- Management Reference Guide
- Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Strategic Management
- Establishing Goals, Objectives, and Strategies
- Aligning IT Goals with Corporate Business Goals
- Utilizing Effective Planning Techniques
- Developing Worthwhile Mission Statements
- Developing Worthwhile Vision Statements
- Instituting Practical Corporate Values
- Budgeting Considerations in an IT Environment
- Introduction to Conducting an Effective SWOT Analysis
- IT Governance and Disaster Recovery, Part One
- IT Governance and Disaster Recovery, Part Two
- Customer Management
- Identifying Key External Customers
- Identifying Key Internal Customers
- Negotiating with Customers and Suppliers—Part 1: An Introduction
- Negotiating With Customers and Suppliers—Part 2: Reaching Agreement
- Negotiating and Managing Realistic Customer Expectations
- Service Management
- Identifying Key Services for Business Users
- Service-Level Agreements That Really Work
- How IT Evolved into a Service Organization
- FAQs About Systems Management (SM)
- FAQs About Availability (AV)
- FAQs About Performance and Tuning (PT)
- FAQs About Service Desk (SD)
- FAQs About Change Management (CM)
- FAQs About Configuration Management (CF)
- FAQs About Capacity Planning (CP)
- FAQs About Network Management
- FAQs About Storage Management (SM)
- FAQs About Production Acceptance (PA)
- FAQs About Release Management (RM)
- FAQs About Disaster Recovery (DR)
- FAQs About Business Continuity (BC)
- FAQs About Security (SE)
- FAQs About Service Level Management (SL)
- FAQs About Financial Management (FN)
- FAQs About Problem Management (PM)
- FAQs About Facilities Management (FM)
- Process Management
- Developing Robust Processes
- Establishing Mutually Beneficial Process Metrics
- Change Management—Part 1
- Change Management—Part 2
- Change Management—Part 3
- Audit Reconnaissance: Releasing Resources Through the IT Audit
- Problem Management
- Problem Management–Part 2: Process Design
- Problem Management–Part 3: Process Implementation
- Business Continuity Emergency Communications Plan
- Capacity Planning – Part One: Why It is Seldom Done Well
- Capacity Planning – Part Two: Developing a Capacity Planning Process
- Capacity Planning — Part Three: Benefits and Helpful Tips
- Capacity Planning – Part Four: Hidden Upgrade Costs and
- Improving Business Process Management, Part 1
- Improving Business Process Management, Part 2
- 20 Major Elements of Facilities Management
- Major Physical Exposures Common to a Data Center
- Evaluating the Physical Environment
- Nightmare Incidents with Disaster Recovery Plans
- Developing a Robust Configuration Management Process
- Developing a Robust Configuration Management Process – Part Two
- Automating a Robust Infrastructure Process
- Improving High Availability — Part One: Definitions and Terms
- Improving High Availability — Part Two: Definitions and Terms
- Improving High Availability — Part Three: The Seven R's of High Availability
- Improving High Availability — Part Four: Assessing an Availability Process
- Methods for Brainstorming and Prioritizing Requirements
- Introduction to Disk Storage Management — Part One
- Storage Management—Part Two: Performance
- Storage Management—Part Three: Reliability
- Storage Management—Part Four: Recoverability
- Twelve Traits of World-Class Infrastructures — Part One
- Twelve Traits of World-Class Infrastructures — Part Two
- Meeting Today's Cooling Challenges of Data Centers
- Strategic Security, Part One: Assessment
- Strategic Security, Part Two: Development
- Strategic Security, Part Three: Implementation
- Strategic Security, Part Four: ITIL Implications
- Production Acceptance Part One – Definition and Benefits
- Production Acceptance Part Two – Initial Steps
- Production Acceptance Part Three – Middle Steps
- Production Acceptance Part Four – Ongoing Steps
- Case Study: Planning a Service Desk Part One – Objectives
- Case Study: Planning a Service Desk Part Two – SWOT
- Case Study: Implementing an ITIL Service Desk – Part One
- Case Study: Implementing a Service Desk Part Two – Tool Selection
