19JULY 2019Let's face it: IT professionals are often perceived to be a managerial pain in the butt. They are, on the whole, black-and-white types that are color blind to shades of grey. Their world consists mostly of the Boolean data type, and they view the world from the lens of right versus wrong when it comes to how things should be done. They are uniquely imbued with the ability to discern which path leads to happy success versus miserable failure ­ just ask them.But geeks aren't just creatures of empirical logic, they are also creative artists that use an electronic canvas of pixels and wires to create the many wonders that make our lives easier each and every day. The really good ones are imaginative prodigies, with the ability to envision how things could be versus how it is today. When their technical prowess is combined with entrepreneurial spirit, good things happen.Given this unique mixture of computational logic and inventive flare, IT professionals are considered to be many things, often with difficult to manage topping the list. So how do you overcome this? One key to having a smooth running IT shop is having quality technical managers who understand what makes their employee tick. The good news here is that it's not that hard, and with this understanding in place, you will find that gaining managerial control of your IT organization will be less of a Herculean task. Here are some of the most important concepts that every manager of a technology staff must understand, and what you should be looking for when hiring your next IT manager:1. It's all about efficiency Nearly all technical innovation comes from an innate desire to improve productivity to do things faster, easier or cheaper. IT pros are all about efficiency, wanting to find the most direct way to accomplish a task. To an IT professional, business challenges are much like the game of Tetris, where all the parts and pieces need to be configured optimally to make them fit in clean, simple processes. This is where IT professionals excel: give them the puzzle and they will find you a solution.Want to drive your IT people absolutely nuts? That's easy, interject a manager that throws up unnecessary barriers, artificial procedures and excessive administrative overhead that keeps them from working on solving real problems. It's akin to putting a clothespin on a cat's tail. Granted, no one likes the sometimes necessary bits of office minutia, but to the efficiency-geared minds of an IT staff, it's anti-productive Kryptonite.A good IT manager knows this and uses this knowledge to define their job. Priority one is to bulldoze through the office politics and other things that impede their team of IT pros from doing what they are good at ­ solving problems. While your IT manager needs to be efficient at administration, budgeting, people management, and all the other things you would expect from a corporate leader, they must first and foremost understand that the team they will manage is looking to be shielded from the irksome details of corporate governance. Your technology team will readily accept a leader who makes getting work done easier, and quickly cast off anyone who doesn't. 2. IT Managers must be technically proficientTechnology professionals, at least the good ones, are higher-order thinkers that live and die by the quality of their work. They strive for simple solutions that offer pragmatic elegance, CXOINSIGHTSHiring Your Next IT Management Superstar By J. Freeman, Senior Technology Manager & Vice President, Dimensional Fund Advisors
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