ok, situation for the hive to comment on. I’m leaving my job as the head of an IT department and have about 20 staff many of whom i’ve worked with for 10 years. The department works well, communication is good, projects are completed and the IT infrastructure has been built over the years on a tight budget. My replacement has come in the last 2 days and during meeting with the teams has said he wants to rip out the Avaya phone system (major investment less than 5 years ago), remove Blackberrys from the business (which the owner likes and wants) and replace with Windows mobile and various other projects requiring expense at a time when the business doesn’t have the money. The result of this is a steady stream of people asking me for references / career advice. Also feedback from other HODs he’s meet isn’t good, they also mirror my own private opinions. Basically doesn’t listen, talks over people and very opinionated with regards to how the business works / is run. Hes not exactly making friends. Coupled with a glaring gap imho of experience and skillset, I don’t know if i should care and raise it to the FD who hired him or just keep my head down, work my notice and post a bit more on Singletrack. Over to you.

Have a quiet word with your bosses to keep an eye him, other than that it’s not your problem.

other HODs

Its up to them to raise the issue with the FD. From you it might look like sour grapes.

But on technical comments you might want to arm a tame HOD with some notes that you’ve prepared so that he can make a clear business impact case rather than a woolly character critique.

I’d leave it. The FD hired him, the FD has the responsibility of firing him if things go pear shaped.
The second thing I’d consider is that I expect it’s normal for a new manager to make changes, new broom sweeps clean, etc.
Third thing for me is that it sounds like the new boy has read the manual but doesn’t have the common sense to interpret or implement it sensibly.
Not your problem unless you’re looking for a salary hike for cleaning up new boy’s mess.

Don’t know… but maybe give him longer than 2 days if you can, before you make a decision…

I know that I can act like / come accross as a bit of an arse when i’m in a new and strange situation. Could be made harder for him as the person he is replacing (you) is still around and obviously liked and respected – could result in trying too hard, but coming across badly… just a thought.

Honestly?

Not your problem. You’re leaving.

It’s not like it’s a big secret that only you are privy to. If you’ve caught him with his hand in the till it might be a different story. Your successor is doing things differently to you, and you still feel a sense of ownership. If you cared that much, you wouldn’t be leaving.

Depends on your situation. Are you retiring, moving to a competitor, setting up on your own?

He sounds a little naiive to me. Too much change too quickly is never good. He should at least have a couple of months of watching things tick over before going in with the scythe.

Unless of course the FD is pulling the strings…….

In which case, your better off out of it.

Don Simon – i’m off to pastures new and have no intention of looking back.
FlowerPower – I’m kinda leaning that way at the moment. However to me it shows a lack of experience at this level if you come into an established team and say your ripping out large chunks of the infrastructure that the team are familiar with. Stabilisation is critical at this point, then make your mark.
I’m not keen on raising an issue in case it looks like sour grapes but on the other hand I feel some loyalty to the team that are staying behind.

Honestly?

Not your problem. You’re leaving.

He has friends there – I’d want to see them right if I could.

If you have a good relationship with some of the other heads I’d have a quiet word with them but only to highlight your concerns for them to watch out for.

Will he be able to make the changes he’s talking about? Or is it all just a load of hot air? If the business want blackberries, then blackberries they shall have, IT is after all a support function and nothing more.

It’s not your problem now and as soon as you handed in your notice your influence on the situation has waned. If you have “no intention of looking back” then don’t. The new HOD will probably screw things up and get sacked, someone else will come in and sort things out. Not you problem.

Cut the cord. You can’t control things once you have left, which I assume was your decision ??

Not so much not your problem, as none of your business, leave the man to get on with it, just cos it’s not what you would do doesn’t mean it’s wrong.

And you will look like a total dork going to the MD with this kind of thing, sorry.

You obviously like your outgoing employer and care.

If you do nothing and leave you’ll regret having said nothing. Its not sour grapes as you have decided to move onto something new and you are leaving on good terms. Its only sour grapes if you are leaving on badterms.

Anyone new coming in thinks they have to change the way things work to make their mark. I had a new Director do this when I worked at Habitat. She made a right royal mess.

However to me it shows a lack of experience at this level if you come into an established team and say your ripping out large chunks of the infrastructure that the team are familiar with.

Maybe that was the argument that clinched the interview. FD not happy with the old way of doing things and wants a shake up?

If you cared that much, you wouldn’t be leaving.

pretty much says it all imho.
however, if you might need new people in your new position, at least you know where to find them

EDIT – plus what don_simon just said

Maybe that was the argument that clinched the interview. FD not happy with the old way of doing things and wants a shake up?

I did wonder that – the FD must be aware of what he wants to do as he’ll have to give budgetary approval for it.

Maybe they just want the new bloke to take all the flak for changes that they see as necessary for the business?