- Ethics, Scandals and Legislation
- Outsourcing in Response to Legislation
- Supplier Management
- Identifying Key External Suppliers
- Identifying Key Internal Suppliers
- Integrating the Four Key Elements of Good Customer Service
- Enhancing the Customer/Supplier Matrix
- Voice Over IP, Part One — What VoIP Is, and Is Not
- Voice Over IP, Part Two — Benefits, Cost Savings and Features of VoIP
- Application Management
- Production Acceptance
- Distinguishing New Applications from New Versions of Existing Applications
- Assessing a Production Acceptance Process
- Effective Use of a Software Development Life Cycle
- The Role of Project Management in SDLC— Part 2
- Communication in Project Management – Part One: Barriers to Effective Communication
- Communication in Project Management – Part Two: Examples of Effective Communication
- Safeguarding Personal Information in the Workplace: A Case Study
- Combating the Year-end Budget Blitz—Part 1: Building a Manageable Schedule
- Combating the Year-end Budget Blitz—Part 2: Tracking and Reporting Availability
- References
- Developing an ITIL Feasibility Analysis
- Organization and Personnel Management
- Optimizing IT Organizational Structures
- Factors That Influence Restructuring Decisions
- Alternative Locations for the Help Desk
- Alternative Locations for Database Administration
- Alternative Locations for Network Operations
- Alternative Locations for Web Design
- Alternative Locations for Risk Management
- Alternative Locations for Systems Management
- Practical Tips To Retaining Key Personnel
- Benefits and Drawbacks of Using IT Consultants and Contractors
- Deciding Between the Use of Contractors versus Consultants
- Managing Employee Skill Sets and Skill Levels
- Assessing Skill Levels of Current Onboard Staff
- Recruiting Infrastructure Staff from the Outside
- Selecting the Most Qualified Candidate
- 7 Tips for Managing the Use of Mobile Devices
- Useful Websites for IT Managers
- References
- Automating Robust Processes
- Evaluating Process Documentation — Part One: Quality and Value
- Evaluating Process Documentation — Part Two: Benefits and Use of a Quality-Value Matrix
- When Should You Integrate or Segregate Service Desks?
- Five Instructive Ideas for Interviewing
- Eight Surefire Tips to Use When Being Interviewed
- 12 Helpful Hints To Make Meetings More Productive
- Eight Uncommon Tips To Improve Your Writing
- Ten Helpful Tips To Improve Fire Drills
- Sorting Out Today’s Various Training Options
- Business Ethics and Corporate Scandals – Part 1
- Business Ethics and Corporate Scandals – Part 2
- 12 Tips for More Effective Emails
- Management Communication: Back to the Basics, Part One
- Management Communication: Back to the Basics, Part Two
- Management Communication: Back to the Basics, Part Three
- Asset Management
- Managing Hardware Inventories
- Introduction to Hardware Inventories
- Processes To Manage Hardware Inventories
- Use of a Hardware Inventory Database
- References
- Managing Software Inventories
- Business Continuity Management
- Ten Lessons Learned from Real-Life Disasters
- Ten Lessons Learned From Real-Life Disasters, Part 2
- Differences Between Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity , Part 1
- Differences Between Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity , Part 2
- 15 Common Terms and Definitions of Business Continuity
- The Federal Government’s Role in Disaster Recovery
- The 12 Common Mistakes That Cause BIAs To Fail—Part 1
- The 12 Common Mistakes That Cause BIAs To Fail—Part 2
- The 12 Common Mistakes That Cause BIAs To Fail—Part 3
- The 12 Common Mistakes That Cause BIAs To Fail—Part 4
- Conducting an Effective Table Top Exercise (TTE) — Part 1
- Conducting an Effective Table Top Exercise (TTE) — Part 2
- Conducting an Effective Table Top Exercise (TTE) — Part 3
- Conducting an Effective Table Top Exercise (TTE) — Part 4
- The 13 Cardinal Steps for Implementing a Business Continuity Program — Part One
- The 13 Cardinal Steps for Implementing a Business Continuity Program — Part Two
- The 13 Cardinal Steps for Implementing a Business Continuity Program — Part Three
