Table of Contents
Introduction
Back after a long and sunny weekend, Happy Midsummer! Hard to see any clouds in the sky with such a weekend in the back. The only thing would be the SEK 89 per box in strawberry price (+23.5% in one-year ouch!), But the potatoes were cheap (-6.4%) Strangely enough, everyone seemed more sold on the expensive strawberries than the cheaper potatoes. The Midsummer shopping basket index was actually 2.7% higher than last year. Did I see Stefan Ingves walking past smiling, so close to the finish?
In all of this, we tend to forget about the stormy spring. Many IT departments have switched to using the ITIL framework to improve their delivery to the business. A business that continually comes with the slogan “IT SHOULD JUST WORK …” How should we do to make it just work? It may be a later topic, but yes, ITIL works well to give a clue as to what processes you should work with and document. It leads me entirely unsuspected for a little bonus tip, spurring your summer operating staff and consultants by helping them take a step this fall.
My 3 agile tips:
- Describe your processes and document how you work using ITIL.
- Change stop in all systems and functions.
- Try something new. Try Agile!
Tip #1 – Describe your processes and document how you work using ITIL
By documenting how you and the business should relate to each other in the processes, you can make demands on the business and visible what work is behind your services. You, as an IT manager, should not have to sell quality and expertise to the business. A problem usually is the documentation, how to document when the projects succeed, and the demand for functions from the business increases. Here you can make a fun investment in recording your processes so that you both become more concrete in what you do, and everyone in the department can gain a greater understanding of how you do it.
If nothing else is the foundation gold worth to you as an IT manager when you describe how the work goes, will it be easier for you to manage risk and show the business that your management system may have changed in the current situation?
During the summer, it’s time to relax and let your employees take a larger responsibility to see how they will grow with their tasks. This will give them confidence, and you will all see that i actually works.
Tip #2 – Change stop in all systems and functions
Tip number two, if you have not done so yet, introduce a “Change Stop” during the summer vacation. Be clear to employees, clients, managers, and suppliers what this means for you.
Tip #3 – Try something new. Try agile!
Finally, the last tip, test something new. Work agile with what you have in front of you, appoint an agile coach (or take the help of a consultant) who can hold short standups to coach on how to work with quick sprints. Where you can divide the total documentation goals into minor tasks. When you think you thought small think microscopically, you should be able to take on your information.
Conclusion
Last but not least, consider where you can help employees with an agile approach. Whether you work from home or at the office, things will prevent your employees or consultants from coming forward, so it is crucial that they feel they have the support of you as a manager. Take 15 minutes and ask what they are doing, if something stops them and how they are doing. IT’s most valuable resources are still people.
Now that you have the time over, I recommend the perfect summer read that you can sink into while lying in the hammock. The subject is IT and Agile, precisely what we are passionate about at Agdiwo. How to use agile power and streamline your work. “The Phoenix Project” by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, George Spafford
The recognition factor for everyone in Management, Management, IT managers, operations managers, etc. will strike, it is incredible how you can get small innovative tips on how to handle situations with the help of agile thinking. Everyone in senior management positions within the company should read it. Agile and DevOps are here to stay, but don’t forget your employees in the transformation.
If you would like to take this opportunity to review your prerequisites, we have a service for conducting an IT audit and highlighting the opportunities and risks that you have. Read more about IT auditing here.
