Best ways to keep your cool (while the industry loses its)

If your year is progressing like it is for other network executives, you are shorthanded but still rolling out network upgrades and major new applications. Traffic on your WAN is growing exponentially while your primary service provider is mired in financial scandals. You've smoothed over the usual number of "us vs. them" IT skirmishes but also must deal with general fears about the economy. You have all the makings of a stressed-out workforce.

But it doesn't have to be that way. With the right approach and execution, network executives - and in turn their staffs - can stay cool as cucumbers and get the job done in spite of today's pressures. Here are a few expert suggestions on how to do just that:

Frequently align IT strategies with corporate goals. That's the bottom line, says Lynn Caddell, CIO of 36,000-employee transportation behemoth Yellow Corp., in Overland Park, Kan.

Forging a partnership between IT and the business side, with shared goals and shared pain, can reduce stress levels by cutting down the finger-pointing, adds Walt Thomas, CIO of Computer Associates. He meets with senior corporate executives at least once per quarter to discuss their plans and how IT can satisfy their needs. As a result, he says, senior executives are setting the priorities and therefore less likely to rail against technology implementations.

This kind of regular prioritization with the business leaders not only reduces stress, but also helps IT remain focused and productive, Caddell adds.

Focus on what is important to corporate survivability. In stressful times, the tendency is to try doing everything at once. Network professionals often waste their energies trying to integrate the newest technologies or find vulnerabilities across the entire network. Your efforts would be better spent identifying the corporate assets that are key to survivability, then concentrating on taking care of those, says Larry Rogers, senior member of the technical staff at Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute, a federally funded research and development center in Pittsburgh. Rogers teaches a course there called Survivability: A New Network Perspective.

For network professionals, that can mean adjusting your thinking and priorities, adds Karl Slaikeu, a clinical psychologist, president of Chorda Conflict Management and author of Crisis Intervention: A Handbook for Practice and Research. He suggests making two lists - one with things to do immediately and the other with what to accomplish later.

Items for the do-right-away list should include any that would reduce options later in a big way if not taken care of immediately, Slaikeu explains. Deciding on how to fix that broken Gigabit Ethernet switch would be a priority, something to be addressed before it reduces networking options.

Simplify. Turn a big problem or overwhelming situation into a manageable one by approaching it incrementally as a series of small solvable issues, suggests Ryan Hunter, senior technology consultant in Watson Wyatt Worldwide's eHR practice in Minneapolis.

Don't overlook simplifying the network and its equipment or your approach to it, either. For example, don't think of 10,000 computers linked via your network, but of 10 types of machines replicated 1,000 times, Hunter says. With fewer technologies in place, staff doesn't need as much training either, he adds, because if one thing breaks, all the machines will have the same attribute.

Adjust your management style. Because corporate survivability is an issue today, employees tend to think of their jobs as at risk, too. Network department heads need to adjust their style accordingly to reduce that stress on the staff, says Valerie O'Connell, managing director of enterprise management for Aberdeen Group.

Combat employee fears by being more visible and open about the decisions you make, suggests Chris Edgelow, president of Sundance Consulting, in Edmonton, Alberta. Leaders must get out of their offices and create opportunities to talk with people on a regular basis. Hosting a "Lunch with the Boss" once a week in the cafeteria - buying dessert for anyone who shows up - is one way to be out there, listening to what people have to say, answering questions and addressing issues and concerns, he adds.

And don't forget to smile, says CA's Thomas, a 30-year IT veteran who takes the business' ups and downs in stride. He's smiling a lot these days, he says, although not always because he's happy with what's going on. "At the end of the day, a smile goes a long way toward [brightening] your attitude. The objective is not to drive people to work, but to get them to [want to] work hard for you and to get them to care about the company and their own jobs."

Marks is a freelance writer in Denver. She can be reached at sjmarksco@aol.com.

Best ways to keep your cool (while the industry loses its)

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