Any Information Technology pros out there?

[marty_scher]

I manage a small IT group(3)that handles everything from PCs,phones,Windows servers, and some secondary UNIX support.<br /><br />As you all may know and i smy experience, IT work is basically troubleshoot and fix this troubleshoot and fix that, install this, install that and attend some meetings.<br /><br />Now, as part of the team's (including mine as a manager)annual performance review, we (I) have to come up with a way to "measure" this amount of work, including setting some types of specific goals and times to achieve these goals.<br />Training and certification is also included, but I still neeed more.<br /><br />You may know these as "metrics".<br /><br />I'm stumped on how to get going to create meaningful goals. We do have a helpdesk queue, that I can get some info from, but most everything else is "just do it".<br /><br />Anyone have a source of info, or have implemented something like this in their IT shop? Any help is appreciated<br /><br />Marty

 

[BassMan283]

Re: Any Information Technology pros out there?

Ah, the annual performance review, the fraternity initiation of business. And in most cases, just about as meaningful as scoring high in the beer chug.<br /><br />As a practical matter, only the training and certification goals are likely to affect compensation. The others are just there to show you're paying attention.<br /><br />Metrics are kind of a pain, since you have to devote a certain amount of time collecting data rather than doing your job. Some relatively easy ones in your case might be response time from trouble call to arrival at the problem site, number of trouble calls handled per day, time to correct problem (although this could result in apples, oranges and maybe some other fruit bunched together), upgrades or enhancements added to system.<br /><br />Your most meaningful goal may be "survive another year in this dump in spite of the total lack of management committment", but that's probably not what your boss is going to want to see.<br /><br />The biggest problem most people have with establishing goals is attempting to be too profound. "Acheive world peace" is too profound. "Reduce trouble call response time by 10%" will have your boss nodding his head in approval and might actually be attainable.<br /><br />I hope this helps a little, but I should warn you I have a terrible time every year coming up with this stuff. I try to follow the guidelines above and, so far, it's worked. Remember, your boss doesn't like annual reviews any more than you do.

 

[blifsey]

Re: Any Information Technology pros out there?

Write the goals so they will fit even if you (or management) changes its priorities. Don't put in "Implement brand ABC software" when mid year you might shift to brand XYZ software. Rather, write the goals with regards to the functionality of the system. Also, everything IT does is usually for some "end user". Make sure the measures don't penalize you based on actions (or lack of action) by the end user if at all possible. For example, you could write goal to "offer 5 training courses for MS Office" instead of "train 100 users in MS Office". Make sense? Also, write the goals to the technical level of the management that will review it. Include tech stuff if going to a CIO but use layman terms if going to a non-technical VP.

 

[BassMan283]

Re: Any Information Technology pros out there?

Good stuff, HotByte. Incidentally, I'm a Quality Engineer, not IT pro, but the principle is the same. Enhance your company's operation, make your boss look good.

 

[Ross J]

Re: Any Information Technology pros out there?

You could try the system we used here in nursing. We called it acuities and it worked by the different tasks having an hourly man hour attributed to it and then the nurses were given an 8hr job per day. It failed as soon as management realised they were working the nurses too hard and had to employ some more. They scrapped it not us!<br />Ross

 

[Scoop]

Re: Any Information Technology pros out there?

Good suggestions Hotbyte. When you do put down some goals, make sure they are attainable or have backing from the right area. If they are not properly backed then, funding can dry up and make them unattainable. Some metrics for an IT department are.<br /><br />1. Number of trouble calls<br />2. Time to respond or fix.<br />3. End user satisfaction<br />4. Uptime for your systems.<br />5. Implementation timeframe and success<br />6. Reduction in the number of trouble calls<br />7. Track your metrics. Type of calls, what was fixed, etc. Put out reports at the end of each year to show where the time is going.<br /><br />Training is important. It shows senior management that you are keeping up on your skills. If it is on a system you already know, you may get a couple pointers but not a whole lot of benefit.