- The 13 Cardinal Steps for Implementing a Business Continuity Program — Part Four
- The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)
- The Origins of ITIL
- The Foundation of ITIL: Service Management
- Five Reasons for Revising ITIL
- The Relationship of Service Delivery and Service Support to All of ITIL
- Ten Common Myths About Implementing ITIL, Part One
- Ten Common Myths About Implementing ITIL, Part Two
- Characteristics of ITIL Version 3
- Ten Benefits of itSMF and its IIL Pocket Guide
- Translating the Goals of the ITIL Service Delivery Processes
- Translating the Goals of the ITIL Service Support Processes
- Elements of ITIL Least Understood, Part One: Service Delivery Processes
- Case Study: Recovery Reactions to a Renegade Rodent
- Elements of ITIL Least Understood, Part Two: Service Support
- Case Studies
- Case Study — Preparing for Hurricane Charley
- Case Study — The Linux Decision
- Case Study — Production Acceptance at an Aerospace Firm
- Case Study — Production Acceptance at a Defense Contractor
- Case Study — Evaluating Mainframe Processes
- Case Study — Evaluating Recovery Sites, Part One: Quantitative Comparisons/Natural Disasters
- Case Study — Evaluating Recovery Sites, Part Two: Quantitative Comparisons/Man-made Disasters
- Case Study — Evaluating Recovery Sites, Part Three: Qualitative Comparisons
- Case Study — Evaluating Recovery Sites, Part Four: Take-Aways
- Disaster Recovery Test Case Study Part One: Planning
- Disaster Recovery Test Case Study Part Two: Planning and Walk-Through
- Disaster Recovery Test Case Study Part Three: Execution
- Disaster Recovery Test Case Study Part Four: Follow-Up
- Assessing the Robustness of a Vendor’s Data Center, Part One: Qualitative Measures
- Assessing the Robustness of a Vendor’s Data Center, Part Two: Quantitative Measures
- Case Study: Lessons Learned from a World-Wide Disaster Recovery Exercise, Part One: What Did the Team Do Well
- (d) Case Study: Lessons Learned from a World-Wide Disaster Recovery Exercise, Part Two
Communication in any form is an essential skill in today's fast-paced business environments. Verbal skills typically are on display from the very outset, beginning with the initial interview, and continuing through one's career on a daily basis. Presentation skills may come into play later when developing proposals, evaluations, business cases or new project initiatives. But writing skills are often overlooked when assessing one's communications inventory. This is unfortunate because writing is still one of the most valuable means of conveying information in business today. During my many years as a manager, consultant and educator, I have had the opportunity to experience a large variety of styles and proficiencies in writing. Excellent writers, regardless of the deliverables they produce, all tend to use a few, simple techniques to transform their writing from merely average attempts at documented communication to sterling examples of information sharing. I describe these tips as uncommon not because they are rare or unique, but because that are so infrequently used that when I do see them employed it is a refreshing and rather uncommon occurrence. I offer you what I believe are eight of most effective and helpful of these writing tips, and present them in the preferred order of sequence.
1. Match Style to Intent – The style of a written document can be formal, informal, conversational, structured, textual, graphs- and charts-oriented, free-form, or some combination of these. Often the intent of the document dictates the most appropriate style to use. For example, a business case should employ a style that is factual and objective, similar to that used in a cost vs. benefit analysis. If you are writing up a sales pitch you should use a style that plays up to the personal benefits of the product or service. When documenting the summary of a lessons learned session balance what was done well to what could have been done better. Matching the style of your writing to the intent of your writing helps both the author and the reader.
