Business skils for technical profession
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Outside the Box: Business Skills for Technical
ProfessionalsJune 13, 2007
June 13, 2007
Outside the Box: Business Skills for Technical Professionals
June 13, 2007
Brian SummerfieldSenior Editor
Talent Management magazine
June 13, 2007
Outside the Box: Business Skills for Technical Professionals
Raed S. HaddadSenior Vice President of Client ProgramsESI International
Julie ZinnProgram DirectorESI International
Sponsored by:Questions? Email ESI at [email protected]
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
Outside the Box:Business Skills for Technical ProfessionalsWebinar2007 June 13
Julie ZinnProgram Director
Presented by:
Raed HaddadSenior Vice President
&
Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] Sponsored by:
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
Key “cross cutting” Market Trends: What clients told us
Tracking Market Trends
Global expansionCut expensesFaster time-to-marketIncreased competitionSearch for the “right” talentMore sophisticated clients w/
more complex requirements
Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] Sponsored by:
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
Market TrendsTracking Market Trends
Clients want employees who are– Innovative– Business Savvy– Critical thinkers– Decision makers– Excel at client relationship
management
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© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
2007 June 13Agenda
What are Business Skills? The Business Case for Business Skills Improving Business Skills
Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] by:
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
What are Business Skills?
Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] Sponsored by:
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
Business Acumen
Management Skills
Business Skills
What are Business Skills?
“Soft” Skills
What are Business
Skills?
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© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
Business Skills Leverage Technical Expertise
What are Business
Skills?
Business Skills
Perf
orm
ance
Standard Technical
Knowledge/ Ability Sc
ienc
e
Bus
ines
s A
naly
sis
Engi
neer
ing
Prog
ram
Mgm
t.
Proj
ect M
gmt.
IT
Oth
er
Job Functions
Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] Sponsored by:
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
What was “wanted”What are Business
Skills?
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© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
What was “needed”What are Business
Skills?
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© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
What was “specified”What are Business
Skills?
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© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
What was “delivered”What are Business
Skills?
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© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
What If … ?What are Business
Skills?
Your Technical Professionals Could –Link their projects and work to company strategyEffectively communicate Think critical thinking skillsSolve the right problemsDevelop capability in othersUnderstand how financial information is used within their organizationBe a change agent
Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] Sponsored by:
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
Six Critical Business SkillsWhat are Business
Skills?
1. Business acumen2. Financial acumen3. Communication and interpersonal skills4. Ability to manage change5. Critical thinking and problem solving skills6. Ability to develop others and delegate
Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] Sponsored by:
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
Polling Question #1
Question: In general, do technical professionals in your organization havethese skills?
Answers (Choose One):
They have all or almost all of these skills (We’re in good shape)
They have some of these skills (We could do better)
They have none of these skills (We need help)
Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] by:
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
The Business Case for Business Skills
Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] Sponsored by:
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
We Heard Our Customers Saying…
The Business Case for Business
Skills
Our technical professionals cannot communicate wellWe’re not so good at managing the constant change in our organizationOur new managers are “thrown to the wolves”Biggest challenge of all is to help technical people understand that it’s not just about the deliverableMissed opportunities due to lack of collaborationQuestion to stakeholders: were your expectations set and met? 35% said yes, 65% said no
Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] Sponsored by:
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
Validating the Trends: Independent Research Results
The Business Case for Business
Skills
More than 1,000 individuals surveyed and interviewed– Online surveys– Focus groups
Across all industry sectorsAt multiple levels in the organizationESI customers and non-customers
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© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
Reality ValidatedThe
Business Case for Business
Skills
“What are the areas in which it is important for people in your organization to improve?” (ranked in priority order)
Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] Sponsored by:
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
The Impact on BusinessThe
Business Case for Business
Skills
Lack of awareness about organizational and strategic
goals/objectives
Disparate projects that may be redundant or may not integrateProjects that miss the mark – with final deliverables that are unusable or need to be reworkedSilo mentality
Lack of interpersonal and communication skills
Ambiguous requirementsMisinterpreted expectations and resultsUnnecessary conflictLow productivity
Problems that won’t go away or continually resurface
Lack of proper problem diagnosisSolving the wrong problemToo much focus on solution and creativity of solution vs. its application and benefits
Technical or specialized staff are not prepared for
responsibilities when promoted to management
Low moralePoor decision makingLack of respectLack of direction, structure and discipline
Expertise lies with only a few individuals
High risk because of dependency on few individualsLack of perspectiveMissed opportunity and benefit that comes with more collaboration
Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] Sponsored by:
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
The New RealityThe Business
Case for Business
Skills
According to 2004 Standish CHAOS Chronicles:
Only 34% of software projects were expected to finish on time and on budgetProjects had only 52% of proposed functionality82% of projects had time overrunsAverage cost overrun was 43% of project budget
Time Cost
Quality
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© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
The New RealityThe Business
Case for Business
Skills
Of the Top 10 Knowledge and Skills Expected to Increase in Importance Over the Next five Years
#1 – Critical Thinking and Problem Solving (77.8%)
Source: Creativity and Innovation, 2007
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© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
The New Reality
In a recent survey, 1,400 CIOs were asked:“If two candidates interviewing for an IT position had similar skills, which one of the following additional qualifications would you find most valuable?”
