My latest article, Five Keys to Managing Gen Y was recently picked up by Business in Vancouver and published in the January 17-23 edition.  Here’s an excerpt:

You’d think we were grumpy old men. Recently I had lunch with a number of IT leaders, and  several people were bemoaning the challenges they’re having with some of their younger staff members. The complaining was ironic, as none of us are old men (yet). One thing was clear however: managing the
generation of instant gratification (gen-Yers, millenials) requires a different set of strategies.

To read more, please jump over to the GrowthPoint Group news page.

Traditionally, IT teams has been good at jumping on requests, especially for emergency problems, and working on them immediately. Unfortunately, they haven’t always been so strong at communicating what’s happening.

There are several areas we can improve on communications (especially in email) within the team and externally.  Clear and complete e-mail communications are key to providing a high level of customer service and ensuring issues are fully dealt with in an appropriate timeline.

I’m not going to go into the standards of email etiquette here – you all know to be professional, clear and concise in your email.  Instead, let’s focus on when we communicate and what we include in those communications. (more…)

It always amazes me just how many IT departments believe they’re “doing a great job”, but don’t actually  know how they’re doing.  Without gathering feedback from end-users, it’s hard truly understand the quality of service provided. Creating an open feedback loop builds a stronger relationship with end-users, gathers measurable feedback on IT performance and helps to improve overall service levels. (more…)