Tag: Michael Hugos

Fresh Links Sundae – March 16, 2014 Edition

Fresh Links Sundae encapsulates information I have come across during the past week. Often they are from the people whose work I admire or resonate with me. I hope you will find these ideas thought-provoking at the minimum. Even better, I hope these ideas will, over time, help my fellow IT pros make better decisions, be awesome, and kick ass!

Bob Lewis believes that initiatives like Cloud, Shadow IT, and the digital enterprise are trends CIOs cannot do much to affect, but still have to respond to. Through a 3-part series, he suggests the actions that IT should consider taking. Storming around (Part 3) More storm warnings (Part 2) An imperfect storm (Part 1) (IS Survivor Publishing)

IT is well positioned to make positive contributions to many aspects of the business operations. Michael Hugos suggests how a CIO can collaborate effective with the COO through supporting business agility. The CIO & COO Relationship (Enterprise Efficiency) Michael Hugos

Some IT organizations believe that providing quality services has to equate to higher costs. Using a recent personal experience, Stuart Rance explains how quality services can still be provided without needing to cost more. Excellent service doesn’t have to cost more (The ITSM Review)

Automating a process can sometimes create tricky ownership issues. Ryan Ogilvie reminds us that some level of oversight and accountability are still required even after a process had been automated. Process Automation – Enter the Numbers and Push the Button (Service Management Journey)

Many leaders find it difficult transitioning into a new organization due to the pressure to act quickly and deliver rapid results. Lon Zanetta outlines the keys to success in transitioning into a new leadership role. Leadership Transitions: Focus on the Human Touch (CIO Leadership Council)

The Snowden/NSA incident highlighted the reality that no amount of security can truly deter disgruntled personnel or whistle blowers. To strengthen the security in your own environment, Peter Brooks recommends a list of action items which include governance and investment in people and open source technologies. Security after Snowdon – what do I need to do? (The ITSM Review)

Analyzing a business process is a major part of a business analyst’s work. Laura Brandenburg discusses various approaches to analyze a business process effectively. 3 (and only 3) Reasons to Use BPMN (Business Process Modeling Notation) (Article 1) How to Analyze an “As Is” Business Process (Article 2) How to Analyze a “To Be” Business Process (Article3) (Bridging the Gap)

Some are advocating that estimating is not an essential activity and producing the result is what matters. Glen Alleman explains why estimating is not just nice to have – it is essential for a credit job. Back To The Future (Article 1) Some more answers to the estimating questions (Herding Cats)

Many of us have difficulties in getting an idea or initiative off the ground. Denise Brosseau recommends several easy-to-implement techniques that can help you gain support for your initiatives. 3 Smart Change Agent Techniques to Get Your Business on Track (Salesforce Blog)

Part of leadership practice is to make your supporters feel supported by their leader. Marshall Goldsmith illustrates a single skill that set the great leaders apart from the near great. The Skill That Separates (Marshall Goldsmith Personal Blog)

Fresh Links Sundae – March 9, 2014 Edition

Many think of operational checklists as the script or work instructions, but they actually are not. Rob England explains how checklist should be leveraged to increase the effectiveness of any IT organization. The one top tip for IT operations and support: Checklists (The IT Skeptic)

While IT continues to be recognized as the expert for applying technologies to support business processes, a trend is becoming clear that many non-IT groups or individuals are also becoming proficient at leveraging technologies to improve their own productivity. Jon Hall believes that the trend should be leveraged to better connect with its user end and to improve its own effectiveness. The myth of trust: why consumer feedback is making us rethink IT (ServiceDesk360)

IT is well positioned to make positive contributions to many aspects of the business operations. Michael Hugos suggests how a CIO can collaborate effective with the CFO in the organization through risk management. The CIO Relationship With the CFO Is Based on Managing Risk (Enterprise Efficiency) Michael Hugos

Many organizations are evaluating how the DevOps practice can be integrated its own IT departments. Gene Kim describes the concepts behind the DevOps thinking and how the DevOps and ITSM practices are decidedly complementary to each other. Trust me: The DevOps Movement fits perfectly with ITSM (The ITSM Review)