It is maybe possible the senior management don’t like the set-up but unlikely as up until I handed in my notice I was on good terms with all and had no feedback to that effect. Yes I do care about the team, however I care more about me (and my families) own reasons for leaving. Also the business is not spending capital this year which must have been explained to him at interview (or he should have asked it) so I cant see that as a job clincher.

Also the business is not spending capital this year which must have been explained to him at interview (or he should have asked it) so I cant see that as a job clincher.

Something the FD would be privvy to, no?
I’d just move on and not worry about it.

OT personal bugbear – IT types making exclusive decisions about end user stuff like blackberry/windows mobiles etc. I always likened it to in the “old days” the person who organises the stationary cupboard making the decision about what colour pens everyone in the organisation uses. Sure the geeks should advise on what can and can’t work from a technical perspective but they should remember their place and be about working out can-do solutions to what the main body of the organisation wants and needs not about dictating policy. I’ve been bashing my head against a brick wall with the pc/mac debate and screen types and sizes for years with recalcitrant IT depts with their own agendas.

i reckon since you’ve been there for so long, you feel a sense of duty to the dept. especially as the people you’ve worked with for 10 years will be sticking around to put up with this jobsworth.

So, what you should do is, withdraw your resignation on the grounds that you cannot bear to see the ‘baby’ you’ve built up over the years fall to pieces. Queue – lifelong personal gratification and fullfilment.

+1 convert

Convert, I hear you, however in I.T’s defence running a standard solution helps with the IT Governance as well as internal training. We run an internal helpdesk and if the staff had to support ALL devices we couldn’t deliver the level of service required (well we could at extra expense re training). However in saying that the solution needs to be flexible and meet the end users needs, so we have Mac users, dual screens where required, laptops where required etc.

recalcitrant

Must look that up!

IT types making exclusive decisions about end user stuff like blackberry/windows mobiles etc

Hmm, problem is if you leave it to the users to decide you end up with a support nightmare that does nothing to reduce the ‘overhead’ everyone at management level complains IT is (usually). Just post an iOS v Android thread here, or OS X v Win 7 .. it burns on till someone wins de internetz.

You get the odd company like Tesco who see IT and data as the main tool in driving profits and invest heavily but pah, where’s that got them eh?

I’m not saying a standard solution is not often a sensible one, just the choice of said solution should not necessarily be the HoD of IT’s in isolation. Get end users in to look at what’s available – throw some demos out around the organisation for people to play with and let THEM decide what the standard solution should be, or at least feel part of the decision making process.

Convert at what level would you stop asking people their opinion on the solution? Company I work for has 2000+ people. Therefore I implemented a solution per role. Some roles have the same solution. If its a Mac v Windows debate but its only for spreadsheet / word processing then you get the standard (cheaper) Windows solution. If its specialist Mac design software and the end user is familiar with Macs then its a Mac solution.

convert – hear hear! unfortunately I’ve never worked at a company with an IT manager smart enough to actually ask the end users what they need

And to the OP – I’d take the “quiet word with the MD” approach – focusing on the cost implications

Well, I work at an organisation of 6k+ staff, and as we’re a quango of sorts, have lots of governmental security requirements etc. We’re allowed Macs or PCs (or Linux, or Solaris), and they are supported. For a long time, it’s been Blackberries only, but they are currently trialling iOS and MS devices. So it can be done…

So it can be done..

Don’t dispute it can – just that it’s cheaper and you generally get better support on a narrow standards range. There’s also economies of scale for licensing to consider (MS are masters at this, IBM are good too) – it’s pretty normal to have a fair few MS servers and clients, and the pricing of MVLS can make it difficult to go any other direction for apps etc. when you reach a critical mass. There are also vendor SLAs to consider, maybe we already have something in place so we go with A rather than B and live with the bad points.

We do have focus groups and the like for determining standards (whilst the epeens are out, 120K users and growing :-P) but it’s rarely a straightforward answer and always a compromise – generally that no ones particularly happy with 😀

But we digress 🙂

I think the digression is part of the reason behind the OP. 😉

You’re leaving – don’t worry about.

The changes he is proposing after only 2 days and the fact he has got so many people’s backs up, so quickly, tells me he has either been taken on with this plan in mind or for other reasons. Of course, he could be an incompetent arse.

In any case, it’s not your problem any more but an informal chat with the MD wouldn’t do any harm as you are obviously conscientious and still care about the business and your former staff.

Thanks for all the feedback. There may be another agenda i’m no longer privy to. I’ll monitor for a few more days and decide what to do. Part of it could be he’s different from me and people need to adjust.

I wouldn’t worry but make sure your bosses know where you are if the business goes in trouble and they can hire you again with a better package.

Good luck in your next role.

recalcitrant

Must look that up!

You probably wouldn’t have heard it much if you don’t live in a hard water area.