CAM 015: How To Create Awesome IT Meetings

Have you ever had a moment where the printer won’t work? Or that guy in HR opened another email he wasn’t supposed to and the whole network got infected? Would you like to know the right way to having a meeting with your IT guy when something like this happens and you want to get it fixed fast? Then this episode of the Create Awesome Meetings Podcast is for you!. That's because you're going to hear a fantastic interview with Ben Habing, an IT expert with over 20 years of experience in all levels of IT from dealing with small business to servicing multi-million-dollar contracts for large companies. In this episode Ben shares a ton of great IT meeting insights including: Being relentless about defining the business problem itself, and THEN choosing an IT solution to meet the need Making sure that you have left no question unanswered so that there can be no surprises when it comes to implementation Preventing any language barriers between the business owner and the IT technician to ensure that everyone understands each other Making sure the client understands what happens if their system goes down (from fire, flood, failed hardrive etc.) and what steps will be taken if it does How to empathize with each other because everybody has a job to do Why being open and honest is the best way to do business during an IT meeting How to prevent over-spending by establishing clear project requirements How to establish a clear Return-On-Investment from your IT spend, as in, do you want to earn $, reduce costs, or both? Why establishing the right back-up process is so important How to set up high expectations within the IT agreement itself How to not get bamboozled by the latest IT fad and ensure that you only implement what you need ‘When in doubt, do without’ Why IT is not magic, it's just engineering Why IT should be treated like a marriage (because often you'll be spending more time with your IT guy than your spouse anyway) Why it is critical to have the right people in an IT meeting and to follow a clear meeting agenda Ben's Top 3 IT Meetings Suggestions Be clear about the business problem you are trying to solve, and THEN figure out the appropriate IT solution Be calm during a meeting with your IT provider and remember that everyone has a job to do Clearly understand what Return-On-Investment you want from your IT solution, and don't overspend on bells and whistles that you don't need About Ben Habing Ben has been wielding a keyboard since he was nine. He has spent almost 20 years working in IT, holding various roles from Systems Administrator, Senior Systems Engineer, Infrastructure Architect, IT Manager, Technical Process Manager, Director of Strategy & Business Development to most recently CEO. He has led several technical support teams, implemented numerous enterprise applications, server and infrastructure systems all with a focus on delivering value to the business Ben is a veteran of the dot-com bust and after climbing the inner sanctums of IT; he made the jump over to quality and governance, and finally into leadership. This has given Ben, one of the unique perspectives of being able to talk the tech-talk and understand the need for adoption of service quality and business fundamentals in the sometimes-unhallowed walls of IT. Ben, consults full-time now with his company, Vivify Technology Inc. helping companies enliven their technology to enable them to run their business more effectively anywhere. You can get in touch with Ben at [email protected]. Links Mentioned In This Episode www.vivifytech.com Send an email to [email protected] to get the FREE download!