DAMA INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM & WILSHIRE
META-DATA CONFERENCE
May 2-6, 2004 – Century Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles, CA USA
CONSULTING SKILLS SEMINARS
Thursday,
May 6, 2004
2:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Seminar
1
Being Right Isn't Enough: A Crash Course in Consulting Skills
Graeme Simsion
Senior Fellow
University of Melbourne
It's not the technical problems that beat us. It's the soft stuff: getting into the client's head, selling our solutions, getting stakeholders to play ball, writing reports, giving presentations... In the broadest sense, these are consulting skills, and most of us don't spend enough time on them.
In this session, Graeme
Simsion, best known for his keynotes and workshops on data modeling and
data management, will draw on another aspect of his experience: 20 years
building and managing a successful consultancy. In addition to his own
consulting work, Graeme managed
some 70 professional staff, and delivered industry courses on consulting
skills. In this session, he will cover some of the most important techniques
for getting your ideas implemented, and your value recognised.
Seminar 2
Managing IT Professionals Seminar
George Flanagin
Bright Crayon
This seminar is designed for new and current managers who work in and around IT professionals.
Managing workplace culture of IT: IT professionals are more concerned than most workers about what their peers think about their skill level. Additionally, IT professionals quite often work at multiple sites, and intermingled with users, customers, and peers. A successful workplace culture has much to do with understanding the unique ways that IT professionals interact with each other, and helping them to understand the language of the users and customers.
Listening: Because a group of IT professionals is likely to have a different psychological profile (such as Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator), managers of IT professionals must learn to listen in a different way. In our look at these differences, we also discuss "emotional intelligence" and how it affects the management/IT interface in your corporation.
Coaching:
IT professionals are always looking for mentors! Frequently, they turn
first to
the supervisor and are disappointed if that person cannot be a direct
mentor. The IT supervisor needs to tackle this problem in innovative ways.
Handling difficult situations: IT professionals "rebel" more than other groups, frequently in response to issues of process and freedom. We take you through the ways that you can identify and deal with these situations.
Managing the
time of the IT professional: The stereotype programmer comes
in late,
works through the night, and sleeps under his desk. This makes it difficult
to track accountability, as well as to support the necessary communication
with other groups. We will give you some guidelines for creating an orderly
work environment that still has freedom.
Identifying
resources: Most IT professionals are concerned with developing
their careers, simply because the medium that they are working in changes
quickly. The desired direction of career development may not always be
in the direction the corporation perceives as "up." We discuss
how to keep everyone happy and fulfilled.