IPMA Home | IPMA News IPMA News : July 2005 Edited By Christy Ridout and Shelagh Taylor

LeaderPath for IT Managers
Registration Deadline – August 29, 2005

--By Doug Spohn, Department of Personnel

The Facts

Successful IT leaders are those who think and work with the “enterprise” in mind. They know that they must persuade, lead and work with others to achieve their goals. They develop teams, build partnerships, nurture alliances and engage in cross-agency and cross-functional activities to find common ground for solutions with a widening range of stakeholders.

Successful IT Leaders are able to connect the goals, objectives and activities of the IT organization to the goals, objectives and activities of their agency and the state. Establishing and effectively communicating this business alignment is critical to success.

Successful IT leaders know how to introduce positive change in the processes their organization uses to deliver products and services. Collaborating with business leaders, they develop specific goals for change, assess the readiness for change and identify appropriate change strategies. They often lead or team with other business leaders in change initiatives and act as a change agent.

Washington State government’s mid-level IT managers must be ready to step into more executive leadership positions that demand these leadership skills. For many, this enterprise approach means developing new IT competencies.

The Solution

Under the co-sponsorship of the Information Processing Management Association (IPMA), the Department of Personnel has partnered with the University of Washington’s Cascade Center, the premiere source for leadership development in the Northwest, to offer LeaderPath for IT Managers, the first-ever leadership development program exclusively for IT managers in state government. Its focus is on the day-to-day and long-term strategic challenges of creating, collaborating with, and often times, leading agency and interagency IT initiatives. Through LeaderPath for IT Managers, participants will understand how to "sit at the table" with other agency executives and influence the decisions that are made.

How the Program Works

LeaderPath for IT Managers is designed as a cohort model. Twenty-five participants will journey together for 11 days over a 9-month period. This encourages shared problem solving and the growth of an interagency IT professional network. Included in LeaderPath for IT Managers are personal assessments, leadership content sessions, and intimate involvement in a group IT capstone project designed to reap real enterprise benefits – right now!

When and Where

October 4, 2005 – One full day, The Phoenix Inn, Olympia
Session Kick-Off, Orientation and Assignment of Capstone Projects

October 11-13, 2005 – Three full days, Talaris Center, Seattle
Content Session – Building Relationships

January 10-12, 2006 – Three full days, Talaris Center, Seattle
Content Session – Developing and Communicating Directions

April 5-7, 2006 – Three full days, Talaris Center, Seattle
Content Session – Enabling Change

June 15, 2006 – One full day, The Phoenix Inn, Olympia
Capstone Project Presentations and Graduation

Cost

$5,000 per person. Includes all instruction and leadership assessments, lodging in Seattle, most meals, and evening programs.

Enrollment

Participation in LeaderPath for IT Managers is targeted to mid-level state managers. Enrollment is competitive. Each candidate requires nomination by her or his agency director.

Registration

Deadline August 29, 2005

Registration information is available from the Department of Personnel. Contact: Doug Spohn, dougs@dop.wa.gov, 360.664.1991

Note: This program is designed to complement, not replace, the Department of Personnel’s Executive Management Program that focuses on leadership skills among a broader network of state executives.

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Register now for Neal Whitten seminar!

--by Sheryl Hall and Allen Schmidt, IPMA Professional Development Co-Chairs

Project Managers, Team Members, Business Analysts, and even Executive Sponsors, can find valuable information at the following upcoming event. Registration is still open for the upcoming Neal Whitten seminar with a very few seats still available for you! ONLY $69 for an IPMA Professional Development Seminar with Neal Whitten, author and Project Management consultant (includes training, book copy, refreshments) August 23, 2005, at Saint Martin's College in Lacey. State employees can register through the HRDIS system for this event! For program announcement and registration information, go to: http://www.ipma-wa.com/prodev/2005/whitten_20050823.htm

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IPMA Executive Seminar

--by Phil Grigg and Darrel Riffe, IPMA Executive Seminar Co-Chairs

Registration is now available for the IPMA Executive Seminar scheduled for September 20-22 in Ocean Shores. This year's theme is "Reinventing the Enterprise During Transition." Featured speakers include Martin Reynolds from Gartner who will talk about emerging trends in technology; Paul Farnsworth from SafeHarbor who will talk on the value of self Service Portals in Government; Laszlo Szalvay from Danube who will talk about Project Management Agile Computing; our CIO, Gary Robinson, on Enterprise Initiatives; and Eric Bruno from Verizon who will talk on wireless futures. CIOs should have received an e-mail invitation earlier this month. Registrations should be made before August 15. Call Phil Grigg at 902-7452 or Darrel Riffe at 902-3472 for more information.

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News from the Past

5 Years Ago -- July 2000 IPMA Newsletter

10 Years Ago -- July 1995 IPMA Newsletter

15 Years Ago -- July 1990 IPMA Newsletter (not available at this time)

20 Years Ago -- July 1985 Association of Data Processing Managers Newsletter  (not available at this time)

25 Years Ago -- July 1980 Association of Data Processing Managers Newsletter

30 Years Ago -- July 1975 Association of Data Processing Managers Newsletter  (not available at this time)

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Summary of June 9, 2005 IPMA Board Meeting

Members Present: Jim Albert, Mary Ellen Bradley, Phil Grigg, Sheryl Hall, Dennis Jones, Dennis Laine, Andy Marcelia, Darrel Riffe, Allen Schmidt and Shelagh Taylor. Phil Coates, CFO, and Jim Andersen, Forum Events Manager, were also present.

