Page 47 - Straight Talk On Project Management IV

4 - Honesty around capacity

IT used to try to keep capacity challenges a secret. We didn't want to appear vulnerable. We were
like the Wizard of Oz hiding behind a curtain! We didn't want to shout that we were lacking because
this would somehow reflect badly on us as a department and our ability to plan. This needs a
reframe. When the Transport Director doesn't have enough vans, he doesn't start loading up his
BMW, he calls the van rental firm.

I don't know why IT feels insecure about doing this but it IS a story that I see repeated time and
again. Maybe, it's because of the metrics by which we are judged. We are a results-based sector and
have probably become eager to please because that's how we get our bonus or the green light on
that next project. If there were rewards for the creativity with which we manager capacity we'd ALL
be millionaires.

We need to be more transparent about our capacity challenges. Our capacity delivers business
change and growth - limit that capacity and you limit your firm's potential in these areas.

AND Something really exciting happens when you're transparent about capacity. Other parts of the
business become advocates for IT!
If your sales department needs a new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to manage
and close deals more quickly and you're honest about your capacity to deliver, what do you think the
Sales Director does? At the next board meeting she is saying, "Hey, IT needs this person or this extra
resource!"
The business will still love you after you admit gaps!

5 - Educate

Many other business units don't understand what we do, not really. I mean they know when the
network is down or when the Wi-Fi isn't working but what we do the rest of the time isn't on their
radar. They see the component of what we do that impacts them but not the overall complexity. As
Blackadder once said, explaining the “The Ravelling Nancy” cotton ‘raveller’ to the Prince Regent, "I
am one of these people who are quite happy to wear cotton but have no idea how it works." Most in
HR, Sales, Distribution, etc are similarly happy to use their H.R., Sales and Distribution software
blissfully unaware of how it works.

If we're being honest, we've used this to our advantage - there is safety in anonymity! These days
though this comes at a cost. Perception is powerful and although IT Project teams always look busy
it is only when we deliver a project every six months that this is really noticed by the wider business -
whereas everyone sees the fruits of the other departments, the new hire, the orders flying in, the
vans trucking out – on a regular basis.

This is why the perception exists that you can ask someone from the IT Project team a question on a
Monday and have it delivered by the Friday.

My CIO friend Kev sends out a weekly bulletin email, another has a HUGE whiteboard visible from
the corridor showing tasks completed and their business impact - you will find your own way but it is
time to educate your business colleagues about just how busy you are on their behalf!