Kevin Mullins

Focus on Technical and Managerial Topics

I am coming up on my one year anniversary of blogging and I am looking to make a couple changes in focus and strategy with my blogging.

I really enjoy blogging and communicating and I know that I have a little following, however most of the folks that have communicated with me are more technical non-management folks and my interest and/or search for improvement is more on the managerial side, which leads to more posts about managerial content as opposed to technical content.

So, in an attempt to maintain both a technical and managerial focus I have created an new blog for system administrators called The System Admin which is located at www.syadmin.net. Notice the spelling and play on sy.

I have moved my Technical Manager's Perspective blog from my www.kmmm.net domain to www.techmgr.net. I am not sure what I am going to do with my www.kmmm.net domain however I will be focusing on both the www.techmgr.net and www.syadmin.net domains in the next few months.

Technorati : Blog, Management, System Administration

Are you a leader ?

My question to you is --- Are you a leader ?

You do not have to be a Manager, Director, VP or higher to be a leader. We find leaders in every organization at every level. You can be the leader of your group, or the go-to-guy on a topic, or the consistent dependable person that everyone knows they can count on. I feel that you lead by your actions and examples and not by your knowledge or position.

George Ambler from The Practice of Leadership writes that "Culture is the shadow of the leader" and I agree with him, and I know that at times it is hard to change the culture of a company, especially when the people in senior positions adopt a "do as I say, and not as I do" policy. However I do feel that you can lead by example, no matter what your title is. George writes, "It's primarily the leaders actions that inspire people to do more, to be more and to learn more." and again, I want to point out that this can happen at all levels in an organization.

I truly feel that if you want to move ahead in your organization, you need to lead by example, and after reading Georges post this week about Culture as the shadow of the leader, I wanted to reiterate his comments and in particular, take a closer look at what we are doing on a daily basis, and try and determine how that reflects on us and determine how it impacts the folks around us.

Technorati : leadership, management

Moving forward

Things have really changed at work as the strategy and pace of our new company is really starting to take hold on a daily basis. Four weeks ago we had a major layoff within the IT ranks, and folks are finally starting to settle down feeling somewhat relieved that we still have jobs and that there is a need for us.

I really feel bad for all of those impacted by the layoff, as I have been in their position and understand what it feels like to get up every morning and not have a job to go to. I was layed off from my last position, and it took me four months and a large cut in pay to find a new position. Good Luck to all of you.

My new boss resides in New York and was on-site this past week. We speak on a daily basis, and have really started to get in sync over the last two weeks. Up to this point, he focused on his infrastructure in another state, and I focused on the infrastructure in my facility. However, it is apparent that we need to start focusing on both infrastructures, and this will be good for both of us.

He asked me to set up one-on-ones with my staff and that worked out very well. At first the staff was skeptical and a little concerned, but it was a very positive experience for the staff. I think they thought it was going to be some test or challenge, and instead it was more of a get to know you - what do you want to do with your career type session. It worked out very well and left my staff feeling comfortable with their future. I heard the same key points over and over again this week:

1) There are no planned layoffs in IT, and we are safe as long as we do our job.
2) Now we have two Data Centers to support, and not just one.
3) Let's move forward

My outlook is changing and becoming much more positive but, time will tell if they really walk the talk.

I think they will.

Technorati : Management, Management; communications, Manager

Bitter sweet week

Oh, what a week...

I often read blogs and occasionally come across a statement like " Oh what a week" and think, wow that is an overused phrase, however if you spoke to the 40 folks at our company that were let go this week, you would realize that my first comment was not an over reaction.

If you have been reading my blog, you know that there has been much volatility at work. After being acquired in October, working thru the planning process and strategy, loosing employees, and getting by the first round of layoffs, our IT group had a major hit this week.

My boss (Director Level) and his boss (VP Level) were both given severance packages, one direct report and a peer at my level were also given severance packages. In total 36 IT folks were released, and another dozen were given 30 - 90 day packages to transition their responsibilities to others. The focus of the change was to move the leadership from our old organization to the new organization in another state.

I was one of the lucky ones. I was not given a severance package, but instead, I was asked to stay. At first I was pretty much in shock. I had anticipated the loss of my boss or maybe his boss but not both, and the loss of one of my direct reports, and a peer who was a good friend, was very hard to deal with. It is always hard to see folks that you have worked with, loose their job, but when you loose good people you wonder why. I am not afraid to ask why, and I did, and after a little positioning, I was told that the new company is not management heavy and prefers to run with less management. However, it appears that most of the management positions are held by employees from the acquiring company, and not our company.

