Slashdot Mirror
Sharing IT Problems with Executives?
dicey asks: "Later this week all of the IT department at my company (50-80 people) is having a dinner with the company President and VP/CIO. One major reason for this is so that they can get a better understanding of what is going on in IT and how it impacts the company overall. Ideally, with the ideas and sharing, these guys will have a better appreciation for us, adjust our budgets appropriately, and help us in our business.
However, many of us are wary to speak about what is going on because it will inevitably reveal problems with the company. We are worried about what we discuss coming back to our directors ultimately to bite us. I am curious what my fellow Slashdot readers have done in similar circumstances, where there is a great chance to let someone high up in your company know of problems so that they can be rectified, but whereby revealing them you may get hurt in the process."
Upper management should always have feedback from managers about what's going on in IT.
In your managers aren't letting their managers know what's important, and why, then they aren't doing their job.
You shouldn't have to end run to directors to get the information up there
Shaun Nelson - Bastard Operator (From Hell / For Hire)
Talk in terms of ROI, TCO and other clear business benefits, otherwise they wont care.
You will do no good by ranting and raving when you get the chance to talk to the higher-ups.
You also should refrain from bad-mouthing any particular individuals (unless absolutely and obviously necessary), or you will appear to have an axe to grind.
Phrase concerns in terms of the organization or department.
I went through this several years ago. Over the course of 90 minutes I laid out my concerns and [what I saw as] impediments to the organization and its future. The chief exec at the end of the table listened carefully and seemed to appreciate the candor (e.g. we have ~22 people on staff and 8 of them are designated as the 'managemenet team'; 7 people on staff were actually billable most of the time (supporting the rest), etc.).
Nutshel version: be concise, be respectful, and don't point fingers.
I want to drag this out as long as possible. Bring me my protractor.
So I guess I'd question whether or not the whole event will turn out exactly as you're thinking it might in the first place.
If front-line IT people see problems, or better yet room for improvement in their daily work, have they communicated these problems and improvement plans to their management? Has IT management communicated problems up the chain of command? In other words, does upper management know about the problems that the front-line IT employees face in their day to day work? Does upper management know about the ideas that front-line employees have to improve the IT infrastructure.
Ideally, the IT team should meet with their immediate managers and the CIO before meeting with the president. Ideally there should be no surprises at the dinner meeting. It's best to avoid embarasssing or suprising management in this type of meeting.
Perhaps the dinner meeting as it is currently structured is premature. There has to be a process in place to make sure that the president is aware of IT's strengths and weaknesses before the dinner meeting. There has to be a process in place where IT staff and management can agree upon the areas that need improvement. There has to be a process in place where the front-line IT staff is fully aware of how the president and the CIO see the role of IT in the company.
If the homework has not been done, and the groundwork has not been laid, then the dinner meeting should be the start of a process, not the end of a process.
never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever point the finger or put blame on any one person or group of people...it will bite you in the ass one way or another!
dude.
I am a fan of confrontation, as an IT Pro at a small software company, I let them know what is going on all the time, I tell them which programers are quick/dirty, and the ones that are TOO insane about perfection, I tell them when thier systems need to be upgraded, and tell them why, how, when, and cost, both the positives and negitives of both, but I confront a problem head on, if my direct mangler (yes he doens't know the difference between a computer and a typewriter) wont listen, I move on up to the CEO and tell him (plus of a small company), that way my ass is always covered, I dont know what your situation is exactily, but you need to tell them what is going on, and be preped to find another job if they are going to fire you for finding a solution to a problem, or even bringing a problem into thier scope of vision.
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The term Corporate America is just another tired Slashdot bogeyman. I've worked in several companies in Europe and Asia (locals, not overseas offices of US companies), and I assure you that people are a lot more willing to complain publicly in US companies.
In both the UK and Japan, if it weren't for the practice of going out as a work team and drinking together several nights a week, you'd have no idea what some people were thinking.
And I've never seen the kind of silent hatred for bosses in the US that I've seen overseas. I'm not saying it doesn't exist in some industries, but in my experience, if you hate your boss that much in the US, you either leave or get thrown out. Overseas, it's a lot riskier to leave and a lot harder for them to throw you out, so you stay and smolder silently while your boss, who can't throw you out, works on ruining your life, which he can do as long as you don't leave.
You've never seen office politics unless you've worked somewhere where the people are virtually trapped together for a lifetime. Corporate America, where the jerks come and go relatively quickly, is a picnic in comparison. (Think of a US university faculty and you'll get more of the feeling.)
"Those who have never entered upon scientific pursuits know not a tithe of the poetry by which they are surrounded."
It's "lose, not "loose". Other than that, I didn't bother to waddle through your mess of a shoutcast.
Diversified companies were the fashion of the 50's and 60's, throwing together businesses with no noticeable linkages. Trimming those megacorps back down to a "we make 'x'" model was the fashion of the 90's.
Incidentally, the CAT scanner company still exists as Sensaura.
Luke, help me take this mask off