IT is About People
Bob Hicks
Client Services
IST
IT is About People
• I am reaching the point in my career and in
my life where I find myself thinking a lot more
about people, and less about technology.
• Managing people is about motivation,
communication, dealing with adversity,
teamwork, mentoring, and collaboration.
• As a manager you want your staff to feel
motivated, challenged and happy. You want
your staff to be good team players, and you
want them to excel.
General Observations
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IT people are different
Some people don’t play well with others
Teamwork is not just a sports term
Talk to the right person
The older I get the better I used to be
All people, even IT people, have feelings
Learn by observing others
Involvement in volunteer organizations has
many benefits
Thoughts
• Managers need to spend a lot of time
thinking how things are being done, how
things can be improved and setting goals
for the future.
• How well do managers know their staff –
are they happy, do they enjoy their job, are
they motivated, etc etc
Learn From Experience
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Learn by observing others
Learn by your mistakes
Learn by success
Learn by listening to others
Keep learning, no matter how much of an
expert you think you are
A Player Today, Perhaps a Coach
Tomorrow
Most Managers didn’t start as
Managers
How do Managers Learn to Be
Managers
Think of Someone who Has
Inspired You
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A manager
A coach
A teacher
A parent
A friend
A teammate
A colleague
An opponent
What was it about this person that inspired you?
Think of the Best Coach/Manager
You Ever had, and write down
why
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Dedicated
Fair
Funny
Relaxed
Knowledgeable
Loves what they do
Set an example
Pushed you to reach your best
Inspiring Others to be Their
Best
• A great thing about coaching/managing is it
provides you with an opportunity to do more
than just coach/manage.
• Coaching/Managing provides an opportunity
to set an example and teach life skills.
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overcome adversity
Be in control of yourself
Time management
be part of a team (most jobs involve teamwork)
Individual Performance
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Everyone is different.
Coaches/managers often speak to the “team” as a group. Problem is, every
member of the team is motivated in a different way.
What/Who motivates you?
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Team performance
Individual performance
Individual goals
Your colleagues (encouragement, setting an example)
Positive reinforcement
Motivational speeches
Music
Client feedback
Yourself (pep talk to yourself)
Motivational Signs: Attitudes are contagious. Is your attitude worth catching?
What else?
Passion
• Those that excel at work or in sports have
PASSION for what they do, no matter what job
they have.
• How do you get that PASSION?
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Pride
Inherit
Taught
From observing others
It’s hard work to sustain passion all the time
• You have to have fun at work
Motivation
• Why Perform to the Best of Your Ability (in other words, who
cares)?
– To receive praise (almost everyone likes to be told they did a
good job)
– To get a job promotion (more money, responsibility, to be in a
position to manage others, prestige)
– Scholarship opportunities
– Just because that’s the way you are!
– Want to succeed (if everyone improves on your team, your team
is better).
– Personal satisfaction
– Personal goals
– What else?
What Motivates You?
• Everyone is different – what motivates you might not
motivate your teammate or co-worker.
• How can your teacher, parent, boss, coach motivate
you?
– Giving you frequent raises at work is not likely to happen
– Praise
– Constructive feedback – feedback that you can use to
improve
– by setting an example
– Being given more responsibility
– Good results
Frequency of Communication
(what works best for you)
• Constant communication
• Daily, Weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, annually
• No one technique works for everyone
Some Things I Learned as a
Coach
• Make sure praise is deserved.
• Make it individual as well as team.
• Ask how individual players are motivated
(meeting at beginning of season, constant
individual interaction through season). Too
often coaches find out how players are
motivated when it’s too late…at the end of
the season or when there is an issue.
Success or Failure
• Set people up for success, not failure.
• There will be mistakes, as that is how you
learn and should be recognized as lessons –
learning opportunities.
• Managers need to know their staff member’s
capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses.
• Managers need to judge the amount of stress
that their staff can cope with (i.e. how hard to
push).
Good Managers
• Good mangers have a tremendous capacity to step
back at critical moments and see what needs to
happen.
• It’s a fine line between appearing to up tight and being
too relaxed.
• Manage yourself: be in control.
• Continually strive to be better. Know what you do well,
and know what you need to work on. Just because
you were successful in the past doing it one way,
doesn’t mean it will work again.
• Delegate. Trust people to do the right thing and to do a
good job.
Learn to Deal with Adversity
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One thing for sure in life…there will be adversity.
You are not going to win every game, every tournament, every
championship.
You are not going to get along with everyone.
Success in sports and in life is all about learning to deal with and overcome
obstacles and challenges.
Every team will face adversity. The successful teams learn to deal with it.
Sometimes you need help to deal with adversity.
Answer “What if” questions…as a coach be prepared to answer the tough
questions…what if we lose the important game and how will you talk to your
team to prepare for the next important event. “No golfer wants to be in the
sand trap, but the good ones anticipate and prepare for that possibility”.
Don’t point fingers at anyone to blame them for something…for every finger
you point, there are 3 fingers pointing right back at you!
Learn from adversity. You won’t get every job you apply for.
Confrontation
• Sometimes it takes a more confronting style
of communication (than you are used to) to
get the results you are looking for.
• Need to make sure the issue is attributed to
something over which the other person has
control and can change.
• Provide “breather” time before dealing with
an issue.
• Lay the groundwork for recovery: move from
what is to what ought to be.
Top 5 Coaching Lessons I
Learned
1. Too serious after some success
– Make sure everyone on the team has a role
2. Expectations too high
3. Have to Have fun.
My Lessons Learned
4. Get to know people as individuals
– Everyone is different. Some are shy, some may
seem distant or uninterested, some are
disruptive, some are not sociable, some have
other issues that they don’t want to share, etc
etc.
5. There is more to life than just work
– Everyone has things going on that may be
difficult to deal with, and will affect how they
behave and how they perform
Communication Roles
• Players don’t want to hear the same things
over and over, game after game, from the
coaching staff
• Assign Roles. Your role may not be exactly
what you hoped for
Conclusions for
Coaches/Managers
• Engage with your players/staff. In other words, get to
know them.
• You cannot make people better if you are unwilling to
have those difficult conversations with them. Make
sure your player knows that you care and have their
best interests at heart.
• Focus on building confidence. This doesn’t mean
praise; it means that there is no question in your
player’s mind that what you think of them is not tied to
their performance on the ice.
• Work on emotional discipline. If you struggle with that,
prepare ahead of time.
Conclusions for Players
Attitude is Everything. That’s how people
remember you.
• Believe in Yourself