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IT Managers

What does it take to be an IT Manager?

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A further look into an IT managers daily responsibilities 

Information technology managers (IT managers) are tasked every day with managing multiple functions of a business. Businesses are becoming more reliant on IT managers as technology continues to increase its role in modern businesses. IT managers are essential to a successful organization through their experience and expertise in the field. There are multiple skills important to living up to the roles and responsibilities of being an IT manager. Here are a few of the many responsibilities of an IT manager:

Project Management and Planning

Change is inevitable as businesses grow with the times. It is important for organizations to stay on top of change and adjust their resources accordingly. IT managers must modernize existing systems to optimize company productivity. This may include a software that functions to effectively distribute tasks, organize the workforce, determine costs, and set timeframes. All are essential functions to project management and planning which regularly cost an IT manager valuable time. 

Leading IT Staff

IT managers are responsible for leading a team of employees. This includes scheduling, assigning tasks, implementing project milestones, and more to help employees reach their fullest potential. It is important for employees to remain engaged and feel trusted within the workplace. IT managers must operate with an open communication network allowing employees to come to them with questions or concerns.

Meeting Client and Business’ Needs

IT managers are tasked with the responsibility of meeting customer and business needs using online functions. This means when a customer is experiencing issues with usability the IT manager must fix the problem without changing the original function of that feature. As well, IT managers must create new features when businesses are looking to update their websites or applications. This again must be done in a manner that does not disrupt the original functions and current customers experience. Balancing these two aspects are part of the everyday job of an IT manager.

Creating and Refining Technology Systems

IT managers are important to maintaining a functional and secure computerized system. When problems arise within the computer system the IT leader is tasked with finding technical solutions. IT managers need extensive knowledge in their field as well as on the computer system in place. 

Many IT managers have already adopted a computerized system or additional software to reduce the stress of their multiple responsibilities. This will help you with the day-to -day organization of resources, tasks, scheduling, and more. Taking this step allows you to operate efficiently in your integral role within the company.

Learn how you can organize your IT department.

 

Knowing the Role of Business: Chief Information Officer (CIO)

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A Chief Information Officer (CIO) by definition is an executive job title commonly given to the person at an enterprise in charge of information technology (IT) strategy and the computer systems required to support an enterprise’s objectives and goals. With the evolution of technology, this role has become more and more important in business, making the CIO’s job ever more crucial. CIO’s are usually very high up in a business due to their high stake responsibilities for the company. It’s hard, specifically, to outline the responsibilities of a CIO due to the constant change in technology. As well, a CIO’s responsibilities can range from company to company.

The CIO of a company is very important as they are responsible for: strategic planning of the business growth objectives, creating a business value through technology, and ensure the tech systems and procedures lead to success for the business, as well as other management responsibilities such as Supplier Management and Information Risk Management (IRM). The CIO contributes greatly towards the organization of analytics and storage of electric information for of a business. To fulfill the responsibilities of a CIO, a team is constructed to complete tasks that are well thought out.

The CIO works hand-in-hand with the businesses IT department and in some cases the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of their company. Depending on the size and or success of the business, CIO’s can also be an executive. Although, these responsibilities are a base since in many cases their responsibilities vary depending on the company.

Now, how can you become one? There are many requirements for becoming a CIO of a company. It is required to have at least a bachelor degree in business administration and is strongly recommended to have a bachelor degree in computer science or a related area. Next, you will need experience with project management. This can be done through internships, previous jobs, and online or in-class courses. Building your technical credibility is very important as it will help strengthen your portfolio in our technological business world. Choosing the right area to specialize in and certificates that are offered will help with your technical credibility. After you earn your bachelor you need to go out and gain real experience in the IT department and risk management. This is crucial since CIO’s need to know these areas well; in order to succeed for the company. Lastly, receiving a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) will connect the world of technology and business together which is what a strong CIO needs. Working on leadership skills is also crucial as CIO’s lead and manage an organized team through many different jobs every day. However, this job does take time and a lot of effort to fulfill, needing a lot of experience and promotions to reach a C- level in a business.

