It is alright to be technically equipped with knowledge but the application of that knowledge combined with people skills ie. The human side of enterprise plays a crucial role in the evaluation of an IT professional.
Over the last 15 years working within the IT industry and managing teams in England, India & Australia I have devised a principle which I believe if implemented by IT Consultants, will help a long way in increasing their productivity and keeping self motivated in this stressful & demanding occupation as an IT professional.
I call it the DEFRAG principle and will unearth each alphabet and briefly explain its definition and importance.
D = Discipline: I strongly believe that an IT Professional must have the discipline to deliver outcome and not short cut the processes.
E = Environment: This refers to the operating environment and it is absolutely imperative that both physically and culturally the environment be conducive to high performance.
F = Focus: One of the essential objectives is to be able to focus on the important factors not the ‘white noise’ – emotions, complaints, blame etc.
R = Resources: Without essential resources there is no way that one can achieve success. Do you or your team have the ‘right’ resources to achieve the outcome?
A = Attitude: A positive attitude is an important aspect of an IT Professional. One must complete each task to a degree of excellence – near enough is NOT good enough – always remember attitude will surpass aptitude every day.
G = Goal: Stay clear about the end goal – don’t get lost and bogged down in the minutiae of the moment
I firmly believe that formulating such principles in your workplace and trying to abide by them often gives you a set of directions and provides you with an effective path to success.
So the next time you’re at a client site or fixing a PC, designing a network or setting up a server or wireless network, remember before you defrag the computer don’t forget to defrag your mind!