How to navigate the business politics

Deathmage

Hey guys,

I've been a IT manager in Upstate NY now for about 3 years (in August) and I'm finding myself at somewhat of a hurdle. I'm very technical as I'm sure a lot of you are as-well so I'm sure a ton of you can relate to this issue in the work-place.

Has anyone developed a working strategy to go about convincing IT to a non-savy IT person such as your boss and/or owners and how to navigate the political issues that seem to follow?

...Like for instance we recently has a UPS die in our server room and instead of just buying it like I wanted to get our risk out of my thought it has turned into a political (60 days) e-peen/ego match between the executives of my job that all want there opinion on the matter. I've finally now gotten approval for it and in the meantime 2 of our VMware server's have been running on reduced power and no matter what I tried to get it ordered it just made it prolonged even longer.....

This is just one example, I'm sure some of you have others; but I'm curious if there is a certification I can take or a book I can read on how to better navigate this workplace problem?

I'm not sure also if this is the right section on the forums for this kind of topic.

YFZblu

Ultimately what you want to do is document your recommendations, detail what might happen if your recommendations are not adopted, and present it to your management team. This way if stuff hits the fan later on, you have essentially absolved yourself and your team of responsibility.

As far as actually selling your ideas and convincing others to follow you, I'll leave that to other posters with management experience.

shodown

how to win friends and influence people.
48 laws of power.
think and grow rich
33 strategies of war
the art of seduction

Management and leadership aren't going to come with certs. Dealing with people and politics is an entire art of itself.

--chris--

I have limited exposure to this situation, but I have worked in two polar opposite enviroments so I can say this;

The place that I worked at last year sounds much like the place you work at now. In my eyes, upper management/owners were not willing to place the power to make decisions/spend money into the hands of a dedicated IT director/manager. Before spending any amount of money on anything IT related, the non-IT management wanted to weigh in on the whole situation.

Where as the place I work now has delegated that power to a dedicated IT person (in this case the director). The benefit to this is that he can understand the technical ramifications of most situations as well as how to interface with the other management if he needs to explain why this is necessary and he (or she) can still get things done in a timely manner.

Obviously this doesn't help you much, but if you are able to "steer the ship" in this direction, I can say that it appears to work much better!

Deathmage

--chris-- wrote: »

I have limited exposure to this situation, but I have worked in two polar opposite enviroments so I can say this;

The place that I worked at last year sounds much like the place you work at now. In my eyes, upper management/owners were not willing to place the power to make decisions/spend money into the hands of a dedicated IT director/manager. Before spending any amount of money on anything IT related, the non-IT management wanted to weigh in on the whole situation.

Where as the place I work now has delegated that power to a dedicated IT person (in this case the director). The benefit to this is that he can understand the technical ramifications of most situations as well as how to interface with the other management if he needs to explain why this is necessary and he (or she) can still get things done in a timely manner.

Obviously this doesn't help you much, but if you are able to "steer the ship" in this direction, I can say that it appears to work much better!

Your 1st explanation is spot on with this job's manner of dealings. it's so frustrating.

YFZblu wrote: »

Ultimately what you want to do is document your recommendations, detail what might happen if your recommendations are not adopted, and present it to your management team. This way if stuff hits the fan later on, you have essentially absolved yourself and your team of responsibility.

As far as actually selling your ideas and convincing others to follow you, I'll leave that to other posters with management experience.

I do this more often than not as of the recent since I'm making my point to do something and then when others want to do it their way (my boss - explain in a sec) I know it's wrong but I do it anyways and it backfires I'm not to blame!

As for my boss (VP of Operations and it's gone to his head) topic, he's a older guy about 56 and every time a IT matter comes up he weighs in this phrase "I got 30 years of IT experience and I know what to do" however when push comes to shove and an issues comes up he looks towards me to resolve the issue and then takes all of the credit when it's resolved.

anyone ever deal with this kind of boss?

BlackBeret

The business world is all about the bottom dollar. Document everything WITH THE COST.

You want a back-up server? Document the cost of a new server, include everything such as hardware, software, installation, wiring, set-up time, etc.

Document the cost of what happens if the server goes down without a back-up system in place. Lost productivity, repairs, replacement when it's too late, etc.

Just explain what would make the most financial sense for the business, not technical sense. If you need help there is a book titled "How to lie, ****, and steal with numbers". It's all about making numbers work in your favor.

Deathmage

thanks everyone for your advice. I'm going to get a few of these books and read them in my leisure, whenever I'm not studying!

philz1982

I manage technology in a sales oriented culture as such I am the odd duck. These tips below work well for me.