CIO’s are very crucial for companies nowadays as the world becomes more dependent on technology. This career carries many responsibilities that require technology and business education, alongside great leadership and communication skills. All in all, with the vast increase in our world today through technology the demand for this job will increase as well, which may be a good job to consider for the future.

What goes into being an IT Manager?

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IT Manager at desk
IT Manager in a web conference call

What it takes to be an IT Manager

Every day, an information technology manager (IT manager) is responsible for so many functions of a business. The importance of what goes into being an IT manager is becoming increasingly greater with the constant advancement and reliance on technology in businesses. Being an IT manager isn’t simply a starter position either, the position requires experience and expertise in the field for it to be done efficiently. There are many difficult tasks and responsibilities that go into the everyday life of an IT manager; here are just a few:

Planning Projects

Advancements in a business’s management systems are always needed so the business can stay updated with constant changes in modern business practices. The IT manager is responsible for developing plans to improve their system and how to effectively distribute their work to employees. Determining costs and timescales are all parts of project management. Projects like these take plenty of time and attention to be completed effectively and always need to be in constant thought of the manager.

Coordinating IT Staff

Taking on the role means being in charge of a sizeable group of employees. The manager must organize duties for employees to keep them fully engaged to their maximum potential. Engagement drops to 2% on teams with managers who ignore their employees, so IT managers should always be available to employees’ questions or concerns. The IT staff must understand the computer management system of the business in order to maintain effective work.

Balancing Client and Business Needs

IT managers are also responsible for complying with their online interfaces with the requests of the business and the customers. This means when a problem arises regarding usability or confusion from customers, the IT manager has to fix the issue without compromising the features’ original purpose. Similarly, when the business wants to implement a new feature in its website or mobile application, the IT manager is responsible for presenting the feature that won’t compromise the satisfaction of the customer’s experience. Finding a constant balance between these two aspects is an everyday duty of an IT manager.

Designing and Managing Technology Systems

Whatever the business, the IT manager is in charge of maintaining an operational and safe computerized system. Being the leader means being the go-to person to find creative solutions to issues with the computer system. IT managers must be knowledgeable in their field as well in regard to the system. If there are any issues that arise regarding its usability or implementation of improvement, the IT manager is responsible for it.

With all the difficult responsibilities of IT managers, taking any opportunity to relieve stress from their everyday work is always needed. Many have adopted an already established computerized system for resource management or use additional software for service support and project management such as TeamHeadquarters. Being an IT manager may have it’s ups-and-downs, but with all the roles and responsibilities, you are one of the most integral parts of the business operations.

Strategic Leadership: Easy Ways Be A Better Manager

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All good companies are run by good leaders who understand the needs of their colleagues and can act on those needs, thus be a better manager. However, great companies who have strategic leaders at their core know when and where to serve the needs of their team and how to do so in the most efficient way. This can all be achieved by doing one thing, listening. As your business grows you lose the ability to offer your employees one-on-one time to work with one another and discuss developments over the last few days, weeks or maybe even months. It is because of this that as your organization grows and matures, your employees, especially at the bottom of the ‘food chain’ lose the ability to communicate effectively with their superiors.

The lack of communication amongst management and staff can mean many things for your business. This could include, lost creativity, additional money because of duplicated tasks or projects, and poor employee satisfaction among other things. Therefore, it is critical to empowering yourself as a manager to give your staff, no matter their duties or maturity within the company the opportunity to talk with you about what is going on.

Listening 101

Regardless of what industry you’re working in, every employee wants to know that their boss genuinely cares about them and is willing to invest time and resources into their success. To be an active listener, there are three things that must occur to reach your maximum potential.

