In the world of IT, amassing personal power is all about
boosting credibility. As Andy Avila, IT and security manager at
San Francisco law firm Cooley Godward Kronish says, "Credibility brings power
because with it plans have a better chance of standing for themselves."
So how do you go about increasing your credibility? Avila
and others share these tried-and-true tips.
1. Focus on clear communication without the technobabble.
"A lot of IT people grow up in the IT world. To expand their role and become
more important to the organization, they need to learn to speak business," says
Paul Lemerise, executive services partner at consulting firm Tatum.
At Colorado State Employees Credit Union, that means
sparing executives and other managers detailed technology explanations, says Tom
Gonzales, senior network administrator at the Denver organization.
Instead, he
translates what he wants to do with the technology into how it
affects the bottom line.
As
an example, when Manley was charged with bringing the school's data center
to the next level, she sent her team through training to update their
skills. "The better they are, the better I am," she says.
Avila also is a big believer in training. "A lot of our
training is technical so we [learn to] understand the systems and technologies
we're going to be implementing," he says. He encourages his team to get
third-party and vendor certifications, as well as attend seminars and join legal
services peer groups.
"When you stand up before executives to propose or defend a
project, you need that education behind you to gain credibility," he says.
3. Create opportunities for regular face time with users.
If your user base say "we," "us" and "our" when talking about IT projects, then
you know you've successfully positioned IT as a critical part of the
organization, Lemerise says. He recommends putting yourself in your users' shoes
when assessing a problem. Too often, he says, IT managers have blinders on and
solve a particular network issue that doesn't address the overall problem. For
instance, if a user at a remote site is getting poor performance, the IT manager
may tweak that person's computer instead of considering that an increase in
bandwidth to that office might improve everyone's performance and boost overall
productivity.
Manley keeps in touch by participating in the university's
IT roundtables and power user groups. "These groups help precipitate the type of
interaction we need" to understand concerns, she says.
Face-to-face communication is a must for building
credibility, Avila adds. His team meets with users as much as possible, even
though the firm's eight locations are across the country.
"I like meeting people on the front line -- the partners,
associates, secretaries and administrative staff -- who need the help-desk
support," he says. "When we do cutovers, we make it a point to do floor support
in conjunction with phone and help-desk support. That way, when they call in
later for assistance, it brings a level of comfort, confidence and credibility
to how they view our team."
# # #