business.
More than just knowing how to troubleshoot systems, write code and
oversee IT staff, IT managers nowadays would need to know how to run a
business. This is the reason why there is an ever-growing number of IT
managers who are pursuing an MBA or getting business-related courses
that are not necessarily focused on IT. According to the Harvard Business School,
12% of their MBA graduates in 2012 went to work in a technology-related
field, most of them getting an annual salary of more than $115,000.
Close to eight out of every 10 MBA graduates who went into IT received a
signing bonus.
As we have mentioned above, IT environments nowadays have changed
from being a cost center to something that helps put out opportunities
for businesses to succeed. Without this entrepreneurial thinking, you
will be content on just plugging the hole in your organization’s IT
needs, not innovate to help the business grow.
2. Be adaptable.
Today’s IT manager needs to be adaptable.
Sure you would need to have demonstrable skills in tech-related
matters; you could be an expert in networks, virtualization and the
cloud, but that does not mean that these are all you have to focus on.
Instead, you should be adaptable. Tech skills will help you become a
superstar in the IT department, but being able to adapt to various
functions will help you become a leader. You should be comfortable when
you are dealing with HR, sales personnel, finance and even higher
management. As such, you would need to learn skills that are not
technology-related per se, such as handling people, financial
forecasting and even sales techniques.
3. Learn how to identify and handle risk.
Every organization has its own culture and strategies of handling
risks. Some are very tolerant about it, while others like to tread
carefully every step of the way. As an IT manager, you would need to
learn how to evaluate risks, know where these risks are coming from and
how to mitigate them.
As an IT manager, you would be dealing with other managers and
executives who will base their decisions on opportunities and risks. You
should be able to give them alternative solutions, and then be able to
point out the risks and opportunities for each.
4. Develop strong interpersonal skills.
When it comes to programming or Web site development, it is probably
okay to be a wee bit autistic, and to keep to yourself and to your team
until you get the software or Web site done. But as you seek a higher
post, you would need to develop strong people skills. An IT manager
nowadays needs to have solid working relationships with his or her team,
with management and with other stakeholders such as suppliers and
co-workers. Remember, however, that having good professional
relationships is more than just being charismatic and likable. It is
also about credibility and respect.
Also, you would need to understand that businesses in this day and
age are all about collaboration, and that would be very fruitless and
frustrating if you are not able to build strong relationships with the
people you need to work with.
5. Analytics is your new best friend.
Sad to say, there will be times in your career as an IT manager when
you would not be looking at a single line of code. However, you should
not go for weeks without looking and understanding data dashboards and
analytics. You should be able to take a look at data and numbers and
package it in such a way that stakeholders in your organization would be
able to understand these accurately and help them do their work. It
could also be used to change a colleague’s mind.
You should be able to have the skills of a data scientist, being able
to process and make sense of random numbers and information that are
already available to you.
6. Program management.
Stop thinking about projects! If you are starting out as an IT
manager, you will find that project management is a skill that you must
certainly have. But if you want to go further than just being a good
project manager, you must start managing programs.
Program management forces you to gain more business skills, such as
building business cases, SWOT analyses and of course, talking to and
getting the trust and respect of other managers and higher ups.
7. Develop your communication skills.
IT management would put you into situations wherein you will need to
express your thoughts, ideas and vision effectively. However, you will
also need to make sure that the other party would be able to understand.
For that you will need to be a good listener first and then be good
at explaining things. This is the only way that you can get what your
colleagues, the organization, your customers and suppliers require of
you and how you could most easily help them out.
You could be an expert at technology-related matters, and you could
probably pluck out the most unlikely information out of the data you
have in your hands, but if you are not able to communicate how these
would help the business and the people in it, you will never get
executive support and buy in.
These are the skills that you would need to have in order to succeed
nowadays in IT management. Take stock of what your strengths are at the
moment and what you need to work on. Chances are, you would need to
learn and re-learn some things. But do not fret, especially if you are
still not an IT manager but is eyeing to be one. You can learn these
skills on-the-job or through trainings and professional development, or
by having a mentor or a coach.