1. Create Open Time For Employees To Meet With You

This allows your staff to be welcomed into the conversation and be able to express their interests more comfortably, ideas and inputs on tasks, projects, and day-to-day operations. Also, this allows you to anticipate the needs of your staff better should anything urgent in your schedule suddenly arise.

2. Take Notes or Build Off Of Staff Discussion

Discussing with your team is a start, but if you don’t allow yourself to make anything of it, you’re wasting everyone’s time. Anticipating to take notes or address discussion points directly is critical should you want both parties to take value away from your discussions.

3. Follow Up, follow up, …

Continuing the conversation with workers not only tells them that you care about their interests but also allows you to keep track of initiatives that you may put into motion on a personal level with your team members. For example, if one of your employees suggests a new customer support software to better serve customers and their peers you should look into their suggestion. This allows you to receive critical feedback from your staff on what action actually came of your discussions.

Wrap Up

Humans are not programmed to listen to one another, and it will take time, even for veteran managers to be more open to meeting and sharing ideas freely with staff, no matter their status within the company. With the introduction of an open discussion with your team, you will not only be able to gather ideas, thoughts, and creative input much faster, but your staff will more openly discuss topics with you ranging from office gossip to management chain issues, etc. Overall, offering your team the ability to voice their ideas to you freely can have a massively positive effect on your bottom line, even if you don’t set aside a significant amount of time to it.

Who Needs IT Service Management Software?

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Any organization that wishes to optimize its business technology would benefit from IT service management software.

IT Service Management Software is also commonly known as information technology service management or ITSM. It is software that allows companies to manage service delivery to its customers and staff include hardware and software maintenance, order management, diagnostics, troubleshooting, and other routine operations.

IT service management (ITSM) refers to the entirety of activities – directed by policies, organized and structured in processes and supporting procedures – that are performed by an organization to plan, design, deliver, operate and control information technology (IT) services offered to customers. – Wikipedia

Organizations need software as a reliable foundation for their ITSM activities.  Without ITSM software the data for processing, evaluating and reporting would be inaccurate or unavailable.

Key ITSM Processes

These are the key ITSM processes that would perform ineffectively without IT service management software:

Problem Management:  The root causes of any issues and what can you do to prevent them from arising again in the future?

Incident Management: How will you efficiently deal with issues that might arise with the IT services?

Asset Management: Establish and manage information about your IT infrastructure which includes software, hardware, skills, staff, and everything needed to maintain and deliver IT services.

Change Management: Assess and monitor the changes that are significant to the delivery of IT and business improvements.

Release Management: How will you put those changes in effect?

Related Content:
ITSM Readiness Toolkit

The core processes of IT services involve a great deal of data that requires recording and categorization. ITSM software can facilitate these important data captures and facilitates categorization and reporting.

While monitoring tools can automatically collect service management data, most information is contained in service desk tickets from service desk staff or other end users directly entering issues into the ITSM software.

Purchasing an all-in-one solution typically provides more benefit than multiple, stand-alone products to handle disparate processes; i.e. help desk software, project management software, customer portal, asset manager, resource manager.

A single, all-in-one solution has built-in efficiencies, related data and reporting should be easier.

TeamHeadquarters, from Entry Software, helps you manage all work in a unified simple-to-use system. It includes help desk, project management, resource management, scheduling, and asset management.

For a free demo of TeamHeadquarters, click here.

Innovate IT and Foster Company-Wide Innovation

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One of IT’s key functions is to provide quality customer service to end users. Specifically, the department is responsible for deploying new technologies that can help employees do their jobs better.

  • Pro-actively managing hardware, software and data.
  • Decreasing downtime of end-user machines by providing break-fix and troubleshooting services.

Consumerization of IT and a Shift in Priorities

However, as the consumerization of IT continues, companies will provide employees with more flexibility regarding device usage — including adoption of the growing Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend. With this fundamental shift in enterprise technology, IT’s role will likely transform from one focused on deliverables, to one that is focused on consultation and support. [Read more…] about Innovate IT and Foster Company-Wide Innovation