1) Establish non-technical credibility
2) Understand your culture and use it your advantage
3) Build out the ROI, IRR, Future Cost of money if that is applicable.
4) If Money is not the driver, build out the risk, up-time compliance, liquidated damages, credibility loss, PCI violation fees ect
5) Be cross-functional, build relationships outside of your role to influence. Figure out who your boss goes to for feedback and influence them.
6) Make the idea your boss's idea. Lead the horse to water...
7) Don't be afraid to play to people's egos.

Yes these are vague but the concepts are key the application is situationally and culturally specific.

GarudaMin

Since we are diving into the topics of business politics, any other comments/tips you guys can provide for someone who is going into management from technical position for the first time?

Thanks and sorry OP, but I am sure you will appreciate any tips too.

philz1982

Delegate
Let go of the technical
Don't know everything
Think business value
If you have an unperforming employee give them one chance to change and then fire as quick as you can

GarudaMin wrote: »

Since we are diving into the topics of business politics, any other comments/tips you guys can provide for someone who is going into management from technical position for the first time?

Thanks and sorry OP, but I am sure you will appreciate any tips too.

fredrikjj

philz1982 wrote: »

Delegate
Let go of the technical
Don't know everything
Think business value
If you have an unperforming employee give them one chance to change and then fire as quick as you can

How do you know business value if you don't know the tech?
How do you know if an employee is under performing if you don't know the tech they are working on?

paul78

Don't mean to hijack the thread - @fredrikjj - Perhaps you misunderstand - Providing business value or managing an IT individual contributor doesn't require hands-on activities or in-depth knowledge. Business value is derived by the application of technology to a business problem. It's not about knowing how to solve a technology problem. It's about knowing that there is a business problem that can be solved with technology.

philz1982

fredrikjj wrote: »

How do you know business value if you don't know the tech?
How do you know if an employee is under performing if you don't know the tech they are working on?

Did I say don't know the tech?

I said let go of the technical. Not all business problems can be solved by the application of technology. You will turn off and alienate your peers if you cannot communicate in their language.

philz1982

paul78 wrote: »

Don't mean to hijack the thread - @fredrikjj - Perhaps you misunderstand - Providing business value or managing an IT individual contributor doesn't require hands-on activities or in-depth knowledge. Business value is derived by the application of technology to a business problem. It's not about knowing how to solve a technology problem. It's about knowing that there is a business problem that can be solved with technology.

I disagree about your statement "Providing business value or managing an IT individual contributor doesn't require hands-on activities or in-depth knowledge. "

I have seen multi-million dollar projects flop because the lead sponsor had no clue about technology and the outcomes technology could provide. You don't have to be a master but you at least need to understand the fundamental technologies.

paul78

Hmmm. Not sure how you leaped to the conclusion that I stated that technology plays no role in management. Must be my accent.

In my experience, multimillion dollar projects flop not because the sponsor didn't have a clue about technology but because the sponsor didn't know how to lead or understand the business imperative. I don't believe in the concept that there is such a thing as a "technology project" or a "technology initiative".

Deathmage

wow I wasn't expecting such a large response on this topic. It's nice reading the posts though!

In relation to one of the posts above; I swear sometimes my bosses are so egotistical and hard-headed they think they know everything.... Needless to say we have a compromised UPS 2750 but instead of spending the 6k for a new APC UPS 6000 they have ordered me to buy replacements batteries for a UPS that's 6 years old and no longer covered by a warranty. However what they only seem to see is the 6k for the new unit (which has a 4 year $250,000 hardware replacement warranty) compared to the 4k for replacements batteries.

What I tried to rationalize to them is the fact that our new Equalogic 6500 is now connected to that unit and our 4 brand-new R620's (ESXi 5.5 cluster) and sole R720 for AppAssure, on top of the sonicwalls, and network switches/routers. This all-in-all was a $120k 6 year refresh. They just don't comprehend the risk involved.

The kicker is this, my bosses told me that the replacement batteries will never fail and that the UPS will never fail in the aspect of a power surge. I just shook my head in disbelief when they said that to me; it was just such a naive statement. There justifying not buying a brand-new UPS with a equipment warranty becasue of a $4k difference for a $120k investment. I basically told them when we ever get a power surge (and I said when not if) it could very well take out our servers/hardware and we'd be f*cked!

Anyone ever have to deal with this kind of situation?

paul78

Deathmage wrote: »

Anyone ever have to deal with this kind of situation?

Yes. It's a big part of my job. But your specific scenario may be only relevant to your company's current business climate. I really can't comment if the decision shows good or bad judgement without understanding the decision criteria. Maybe the 50% additional expense was worth it to your management and the risk considered acceptable.

It sounds like you are really passionate about doing the right thing, and that's great. Perhaps you can try to speak with your management to understand their reasoning. Ultimately, they are ones accountable for the infrastructure.

BTW - if the problem that you are trying to solve really about protecting the servers from a power surge - why not just get some decent surge protectors.