Assignment: IT Personnel Management
All too often, supervisors find themselves at the mercy of their own IT staff when it comes to management. Management of highly technical staff involves some particular considerations, especially with communication, which will help managers control projects more efficiently.
Change management is also a challenging area of project management and implementation. Developing a well-thought-out change management plan is often critical to a project's success. After all, if the end users of a system are not committed to the changes being made, their resistance can not only affect morale, but the bottom line of an organization's effectiveness.
In preparation for this week's Discussion, review the short case presented in your course textbook on pages 196-197. There are a number of groups and individuals affected by the proposed change in the case.
Post a response to the following questions: (Reminder: Your initial response must be made in a single posting.)
• Which groups or individuals are likely to resist change the most? The least? Why?
• How can the practical change management strategies described in Chapter 9 of your course textbook be used to make the transition to the new system easier?
Course Text: Public Health Informatics and Information Systems by Patrick W. O'Carroll, William A.Yasnoff, M. Elizabeth Ward, Laura H. Ripp, and Ernest L. Martin (Eds.)
Chapter 8, "Managing IT Personnel and Projects," review pp. 159-165
Chapter 9, "Public Health Informatics and Organizational Change".