I always complain to myself on how I just don’t ever seem to getting around to making a task or “to do” list. The problem isn’t that I have nothing to do, it’s more like I have a lot to do and they’re all in different directions (common mistake with living in both Problem and Incident Management). On this particular morning I was getting quite heavily down on myself and a nice memory came to mind about something my manager said a few days ago. We were talking about a particular project manager in our department and my supervisor made a comment that went along the lines of “he just wants to check one more thing off his task list.” At first I was feeling pretty damn crummy for not keeping a better task list so I can actually check things off, but this morning I realized task lists really don’t fit into my ITIL world. In fact, I don’t know if they necessarily fit into ITIL or ITSM at all. Please understand I’m not saying you shouldn’t be organized and start the day each morning with a set goals for the day (or in my case temporary goals since they always change), but I am saying that IT Service Management and Service Improvements are not items to be marked off of a list. In fact, a continual theme I hear is the need for always going back to make improvements. Hmmm….continual and service improvements; this is starting to sound familiar. I think the Project Management world is great – it’s really an efficient and organized way of getting things accomplished, especially with big initiatives. But IT Service Management doesn’t run from a task list. I can lay out a set of items to complete that should increase customer satisfaction or decrease first call resolution, but if the metrics and KPI’s aren’t changing the way that they should, then it’s back to the drawing board. In fact, even if they do change and reach projected levels I still have to go back to the drawing board because now I want those levels to be maintained. So why don’t I keep a task list? It’s not because I’m disorganized or I’m on Facebook all day (thank you Zuckerburg for such an addictive drug), it’s because I want to maintain the flexibility in my job for change in order to meet my ultimate goals, which (hopefully) are the same as the business. So if you’re a Project Manager and are reading this (thank you by the way since not many people come here), I hope you don’t get offended that I don’t like task lists; they’re just not for me.
Browsing Posts published by Michael
Take a look at the IT Skeptic’s latest post regarding underspending: http://www.itskeptic.org/why-it-projects-fail-underspend. I’m not going to claim to be a genius, but without even reading the post I knew right away where the underspending is; people. In the post he even mentions how we underspend on changing culture, which is a key success factor if an initiative is going to succeed or fail. Once again, the IT Skeptic is preaching to the choir.
This post will definitely fall under the “lessons learned” category and has to do with a Service Catalogue not really being on the high priority list for IT in hospitals. At the past itSMf Fusion 10 conference I met a few fellow ITSM’ers that also work in hospitals, and when asked about implementing a Service Catalogue most responded with “it’s not a priority right now.” And why isn’t it? Once again I’ll look towards money as an answer: Financial details aren’t high on the priority list for IT in health care. This is not a good thing. In fact, it’s a very bad thing. Since IT in a hospital doesn’t charge for IT Services (at least mine and a few others don’t), why put the work into building and maintaining a Service Catalogue when the users won’t use it? After all, putting a dollar amount to a Service Item that reads “EMR System to Prevent Medication Errors and Save Lives….$199.99” might look kind of bad. On the other hand, if the hospital (as the business) asks IT where is all the money going, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to show that information? In other words, get into the details for the cost of technology. This also goes wonderfully in line with marketing the IT department as a valuable business asset instead of just a financial black hole. Let the hospital know that supporting all of the initiatives costs a certain amount per employee and (in my case) as the hospital grows more IT staff will be required just to maintain current Service Levels.
This may not be the exact reason why to use or publish a Service Catalogue, but I think it’s one that gives an idea as to the true cost of technology. People in the “business” may actually start to realize the expense of IT and will hopefully ask “why does it cost so much?” Just be sure to have an answer ready.
It’s been a great few days at the itSMF Fusion 10 conference and I have to say I definitely had a great time. Met a lot of brilliant people, came across some new and useful information (as well as not so new information – but that’s expected), and I had opportunities to meet some other like-minded IT professionals
Without further delay, here’s the absolute best of the information, observations and lessons learned from the conference:
1. Culture, culture, culture. I’ve read and written how culture is crucial for any process improvement initiative, and it must have been the most widely spoken critical success factor.
2. Be as transparent as possible and show everything that I.T. is doing. This has two goals. First, being transparent exposes all the dysfunctions of the department so people realize that improvements do need to be made. Secondly, when the department is doing very well it’s important to show “the business” where the money is being spent.
3. Just about everyone has the same set of challenges with process and customer service improvement. As much as I love to be original I hate to admit that the challenges I see in health care are the same challenges that everyone else is seeing, both within the same industry and across the general I.T. spectrum.
4. The easiest way to make a change is with leadership approval. Do I really need to explain this one?
5. The most difficult way to make a change is by waiting for someone to do it for you.
6. Malcolm Fry is pretty damn intelligent. If you live in ITIL or ITSM, don’t pass up a chance to hear him speak, especially if you love British humor.
7. I’m not the only one that has difficulty in being direct with verbal communication.
8. If you want to know where I.T. will be in five years, have an economist map out future trends. I’ll have to write more on this topic.
9. Don’t wear blue shirts.
10. There are a lot of nice vendors out there and as much as my head was about to explode with hearing their speeches, I forget that the vendor life is not an easy one.
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