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Project Leaders Need to have Subject Matter Expertise

Your project leader needs to understand your business. And the system you’re implementing. Too many times, project managers don’t have that knowledge. They only know how to manage projects. Creating lists of things to do. Calling out people on missed…

Hiring Technical Leaders – Finding the right balance

You’re a mid-sized company. You’re thinking of hiring an IT executive. How much technical skill should they have? IT management is a balance. Some folks cling to their technical backgrounds. They may manage a team of 20 but when push…

What happens when you’ve set a clear priority for your IT team.

Management’s key job is to set clear priorities.  Without clear priorities, folks keep switching focus from task to task and nothing gets done. So, one of the first things we’ll want to do together is set some clear priorities. To…

The Five Easy Pieces of a Data Project

You’ve decided that a project is worth doing. What to do next? As a non-technical executive, you want to know what you’re signing up for. As non-technical executive, you can’t care about the technical details. But you need to know…

What executives need to do for successful projects

You as the executive are key to your team’s project success. Not the technology you choose. Or the exact skills of the team. But you. I’ve worked with a lot of different executives. Here’s what successful project leaders do:

Project Leadership vs Project Management

Most folks have an idea about what a project manager does. But maybe don’t know what a project leader is about. Project management tells you what needs to get done to make your project work. Project leadership makes sure you’re…

Five years of work is not five years of experience 

You have an employee.  A solid employee, not stellar.  Let’s call him Sam.  Sam’s been with you for five years.  And you’ve made sure his pay keeps up with the cost of living.   Including the recent inflation craziness.  But here’s…

Can we talk here? 

Can you’re team actually say what they’re thinking?  Or are they afraid?  I’ve been frequently told that I say what everyone else is thinking. And indeed, especially when powered by numbers, I see no reason to hold back.  But while…

Change projects vs maintain projects 

A project can mean a lot of things. But in my world of data and software, I like to distinguish between maintain project and change projects.  Change projects start with the assumption that things as they are don’t work. We can’t…

The right person is not the smartest person

Technical folks are impressed by smart.  How fast someone can code.  How quickly they can learn a new skill.   How many obscure features they’ve mastered of any given system.  I think it’s better to ask – how right?   As in…