2. Outlining – Once you have determined the style you plan to use so that it matches the overall intent of the document you are creating, you are ready to outline. Many writers overlook the advantage of outlining thinking it wastes valuable time. In reality it usually saves you time. Outlining your document forces you to organize your thoughts and leads to how best to layout your document. Outlining also helps determine the true length of the document. This can give you immediate feedback on how the planned length of the document compares to the likely length. Outlining also helps to locate and format section breaks, major headings and sub-headings.
3. Story Boarding – Some reports tell a story. For example, a proposal for a new software application system may start with a description of a business problem, followed by several alternative solutions, leading to the best solution, and finishing with the costs and benefits of the new solution (presumably with the benefits far exceeding the costs). Story boarding the entire report by putting each major idea as a separate frame can help present a powerful, logical flow to your argument. This technique is used often when developing Power Point presentations and can be easily adapted to written reports. Cliff
Atkinson explains this approach in his excellent book Beyond Bullet Points.
4. Match Tone and Detail to Audience – Executives, technical staff, sales oriented people and non-technical users all have different levels of comfort and reception when reading a hardcopy document. Have you ever heard a co-worker comment that a particular report was 'beyond me' meaning that the level of detail was more than what they could comprehend? The tone and degree of detail should match that of the intended reader.
5. Echo Some Words and Phrases – Using the exact wording or phrasing when responding to a correspondence can make the effort of your writing quicker and simpler, yet just as effective as originating prose. When responding to a bid, or a job description, or to a customer's complaint, using the exact wording or phrasing as in the original document for appropriate portions often clarifies issues and reduces confusion. If a job description calls for expertise with Remedy-based problem management processes using the ITIL framework, respond by saying you have expertise with Remedy-based problem management processes using the ITIL framework. There's no need to embellish or originate if the exact same wording conveys the desired meaning.
6. Active Voice – Use the active voice and a conversational style of writing. For most technical and managerial personnel, the passive voice is the more common use for writing even though it is not as highly regarded. It is very natural for many people to write passively, so it takes some focus and effort to write actively. Here are a few examples:
- replace 'the project was completed' with 'the team completed the project'
- replace 'the system was brought down' with 'the operator brought down the system
- replace 'SLAs were developed by IT reps' with 'IT reps developed SLAs'
A conversational style of writing means to write as close as possible to the way you converse. Try to avoid sounding too stuffy, preachy, or theoretical. Keep it simple and direct.
7. Grammar – The advent of email has brought about a definite decline in the emphasis of the proper use of grammar. I have read email forums in which poor grammar, if not outright encouraged, is at least tolerated in the interest of speed, brevity and responsiveness. But this is not new. Music and pop culture for decades has taken license with good grammar. When I was in elementary school several popular song titles all took grammatical liberties:
"He Don't Love You Like I Love You""Don't Say Nothing Bad About My Baby"
and topped off by the Rolling Stones classic:
"I Can't Get No Satisfaction"
Being grammatically correct is not high on an adolescent's priority list, and using popular slang that makes a shambles of good English often go hand-n-hand with being a teenager. But poor grammar in business writing can have the same screeching effect on a reader as fingernails on a chalkboard. Good sources for improving your use grammar tend to be scarce, but Lynne Truss's bestselling Eats, Shoots & Leaves one exception. It is both informative and entertaining. The following example is typical. Here she illustrates the importance of punctuation by using two sentences with identical words and two entirely different meanings:
"A woman, without her man, is nothing.""A woman: without her, man is nothing."
8. Proof Reading – Spell check software has been around for decades but it is not fool-proof. You should always proof read your writing, and the proofing is far more effective when done from a hardcopy. In this day and age of maximizing electronic information and minimizing hardcopy forms of it, this is one case where the hardcopy clearly wins out.
Another tip is to try reading from right to left. Your eyes can sometimes trick you into seeing what you expect to see. Reversing direction can spots errors otherwise missed. And of course there is always the tried and true method of having another pair of eyes looking over your writing.
References
Atkinson, Cliff, (2005). "Beyond Bullet Points, Microsoft Press
Truss, Lynne, (2003). "Eats, Shoots & Leaves", Gotham Books
IT Service Management, (2001). IT Service Management Forum Limited