When I tell my business users about new features we have added to their software, their eyes glaze over and they don’t pay attention.  This really makes me mad.  What should I do so they will listen to me? As technologists, we love technology, particularly technology that we personally created.  This is often not the case for the business users that we serve, even if they are a techie-want-to-be or were involved in defining the business requirements.  These business users, as they should, look at technology as a tool to perform their daily tasks.  That is to say, they look at technology as a means to an end, not an end in itself. To your question, if you would like your business users to engage with you about the software you have written on their behalf, describe what you have done based on business value, business benefits, and how the software will make their jobs easier.  In effect, don’t try to bring them into your world, you should step into their world, thus describing what you have done using their terminology and perspective, not yours. As an x-software developer by profession, I would write half a dozen lines of working code and want to show it to someone.  I would do this not to brag about what I had done, I did this because I loved technology and wanted to share what I did with others.  Truth be told, I’m still the same way.  I’m the primary architect and developer of the [...]

I’m tired of feeling like an order taker for the business group I support.  How do I get them to ask me what’s needed, not just tell me what to do and what applications to implement? The short answer to your question is to begin moving toward being an internal consultant, rather than simply a technical resource.  The long answer to your question is the remainder of this post. My advice to you is to be proactive with your business users, not just reactive.  That is to say, slowly move toward suggesting innovative business solutions related to the technology you provide.  Then, over time, as your business users begin to appreciate the value of your suggestions, they will begin to come to you as a problem solver, not as just a solution provider. Moving to a proactive role and being seen as such, by its nature, is not an easy task.  To make this transformation, consider the following steps: Gain a deep understanding of the work performed by the group you support. What do they do? How do they do it? Why do they do it that way? What issues do they have that could potentially be solved using technology? How comfortable are they with using technology? What challenges and issues exist related to change? How do other companies in your industry perform similar tasks? Understand what processes, support, and project work your group (not just you personally) is currently providing to your user base. Ask yourself what technology exists within your [...]

My team and I never seem to get great projects to work on. I feel like we’re always assigned boring tasks that no one else wants to do. What can I do to help our chances of working on the good stuff? I’m going to divide my answers into three distinct steps: a self-assessment, observations of others, and a gap analysis. Before moving to this three-step answer, there is one underlying question that you must ask yourself. Are there any projects within your organization that you think you would find exciting, or do you consider all the available projects to be boring and uninteresting? The reason I’m asking you this question up front is that if there are no projects that you find engaging and challenging, perhaps you are working in the wrong place. Regarding a self-assessment, you need to do some soul searching and consider the following questions, and questions like them, to see if you can surmise why you are not getting to work on the projects you would like. When answering these questions, try to be objective, not emotional. The more objective you are, the more insights you will gain toward attaining your desired assignments. Why do you think the projects you want are being given to other teams? Do you and your team have the right skills to take on these projects? Do you and your team have enough experience to take on these projects? Do you think your manager has confidence that you and your team can [...]