- industry-specific experience
- soft skills43%
32%
The Business Case for Business
Skills
Source: Robert Half Technology
Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] Sponsored by:
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
What the Experts SayThe Business
Case for Business
Skills
75% of IT decision makers described communication skills are “very important” to their hiring decisions in 2007.
- Forrester, 2007
Instruction in business, management and communication can greatly enhance the team’s productivity as well as their ability to collaborate on solving everyday challenges such as improving efficiency and competitiveness.
- Katherine Spencer Lee, Robert Half Technology
“Soft skills round out the technical work and give the individual sharper competitive advantage.”
- Information Technology Association of America
Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] Sponsored by:
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
Further Career ProgressionCareer Progression
The New Reality
Technical
Business Skills
5%
95%
Technical Business Skills
50% 50%
Technical
Business Skills95%
5%Early Career
The Business Case for Business
Skills
Source: PMI’s Career Track, 2006
Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] Sponsored by:
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
The New RealityThe Business
Case for Business
Skills
Mat
urity
Tactical
Strategic
Skill
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© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
Polling Question #2
Question: Do you include business skills as part of hiring requirements for technical professional candidates?
Answers (Choose One):
Yes
No
I don’t know
Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] by:
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
Improving Business Skills
Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] Sponsored by:
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
Six Critical Business SkillsWhat are Business
Skills?
1. Business acumen2. Financial acumen3. Communication and interpersonal skills4. Ability to manage change5. Critical thinking and problem solving skills6. Ability to develop others and delegate
Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] Sponsored by:
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
Critical Skill #1. Developing Business Acumen: ESI’s Mindset Model
Improving Business
Skills
Strategic Perspective –strategy, goals and objectives
Personal Perspective –personal goals, style and capabilities
Interpersonal Perspective –one-to-one and one-to-many communication and interaction
Operational Perspective –processes, systems, procedures and structures
Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] Sponsored by:
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
Critical Skill #2. Financial AcumenImproving Business
Skills
Understanding the financial implications of business decisions (and vice versa)Knowing what the key indicators are and how to identify varianceUncovering assumptions and asking smart questionsCommunicating financial information in an understandable manner – including the impacts
Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] Sponsored by:
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
Critical Skill #3. Communication and Interpersonal Skills
Improving Business
Skills
Communication is the transfer of information between people and the attachment of meaning.
= Shared meaning and desired
outcome
High-impact communication is clear communication directed at a target audience that achieves its purposeby producing desired outcomes.
Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] Sponsored by:
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
Critical Skill #3. Communication and Interpersonal Skills
Improving Business
Skills
High AssertivenessHigh Assertiveness
Low AssertivenessLow Assertiveness
Low
Exp
ress
iven
ess
Hig
h Ex
pres
sive
nessTe
llsA
sks
Controls Emotions Displays Emotions
ConsiderateConsiderateSystematicSystematic
DirectDirect SpiritedSpirited
Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] Sponsored by:
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
Critical Skill #4. Managing Change: ESI’sOrganizational Change Model
Improving Business
Skills
Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] Sponsored by:
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
Critical Skill #5. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving: ESI’s Critical Thinking Model
Improving Business
Skills
Strategic(Where are we
trying to get to?)
Use different types of thinking to yield different results
Tactical(What could we
do about it?)
Analytical(Why is it the
way it is?)
Creative(What new ideas
do we have?)
Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] Sponsored by:
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
Critical Skill #6. Developing Others: ESI’s Coaching & Mentoring Model
Improving Business
Skills
DetermineCurrent
Performance
DetermineCurrent
PerformanceDelegate the
WorkDelegate the
WorkGuiding
ProgressGuiding
ProgressEvaluating
ResultsEvaluating
Results
Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] Sponsored by:
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
Career Path for Technical Professionals
Communication and interpersonal skills
Technical Professional 1
Developing Technical Professionals
& Team Members
Technical Professional 4
Technical Professional 3
Technical Professional 2
Role
Ability to manage change
Financial acumen
Business acumen
Critical thinking and problem solving skills
Ability to develop others and delegate
Business Skills
Intro-ductory
Intermediate
Advanced
MGT Development
Technical Curriculum
Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] Sponsored by:
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
In SummaryImproving Business
Skills
Research tells us that business skills are critical in today’s business environment
Strong business skills will leverage technical knowledge to improve performance
Business skills can mean the difference between good and great, as well as success and failure
Define Business Skills in your organization
Develop competencies
Gain buy-in
Align with career paths
Establish a measurement plan
Sponsored by:Questions? Email ESI at [email protected]
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
Questions?
Raed HaddadSenior Vice [email protected]
Julie Zinn Program [email protected]
Presented by:
&
Sponsored by:Questions? Email ESI at [email protected]
© ESI International, 2007. All rights reserved
To submit for PDU credit, please visit PMI’s Web site.PDU Credits: 1 creditCategory: 3Option: 1 Provider ID: 1038 Program ID: PGM430
Thank you for your attention!
June 13, 2007
Questions and Answers
Raed S. HaddadSenior Vice President of Client ProgramsESI International
Julie ZinnProgram DirectorESI International
June 13, 2007
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