subject: It Project Manager Credits Military With Instilling Attention To Detail - 1264 Words [print this page] I am a senior project manager in the IT industry, planning and overseeing the design, implementation and upgrading corporate call centers. The common designation of my area of the IT industry is computer - telephony integration (CTI). CTI is a standard IT industry acronym. I have been working in this capacity for twenty years. In the current economy, there are relatively few new system implementations in developed nations, but there is no end to the system upgrades that organizations with existing systems require. Technology still changes quickly, and businesses understand that they must provide a level of communication that satisfies their customers.
What I do is oversee the development or expansion of large companies' call centers, which requires integrating their communication systems with their data systems. The end result is that a customer is not transferred from department to department, and he does not have to repeat the reason for the call over and over again. The CTI system that is well designed and functions well serves to provide better customer service even as the company increases its level of internal efficiency. Both results can and do increase the company's profitability through customer retention on one side, and increased efficiency on the other. CTI is a tool for the organization, one that has the added benefit of providing a valuable interface between external conditions and events - from the customer's perspective - and the company's internal processes. Obviously, a successful CTI project requires good planning, superlative execution and a means of keeping everyone involved working in the same direction. Here, the connection with military training and discipline is clear.
My specific role in achieving these ends is to work with all involved parties within the organization. Marketing typically outlines what it wants the final project and customer service level to look like and do for the company. Depending on the type of business - manufacturers and retailers have different needs - the final project will need to serve the needs of accounting, procurement, production planning, labor planning and other internal functions of the company. The technical staff that actually performs the work often have no knowledge of business process or marketing needs, and business staff often tend to view IT as something necessary, but also totally foreign to them. It is my job to get everyone on the same page, devising project schedules, testing the results, and ensure that the project stays on schedule and under budget. My job is not unlike the "get it done" perspective of the military.
I enjoy my work and extremely satisfied with it. There are days that I would rate it negatively; however, the day that a project is completed successfully and on schedule definitely counts for a lot. As is the case in military service, there are days that I simply need to keep moving because that's what I need to do. Completing the mission provides immense satisfaction, however, along with a sense of victory and great satisfaction. What I like most about my job is that I always arrive at a specific goal - a completed call center project - and can see visible results of my work and that of my team. I would have to say that it's that fact that "moves my heart."
I got started in the CTI field as a direct result of my military experience. It was the Air Force that introduced me to mainframe computers decades ago. I entered that field when discharged, and eventually went to work as a technical support manager for a company that soon began pioneering the digital central office telephone switch. I needed to learn about that product, of course. As technology advanced, I became active in solving the IT problems of communication between the switch and the computer. When companies began purchasing their own digital switches, there was a need for consultants with knowledge of both sides.
My thing that I could have learned only with the experience of this job is that though we work with systems and machines, at the heart of all work that is accomplished in any area are the people performing individual tasks. An effective project manager needs solid people skills more than he needs any specific technical skills. Early on, I could be quite success with technical personnel, but not so much with those in marketing and business analyst roles. It took me too long to learn that, though I was responsible for the ultimate outcome, no one reported directly to me and I had no right to expect any kind of military - type response from the orders I barked far too often.
Thus the single most important thing I have learned outside of school about the working world is that all employees have value and all deserve respect. Poor performers often excel and soar when transferred to an area of their strength. Bringing in projects on schedule and within budget directly depends on successfully intertwining military discipline with effective people and communication skills. I handle technical challenges quite well. Those are second nature to me, but issues with personalities are not. I have to work on my people and verbal communication skills on a regular basis.
The job can be stressful, because the nature of IT projects is that something major - and usually more than one thing - will go awry before the project is completed. Better planning minimizes that type of stress, however. When devising any project schedule, I always build "padding" into the schedule. That padding allows for personal illness within the project team, vendor delays and other unforeseen events that otherwise can wreck both the schedule and budget. Planning and ending phases are the most intense, but generally the job lends itself well to a workable work - life balance. Vacations are easy to plan. As an outside consultant, I am able to schedule time off for myself between projects.
The rough salary range for what I do generally is between $70,000 and $110,000. Less experienced CTI project managers currently earn between $50,000 and $80,000, but they also usually work on smaller projects or serve as managers for smaller projects within much larger ones. Both ranges are more than acceptable for most people.
In the early days of CTI, it was necessary to have a strong technical background in both IT and digital switching. Today, new project managers are selected more on understanding business management and business needs, as well as the ability to form effective teams that can work together with a high degree of common - purpose teamwork. Increasing numbers of new project managers in CTI have an MBA degree and basic understanding of the technical issues involved. It's a good change.
I fully intend to stay in my current position until I retire. The processes are the same, but every project is different and challenging. I would tell a friend considering this line of work, especially a military veteran, that IT project management is an excellent position for a veteran.
Many people fail to recognize the value that military service and training provides in virtually all areas of life, and throughout the life of the veteran. In my case, the discipline and attention to detail required by the military has served me well since my discharge more than twenty years ago. It has been only recently that I realized what an immense benefit that my military service has been to me all these years; however, I've now come to see that military service provides highly valuable training that is quite useful in navigating civilian life and civilian work.
