Cis 498 discussions

Computer Sciences & IT Question Core Skills and Transformational Mind-Set In Robert’s text, he mentions some of the core skillsfor success in chapter 1, which assist IT professionals in organizations. These are skills such as communicating, marketing, collaborating and managing change (Roberts, 2011). IT professionals can use these skills to communicate and reach the organization’s target market which requires system changes. The IT professionals are also in a better position to accept the implementation of information systems because they know how to manage change. It also becomes easier to collaborate with each other when implementing information systems.
The mind-set and behavioral changes have an impact on an IT leader’s ability to promote change in many ways. IT leaders should have the ability to recognize that there are success and failure patterns of behavior when promoting change. Hence, it becomes easier to observe the reaction of employees when there are changes. Understanding the specific mindset and the behavior associated also ensures that the IT leader has a level of insight on how to deal with employee reactions.
Question 2: A Consultant’s Viewpoint and Relationships
Some of the top ten considerations mentioned by Roberts in Chapter 5 which are necessary when IT professionals are evolving into consultants include strategic thinking, active listening, empathy, trust and influence (2011). To achieve all the ten mentioned requirements, IT professionals need to be strategic thinkers, business acumen and know how to interact with others. The most paramount consideration among the ten is trust. IT professionals cannot achieve the ten considerations if he or she is not trustworthy.
One strategy for negotiating project scopes without having problems in businesses would be to apply his or her technology expertise to become indispensable in a business. This allows the IT professional to deal with different clients in a business unit with different ideas.
Question 3: Project Management Skills and Formal and Informal Project Management
Project manager’s skills and training are changing because of new technology and customer preferences. The changes in technology require project managers with new skills. The skills that project managers possessed 10 years ago cannot work in today’s projects. These changes have been advantageous to the business because people now embrace new ideas and products and are willing to spend more on new innovations.
Having a project management office is one of the best ways of boosting IT efficiency in an organization. To facilitate the starting of a project management office in my organization, I would be my own project manager but hire a consultancy company which would provide me with the training and guidance on the best practices to deploy in line with the culture of the organization. The advantage of hiring a consultancy company is that it becomes easy to cut on project costs and improve on the firm’s project delivery in regard to the time and resources (Taylor, 2012).
References
Roberts, D. (2011). Chapter 1: Creating your 21st century workforce and culture. In Unleashing the Power of IT: Bringing People, Business, and Technology Together: Bringing People, Business, and Technology Together. Hoboken, N. J: John Wiley & Sons.
Roberts, D. (2011). Chapter 5: Evolving into the Role of Consultant. In Unleashing the Power of IT: Bringing People, Business, and Technology Together: Bringing People, Business, and Technology Together. Hoboken, N. J: John Wiley & Sons.
Taylor, P. (2012). Leading successful PMOs: How to build the best project management office for your business. London: Gower Publishing, Ltd.