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December 2008 Blog Posts (13)

Develop Valuable ICT Projects Despite Tight Budgets

If you're an ICT manager (and even if you're not), you know that nowadays there's precious little discretionary money available for developing new ICT capabilities. And when such spending is approved, it comes in the form of a 10-pound bag of expectations and a 5-pound bag of resources.

What to do? Whether you're developing the process or sponsoring its development, stay focused on realizing value by asking key questions at each stage. For example:

1. Exploration stage:… Continue

Added by Victor Adedoyin on December 30, 2008 at 7:44pm — No Comments

Sharpen Your Powers of Persuasion

When you're arguing for resources or presenting a business case, it's essential to take time to understand your audience before making your pitch.

Figure out what your audience members (your boss, peers, other stakeholders) are already feeling, and what change in feeling you must induce in them to further your purpose. For example, is your boss already upset over a previous request for resources that ultimately produced no value? If so, avoid projecting an air of entitlement. And… Continue

Added by Victor Adedoyin on December 30, 2008 at 5:40pm — No Comments

e-Health and Web 2.0/the 3-D Web: Looking to the future with sociable technologies and social software View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: e-health health)

e-Health and Web 2.0/the 3-D Web: Looking to the future…

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Added by Victor Adedoyin on December 30, 2008 at 5:20pm — 1 Comment

Create a Mentoring Culture

It makes sense to encourage older and younger employees to share knowledge, ideas, and advice. But old-school, top-down programs in which mentors and mentees are assigned to each other don't work as well as relationships that come about more organically.

It's best to help mentors and protégés find each other by starting with specific work needs -- when one person can contribute to another's project or goal. This gets the initial relationship going in a comfortable, useful way. Later,… Continue

Added by Victor Adedoyin on December 29, 2008 at 5:36pm — No Comments

The Value Proposition of Service-Level Agreements

Many IT organizations have focused process improvement and measurement almost exclusively on software development projects. This is understandable, given the business critical nature and costs of large software development projects. But in reality, IT support services consume most of the IT budget, and they also require the most direct and continuous interaction with business customers.

IT organizations must demonstrate the value of IT support services to business customers, and a… Continue

Added by Victor Adedoyin on December 22, 2008 at 5:30pm — No Comments

Why You Should Help Your Employees with Work/Life Balance

The last thing your company needs in this downturn is to lose its star performers to a competing company. And one reason some valued employees defect is that their managers don't support work/life balance.

How can you help your firm retain its top talent? Show your employees that you care about work/life balance, too -- with these actions:

Provide emotional support, by acknowledging employees' sometimes extensive responsibilities outside work.

Provide structural support, by… Continue

Added by Victor Adedoyin on December 22, 2008 at 3:15pm — No Comments

Radiate Optimism -- But Pick Your Moments

Few of us can do much about the economic crisis we're living through, but you can improve your employees' emotional health and their performance. A groundbreaking study by researchers at Harvard and the University of California, San Diego showed that happiness is contagious -- even among strangers, friends-of-friends, and coworkers. As a manager you can use this knowledge to boost your team's morale, productivity, and engagement.

Carefully cultivate a positive outlook. Then use it to… Continue

Added by Victor Adedoyin on December 22, 2008 at 3:13pm — No Comments

Ask for Support the Right Way

Do you need support -- in the form of funding, personnel, equipment, or other resources -- for a change initiative you know is essential for addressing a problem in your group? If so, how you ask for that support can determine whether you succeed or fail.

It's vital to present a fact-based business case. Here's how: Show that you've explored all the options for solving the problem at hand, not just the alternative you're proposing. Lay out the pluses and minuses of the option you're… Continue

Added by Victor Adedoyin on December 22, 2008 at 3:09pm — No Comments

Taking Advantage of Open Source PHP MySQL Applications

One obvious solution is to approach a software development company and obtain a custom built product. However to take this approach one needs to first know what features and functionality is desired. Then on the other hand in some instances the need does not warrant the cost of commissioning a custom application.

A plethora of free open source web applications exist today. Regardless of the specific circumstances of the need these applications can quite often prove to be a valuable… Continue

Added by Victor Adedoyin on December 18, 2008 at 7:19pm — No Comments

Hiring the Super Project Manager

If you're looking for a project manager to lead your PMO, you have to look deeper than a PMP certification. Here are the characteristics to look for.

Some would argue that hiring good people is now more science than art. Personality tests, leadership tests, background checks, reference checks, relevant experience, etc., all make selecting the right candidate an easier task. That may be the case for some IT resources, but it doesn't necessarily apply to project managers. And for… Continue

Added by Victor Adedoyin on December 10, 2008 at 6:39pm — No Comments

10 Dumb Things IT Pros Do That Can Mess Up Their Networks

One of the most popular pastimes of IT professionals is complaining about the dumb things users do. Most network administrators could (but probably won't) tell you about their "most embarrassing moment." That's the one where you discover you accidentally misconfigured the firewall to shut down the boss's Internet connection or that the backup you've been making every day has been copying the wrong files.

Let's take a look at some of the most common dumb things IT pros do that can… Continue

Added by Victor Adedoyin on December 10, 2008 at 6:29pm — No Comments

Do you really think that loving your country shouldn’t be express?

Well, I felt so upset last night coz of some people around me. I usually express my love for my country in front of everyone around but that doesn't mean that I hate any other country in the world! It was a total shock and really hurted me alot when "He" told me yesterday that "he" hates the fact that I love my hometown!!!!!!!! "He" asked me not to express those feelings that I have for "Nigeria" coz "he" thinks it's disgusting :(

I didn't know what to do so I kept my mouth shut in… Continue

Added by Gbenga Olisa on December 8, 2008 at 6:17pm — 1 Comment

COMPUTERIZED ACCOUNTING SYSTEM-KEY TO BUSINESS SUCCESS

COMPUTERIZED ACCOUNTING SYSTEM-KEY TO BUSINESS SUCCESS

Posted by Shabico kola PACHECO on October 28, 2008 at 4:30pm

My name is Mr. Kola Shabico PACHECO-ceo Shabico Software, Lagos Island, NIGERIA.

SHABICO stands for Software, Hardware, Accounting, Business Inteligence, Internet, Intranet Communication and Organization.

In the Lagos area the businesses that are best financially managed and which have survived the hard and the good times over the years are those whose… Continue

Added by Shabico Pacheco on December 2, 2008 at 3:31am — 3 Comments