IT Management 101 – 1-Year Game Plan

The 90-day game plan focused on urgent issues as you might expect. The 1-year plan is more strategic in scope. Don’t get hung up on developing a 1-year versus 2-year plan. The further out the plan the more you will probably “tweak” it over time. At the very least, develop a plan for the next year. The key is to establish a big picture of the direction you plan to take and the key projects that will be required to get you to your stated destination.

If you expect your short term plans to compliment and to support a longer range vision, you have to have one. Otherwise, you will implement projects that conflict with the long range plan.

Did I say, “stated destination” ? You bet I did!! No plan is worth much unless you clearly state your destination (objectives) and document them.

Also remember, there are no rules as to how long it should take to stabilize your part of the IT business before you are able to take on strategic projects. Depending upon the situation, it may already be very stable and waiting for you to ‘go’, or it may take several months to clean up a real mess.

“Whatitis,,, iswhatitis!!”

By stating your 12-month (or more) plan objectives, you are also giving senior managers and clients the opportunity to validate your objectives. One of the worst things an IT manager can do is to work in a vacuum and avoid communicating where he is going and what he’s working on. We see this time and again and it probably has as much more to do with dissatisfaction with IT organizations than any other thing – even above poor performance.

You will hear me say this over and over, but I’m convinced that managing the client’s expectations is the key to successful IT performance.

All right, the first step is to define two things.

1. Define where you are.
2. State where you want to be a year or more out.

Step 1 – Defining where you are is essentially quantifying the issues that exist as you have conducted your assessments. You should also do a quick inventory of your organization. A simple list will do – hit key items that are important for your particular responsibility. Over the years, I have found the list included in the table below to apply to most situations.

Step 2 – Defining where you want to be a year or more out has a lot to do with what you’ve heard senior managers tell you in the assessments. It should also include input from other senior IT manager’s insight into what you’re going to need to have the organization positioned for in the future.

Developing strategic IT plans requires experience, an understanding of the business, and vision. Many find this difficult. It certainly can be, but I believe that it has more to do with the necessity to sit down and to think through the issues more than anything else. Planning takes time and proactive work. Real work !! Most of us are more comfortable reacting to issues than being proactive. It’s easier to react but it makes it harder to have a successful organization.

Companies and people want and need leadership. Proactive planning, stating your vision, and executing from a plan shows real leadership. Try it and I can assure you will see positive results because most of your counterparts are working reactively, not proactively.
Depending upon the situation you have with your organization responsibility, this plan will vary considerably. If you are a programming manager, it will likely deal with application functionality to a great extent. If you manage the infrastructure of your company, it will include projects that continue to add stability, capacity, additional services and security of your systems. A CIO should include all parts of the IT business responsibility.

Need a picture ? The following is an example of a 12-18 month plan that was developed to help a company move from a manual billing company to an automated billing company. This particular part of the plan includes elements of business applications and infrastructure. “The names have been changed to protect the innocent.”

Several points are worth mentioning:

• This plan includes mostly strategic projects
• The plan could not be embarked upon until many stabilizing projects were previously completed.
• Many of the projects are taking place simultaneously as you can see. The key is to insure that projects are addressed in such a way as to compliment each other and to anticipate other project needs.
• I broke the plan into 6 major projects. Sub-projects are identified as well.
• This particular plan impacts many departments and will require significant planning, coordination, and communication.

Why do you create a visual plan ?

There are actually several reasons.

1. Define the plan to others.
2. Gain agreement from ‘stakeholders’ that this is the appropriate plan.
3. Establish with others that it involves quite a bit of effort and commitment.
4. Shows dependencies and a requirement of coordination.
5. Helps clients and IT employees see and understand your vision.

The best way I have seen to manage other people’s expectations is to put your plans on paper and to cover it with them. It provides the perfect way to gain concurrence or to get input that allows you to change the plan as needed to meet their expectations.