Business skils for technical profession

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:


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



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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2007 June 13Agenda

What are Business Skills? The Business Case for Business Skills Improving Business Skills

Questions? Email ESI at [email protected] by:


What are Business Skills?



Business Acumen

Management Skills

Business Skills

What are Business Skills?

“Soft” Skills

What are Business

Skills?



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



What was “wanted”What are Business

Skills?



What was “needed”What are Business

Skills?



What was “specified”What are Business

Skills?



What was “delivered”What are Business

Skills?



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



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



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)



The Business Case for Business Skills



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



Validating the Trends: Independent Research Results


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



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)



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



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




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



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%


Skills

Source: Robert Half Technology



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



Further Career ProgressionCareer Progression

The New Reality

Technical

Business Skills

5%

95%

Technical Business Skills

50% 50%

Technical

Business Skills95%

5%Early Career


Skills

Source: PMI’s Career Track, 2006




Case for Business

Skills

Mat

urity

Tactical

Strategic

Skill



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



Improving Business Skills



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



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



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



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.



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



Critical Skill #4. Managing Change: ESI’sOrganizational Change Model

Improving Business

Skills



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?)



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



Career Path for Technical Professionals

Communication and interpersonal skills

Technical Professional 1

Developing Technical Professionals

& Team Members




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



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



Questions?

Raed HaddadSenior Vice [email protected]

Julie Zinn Program [email protected]

Presented by:

&



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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