Andy Marcelia, IPMA Vice-Chair, opened the June 2005 meeting of the IPMA Board of Directors at 7:36 a.m.

Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the May 2005 Board meeting were approved.

Secretary/Treasurer’s Report: The Board approved the May 2005 financial status and activities reports.

Committee Reports:

Forum 2005: Jim Andersen presented the following status report:

1. Corporate Sponsors:
   • Twenty-five sponsors have registered and paid for the 2005/2006 sponsorship year.
   • Two organizations have expressed interest in filling the vacancy left when one vendor dropped out.
   • If both organizations wish to become corporate sponsors, would the board approve increasing the number of sponsors to 27?
     • The board approved the increase of the maximum number of corporate sponsors to 27.
   • Vendors:
     • Forty-six of 47 vendor booths were sold.
     • Free booths were given to PMI, OMUG and an organization called “Free Nerds” that refurbishes salvaged PCs and donates them to needy recipients.
2. Executive Lunch: There was a great turnout to hear AG Rob McKenna’s presentation. One-hundred sixty people registered, 150 lunches were guaranteed and 135 guests were in attendance. A letter of appreciation to Rob McKenna has been drafted for Thomas Bynum’s approval.
3. New Corporate Sponsor Appreciation Luncheon: This has been postponed until more progress has been made on the IPMA Marketing Plan.
4. Espresso Stand and other food options: There was a lot of interest in getting a stand for next year and providing more food options.
5. St. Martin’s Catering Service: Experienced a lot of problems on the first day. They are not a flexible organization to work with.
6. Forum Registration: The registration procedure seemed to work much better this year. The registration forms are bing processed and the results should be available by the end of June.
7. GES Exposition Services: GES met our expectations. There was only one vendor complaint about their rates.
8. Forum Planning Committee: The committee will meet in mid-June for a debriefing.
9. Forum Gift: The gift bags were well liked. However, many attendees showed up unprepared as they were expecting portfolios with note pads. Out of the 900 bags purchased only 30 are left.
10. IPMA Booth: Passing out the Forum gift bag at the IPMA booth was a good idea. Having the Board members pass out the gifts put a “face” on the IPMA.
11. Breakout Session Issue: Complaints were received about one of the breakout sessions where one of the speakers was highly critical of a competitor’s product. Jim spoke to the two corporate sponsor representatives and a letter has been drafted for Thomas’ approval.
12. Forum Attendance: The numbers for the Forum this year were very good. There were 639 registrations on Tuesday and 287 on Wednesday. At one time there were 241 attendees in four concurrent breakout sessions. There were 139 attendees in the Wednesday 3:30 pm sessions.
13. Breakout Session Evaluations: We only received 31 evaluations. Many attendees used the evaluation form for taking notes since note paper wasn’t provided.

Sheryl Hall suggested that a large number of note pads be printed up with the IPMA logo on them for distribution at all IPMA events. Dennis Laine will work with Sheryl to explore the feasibility of the suggestion and they will have a cost estimate for the board’s consideration at the July board meeting.

Communications: Shelagh Taylor reported that the June issue of the IPMA News would soon be released. The issue contains an article by Mary Ellen Bradley where she recapped last month’s Forum. It also includes an article about new developments at the Office of the Secretary of State.

Professional Development: Allen Schmidt and Sheryl Hall reported that the June 20 event on Enterprise Architecture, which is a follow up to the Forum EA breakout session, is coming together nicely. To-date 58 registrations have been received.

The August seminar, No-Nonsense Advice for Successful Projects, to be presented by Neal Whitten, has approximately 150 registrations to-date.

The 2006 Professional Development committee has reserved six dates for 2006 with Saint Martin's. The committee is proposing to use four of these dates for Professional Development sessions. The other two dates are open for perhaps partnering with DOP and/or PMI for example. Our goal is to continue to keep these sessions at a very high quality and not to saturate the audience interest and participation.

Executive Seminar 2005: Phil Grigg reported that the committee and several members of the board recently met to put together the agenda. The effort was productive and the participants have assignments to finalize the agenda.

Phil said that the invitation letters would be sent out before the end of June.

IT Leadership Development Program: Dennis Jones reported that the program presentation at the Forum got a lot of attention. He distributed a compilation of responses to the questionnaire attendees at the Forum breakout session were asked to complete at the end of the presentation. The report confirmed a high level of interest in the target audience.

Dennis said that the sourcing options RFP was out for bid to University of Washington and South Puget Sound Community College. The bid proposals are due June 24, 2005. It is hoped that registration can begin by the end of June.

Other Business:

Business Plan/Marketing Plan: Jim Albert distributed a draft of his thoughts regarding the organization’s Vision, Mission, Goals and Objectives and walked the board through them.

Andy Marcelia indicated that Virginia McCarty, a local marketing consultant, would be meeting with those board members who could stay after the regular meeting to discuss what needs to be done to complete the organization’s Business/Marketing Plan.

Next Meeting: July 14, 2005, at the Shipwreck Café

The regular board meeting was adjourned at 8:45 a.m.. The pre-planning marketing session got underway following adjournment.

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