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Making IT Visible to Management?
frustrated Dilbert asks: "We are a very small IT dept where the manager participates in the day-to-day operation of IT services. The problem is that he almost never talks to upper management and doesn't get involved in the business side until someone gives him a specific project to handle. The result is that IT is considered to be firefighters when things fail, and generally plumbers that fix stuff when other PHBs create new projects. We run all the mission-critical stuff in a line of business that can not work without technology. The IT PHB fails to see which sides of the business we need to support and which are second in line. I end up doing my stuff and a lot of his duties of picking up the direction of the business and making strategic decisions. The company is actually great to work for, but I was not hired (or paid) for teaching my boss to run his shop in addition to tech stuff. He simply wasn't made for it and got promoted into something he can't cope with. I'm getting really tired of having to do management and not get any credit and would love to have him replaced, but I hate having to rat on him too. How can I get a more organized workplace when my boss isn't capable of thinking ahead?"
Or just stop working there... and go somewhere else.
Yes, easier said than done, but it doesn't hurt to polish that resume and start looking around.
The ENIAC Demo Competition
1. Google for "Manage your Manager" and read several random links.
2. Decide to forget your place in the hierarchy and look to your place in the team.
3. ??
4. Profit.
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
If you're hired by a company, you're paid to do your job, and look out for the interests of the company. If your boss is really not what is in the best interest of the company, and it's making a problem, you need to bring that to attention (discretely). Its possible (though unlikely) that he could be moved to a position (demotion even) where his talents could be used well without putting the company out of risk.
This sounds like a textbook case of the Peter Principle. Good luck dealing with it, but realize that if he doesn't have the guts to say he can't cope with his position, someone should, or you may not have somewhere to work for very long.
It's true that this is the way of things at many companies, but that doesn't make it right or mean that people should be expected to just put up or shut up. If everyone did that then things would never improve for anyone.
If something is wrong, it should be fixed, not ignored. Whining here won't fix it, but asking for advice might be the first step in the right direction.
It's official. Most of you are morons.
Do your best to complete your specific responsibilities, and do what you can to pick up your bosses failures. One of two things will happen, either someone will notice your hard work and eventually make job description changes, or no one will notice your work, but you will have learned a lot about middle/upper management of IT. Either way, your resume will be better for it.
I work in a similar position. Our IT shop is split into Apps (my side) and Networks. The manager was a programmer 20 years ago, but I am not aware of any higher education on his part. The two supervisors are supervisors by attrition, neither have any education related to management of people or projects (one has a CS assoc, the other has a HSD). The supervisor on the network side has managed 80% turn over in the last two years. All of those people sited the supervisor as a major reason why they left in their exit interview with the manager. And yet nothing is done.
At this point I'm in a boat very similar to yours. My supervisor has limited project management skills (based on 2 years of failed/successful projects). My manager has no idea what Project Management is, and no understanding of IT Alignment. So I'm putting my education to the test, pushing for a job description change, and if I can get a little more hands on experience to match my management education, I'm headed out the door.
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
I hate to plug my own book, but...
1. Read the chapter titled, "Visibility and Perception"
2. Read the "Managing Your Boss" section of the chapter titled, "Being Happy"
3. Hand your boss a copy of the book and ask him to read "Visibility and Perception" and the chapter titled, "A Guide for Technical Managers"
Your question is exactly why we wrote this book.