Managing IT Professionals
Managing Creative, Skilled Professionals
In order to thrive, organizations must be made up of people who have different talents and skills, and it is the manager’s job to encourage these people to work together. This is especially true when managers are tasked with manage skilled, creative professionals. Skilled, creative professionals present many challenges to the manager, mainly because they require conditions to foster their creativity and a significant amount of freedom in order to complete their work. For example IT professionals may feel that they need a certain environment in order to solve a technological problem. They may prefer to work at night, alone, or with music playing. Some managers may have trouble adjusting to this because it does not fit in with the traditional culture of business. Still, managers need to understand that it is important to foster conditions that encourage businesses to thrive, even if they are non-traditional. In fact, many managers and have recently come out in favor of a more , suggesting that allowing employees to have choices encourages them to perform better, be more innovative, and generally progress the company. The best place to start, then, is with the creative, skilled professionals, who many need this sort of environment. In addition, it will be important to manage the relationship between creative, skilled professionals and other workers, as it may seem that these workers are being extended privileges that do not apply to other workers.
In addition, managing creative, skilled professionals may pose problems as they may see their work as independent from the company itself. For instance, they may be reluctant to take criticism or recommendations because they feel close to their own work. They may have trouble implementing the decisions made by , as they may feel their innovations are superior. In this circumstance, it will be crucial to remind the creative, skilled professional of his or her vital role in helping the company move forward.