On a positive note, I have been asked to stay and I have been asked to try an motivate my folks to stay. I was pretty skeptical on the first day, however, after multiple conversations with my new boss and his boss, I feel better and feel like the outlook is positive. We have been told that there are no more planned reductions in IT, and the current organization is the organization for the future, only time will tell if this is true or not. Our new senior management team is very direct and does not dance around issues, instead they let you know one way or another, good or bad, and so far they have been straight with us and done what they said they were going to do. As a manager, I like that.

However, this is were I struggled this week .....

One of my direct reports was given the severance package this week. I questioned why and was told that she was the only person in her role and that her role and the application that she supports will be phased out.

Also, a good friend and peer was also given a severance package. The stinger here is, I was given the responsibility to manage his group as well as my own group. It's great that management thought enough about me to increase my responsibly, and give me this new group, however it sucks that it came at the expense of my friend. What do you say to your new staff who just lost their longtime manager ?

I told them just that .... " It sucks, and it is so bitter sweet for me to take on this new responsibility."

Technorati : Management, Manager

Effective communication

I came across a post at the Practice of Leadership blog that I found interesting. The title of the post is "Leaders connect with the people" and it is basically about communication and getting your message communicated effectively.

"Getting the message across is one of the most challenging leadership tasks. People are powerfully engaged when they emotionally connect with the leader's message. Meaningful conversation, shared experiences and teaching are the foundation of emotional connections with others. Weak communication results in emotional detachment and people disengage from the leader's vision and goals. Effective leaders spend time with their people in conversation and in shared experiences, using their experience to teach and mentor others." to read more ....

The point the I would like to make is our job becomes much more difficult when we do not communicate effectively. This past week I found myself is a situation where I had multiple technical and non-technical issues to deal with. One issue was non-technical and non-work related, however it heightened my stress level, and when combined with the usual stresses of work, this made my normal communication difficult.

After dealing with a difficult work related incident, I realized that I was in that emotional warning zone and forced myself to take a step back, stop talking and start breathing. I really believe that there is more to communication than just verbal communication and this was confirmed when later in the week at my staff meeting I said something like "I know I was a little worked up yesterday", and someone replied sarcastically "A little". That's when I knew that my stress level and emotion from the day before had spilled over and probably influenced my team.

I know that situations like this occur every day, however, as a manager I believe that we need to be able to handle the daily stress without loosing your cool, and we need to set an example and always be consistent when communicating to team members, to peers or to management.

Technorati : Management; communications

Consolidation Strategy

We have about 900 employees in our office complex and 62 were given a severance package on Tuesday. Only one person within our division was impacted and at this point my staff remains in place. The severance notices came out the day before a Company wide Town Meeting, and the overall impact was less than expected.

Tuesday was a real edgy day. No one really knew was was happening, rumors were rampant and slowly but surely the facts came out. My Director called me and let me know what happened and I communicated that to my folks, however they knew before I officially told them.

The Town Meeting went well as they identified a centralized consolidated strategy for all groups and applications. They identified a time frame of one to two years to complete the consolidation which was a relief to most folks. On Thursday we had a all IT meeting and I asked if there would be further consolidation on the system/infrastructure side. Our CIO stated that they were concentrating on the divisional and application consolidations and when that is finalized they will look at the remainder of IT and identify where they may gain additional efficiencies. That was a long answer for not at this time, however what this means for my staff and myself is, we do not have to worry about being lay-ed off in the next couple of months which will give us to time to show the new management team how we work and what we can do.

Inspiration and Influence

I am a big fan of building influence in the workplace an wrote about Influence this past July with a post called Building Influence. This past week Lisa Haneberg, a professional management, leadership, trainer, coach, and organization development consultant who maintains a blog called Management Craft, posted a great list for anyone looking for help inspiring or influencing others. The post is called "10 Ways to Inspire Others" and is well worth the read.

The Management Craft blog is written with Managers as the primary audience, however everyone can benefit from this list. In my opinion, you build influence by building and maintaining strong relationships, by communicating effectively and by being fair and consistent across all groups in the organization.

Lisa writes that you inspire people by:

1. Be a role model of courage. When our managers demonstrate courage, this will inspire us to do the same and we will respect them all the more.
2. Take a stand. Share your perspective and be open. The most inspiring leaders have a strong vision for how things ought to be.
3. Reject politics! Many of us are sick of politics and would gladly follow and respect leaders who rejected the mucky muck - even if we do not agree with him or her all the time. The wishy washy spin speak is nauseating.
4. Listen more, speak less. Show your employees that you value input and collaboration. This applies to your team members and peers - show them you respect and include your peers.
5. Beat your goals and don't rest until you do. Managers who are OK with mediocre performance (even if they can make the case that it's not their fault) are uninspiring. People want to work for successful leaders.
6. Spend time in their shoes. In fact, swap places with your employees every now and then. Show them you want to understand what their world looks and feel like. Bonus: You will learn tons!
7. Reject over the top perks. OK, so you earned the promotion. Don't flaunt your trappings and take a stand to reject perks that separate you from your team. Think about how you felt when you were in their positions. Try to spread the wealth on great experiences like conferences, trainings, product offerings, and other perks.
8. Represent your employee's needs to senior management and with your peers. Take the initiative to make things better. Wow, that will speak volumes about your intention to serve them and this is very inspiring.
9. Be the best expression of your unique style. We are all different, so don't turn into a corporate clone. That said, be the classiest version of you possible. Like a fine grape varietal, be the fullest expression of you.
10. Be inspired by others. Share your role models and why they inspire you.