Most business leaders still perceive IT as an operational, tactical role. Pearl Zhu suggests approaches that IT leaders can leverage to turn around the reputation and to transform into a strategic partner. CIO as Respected Business Leader (Future of CIO)

Many organizations spend training dollars to build individual knowledge and performance. Julie Montgomery and Gordon Brown recommend ways to spending training resources not just add individual knowledge but also to improve organizational capability. Quit Spending Money on ITIL Training (Plexent Blog)

After attending the recent annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, Michael Schrage shares his thinking and observations on why leaders need to pay attention to how we identify and blend individual talents to perform measurably greater than simply the sum of their individual results. Team Chemistry Is the New Holy Grail of Performance Analytics (Harvard Business Review)

Many organizations use internal audits to assess potential deficiencies and improvement areas. Laszlo Gonc outlines six ways for internal audits to improve organizational effectiveness and to deliver value. 6 Success Factors for Better Internal Audits (Intreis)

Many of us have dreams of becoming someone who is much more of whom we are today. While all opportunities involves risks, Marshall Goldsmith recommends that making a decision to do something will be a much better option than simply wasting time debating contemplating about a future that will never come. Who Are You Arguing With? (Marshall Goldsmith Personal Blog)

Based on the findings of their own and other reputable researchers, Bob Sutton talks about what is considered the appropriate team size for most tasks and explains the dynamics of a team. Why Big Teams Suck: Seven (Plus or Minus Two) Is the Magical Number Once Again (Work Matters)

Fresh Links Sundae – March 2, 2014 Edition

Filipa Preston believes that ITAM can play an essential partnering role to the business. She explains how ITAM can add value by demonstrating the bankable savings the project actually delivered while also showing how we can reduce risks to the business in the long-term. How do you convince the CFO? (The ITAM Review)

IT is well positioned to make positive contributions to many aspects of the business operations. Michael Hugos suggests ways that a CIO can help the VP of Sales in the organization. How the CIO Can Help the VP Sales (Enterprise Efficiency)

In today’s organizations, our job often is not to control change, but rather to control the impact of change on the project. Samuel Brown recommends four approaches when dealing with changes in project management. Four Axioms for Controlling Change (Global Knowledge Training Blog)

Many IT organizations are trying to transform themselves from a cost-center role into a value-added role. Pearl Zhu explains what steps IT can take to enhance their value-added approach. How to Run IT as a Better Business Partner (Future of CIO)

To many people, Agile means delivering results with short planning cycles and making adjustments as we go. While speed and schedule are crucial, Mike Cottmeyer reminds us that the ability to plan and to estimate well is critical to all projects. Managing Risk and Uncertainty in Agile (LeadingAgile)

Many Business Continuity Management (BCM) programs need to transform from a reactive, isolated activity to an integrated, solution-driven strategy that adds resiliency for the organization. Patrick Potter explains why the transformation is important and what BCM leaders can do to make more of an impact. Building A Stronger, More Strategic BCM Program (Continuity Insights)

Some product backlogs are unavoidable, but not all backlogs present a negative impact. Len Lagestee outlines eight signs for which the backlogs seem to be ineffective and should be actively managed. 8 Symptoms of an Ineffective Product Backlog (Illustrated Agile)

Business analysts often find themselves given a high-priority project with little time to prepare. Laura Brandenburg explains what a business analyst can do to clarify scope quickly and to put a reasonable timeline estimated in place. How to Create a Business Analyst Timeline (Bridging the Gap)

Many organizations use published corporate values to encourage certain behaviors from their leaders. In reality, Marshall Goldsmith believes that the leaders’ actions often speak much louder than words posted on the office walls. Leaders Make Values Visible (Marshall Goldsmith Personal Blog)

For some, public speaking means memorizing the entire speech and delivering it to the audience. Mitch Joel believes that is the wrong way of delivering speech and offer suggestions on how to make your speech add value to your audience’s time. Another Public Speaking Horror Story (Six Pixels of Separation)