This is a great list that highlights how we can continue to grow and get better at what we do whether we are a individual-contributers, project leaders, project managers, managers, directors, VP's, CIO's or CEO's.

I really enjoy and relate to Lisa's blog. She writes with a purpose for helping others and concentrates on strategies that help you grow as a manager. Lisa blog Management Craft has inspired me to think about what I do on a daily basis and helped me to refine my influence.

Practice of Leadership

Lately I have been reading a lot about management and leadership strategies on the Manager Tools blog and the Practice of Leadership blog. I have often commented on Manager Tools, however I have not commented on The Practice of Leadership blog.

Practice of Leadership blog is managed by George Ambler, an IT Strategist from Johannesburg, South Africa. George reads a lot of books on management and leadership and often comments on his readings and provides excerpts and quotes from his readings. There is a real wealth on knowledge here written clearly and concisely from Georges point of view.

Here is a sample of some of his posts :

11 Qualities of Leaders

10 signs of an unsafe leader

Peter Drucker on Leadership

Leaders Focus on Creating, Not Problem Solving

How to build a great team

Five Steps to engage your employees

How to become and expert at anything

7 Ways to Ensure that your E-mail gets read

If you are looking to improve your Managerial and Leadership skills, check out both Practice of Leadership and the Manager Tools blog.

Resignation over corporate uncertainty

One of my top administrators resigned a couple of weeks ago and left this week. The reason that he gave for leaving was lack of job security and uncertainty due to sale of the company. He hit the job market and quickly found and accepted a new position with a raise and a promise of growth and stability. Another member of my staff appears to be in the same position. Although he has not officially stated this to me, he has had a number of doctors and dentist appointments over the last few weeks and my feeling is that he will not be staying.

It's hard to motivate folks to stay thru this period of transition when there is so much uncertainty surrounding their positions. It's fairly easy for the younger guys and girls to land new positions. New opportunities can be very attractive and make a reasonable case for leaving, especially when the younger folks are in the lower end of the salary scale, and have gained more experience and a stronger skill set. Good folks are always looking to grow and usually grow out of the position that they are in.

As a manager, it's my job to help my folks thru these decisions. We all come from different backgrounds and different circumstances, however one truth that I believe in is, you need to be comfortable with your job and you should and enjoy your job, and if that is not the case, then you should try and find a position that you do enjoy.

As these stronger employees grow and eventually move on, I look at it with a sense of endorsement and regret.

Take Care Jim ......

Technorati : Management

Good Management Decisions

If you read my earlier posts Changes at Work and Managing through change, then you know that we have just completed a change in ownership at work and tensions are high. This week was a little better than last management communicated well and made every attempt to address the fears of the organization.

Our new senior management became aware that the decision to move our production computing environments to their current data center in another state had been communicated to the masses and this prompted a set of meetings to try and calm the folks down and communicate their intentions. For the most part, Senior management succeeded in calming the folks down, however some of us are still skeptical.

Our CIO pulled together a meeting of all managers and directors to discuss the impact and to try and alleviate any fears. This was a good move and I would have done the same thing, however it was obvious to most of us, that our CIO is not in the new senior management decision making process, and that has some of us concerned. Our CIO let us know that the new Senior Management team would be onsite the following day to speak with all IT folks. This was a good move and really calmed down my staff.

Senior Management let us know that they had hoped that the long term strategy for the production environments could have been communicated differently with an emphasis on the actual deployment timeframe along with a resource impact statement. They stated that their staff was just beginning our Integration planning process and that we would be involved in that, however the new team was still in the process of integrating a company that they acquired 2004 and they were concentrating their efforts on completing the 2004 integration.

They emphasized that the timeframe for most of the migrations to another data center would be 12 to 18 months and they need us for the migration and support after the migration. Their support strategy was to perform remote support from our facility to their facility. With the right infrastructure (network, kvm, monitoring tools) this is certainly possible.

I was pleasantly surprised to see how genuine they appeared. There were no airs about them and there was no spin. They answered all questions and spoke easily and openly. This meeting relieved some of my fears, and now I feel comfortable that I will have a job in January, however I am still skeptical about my long term future with this company.

Technorati : Management