On our 2013 survey, we asked this question: “What problems keep you from accomplishing your goals?” In other words, what stops your company from addressing all of those pressing needs on your to-do list?
Can you guess the most common answer? For the third year in a row, the winner was…time! No one has enough time.
Now, I get it. Many IT staffs are overworked and understaffed. They have too much on their plate. There’s just not enough time in the day to tackle all of their “urgent” projects.
But, then I read stories like the ones below, and wonder if the issue isn’t a “lack of time” so much as it is an “inefficient use of time.” For instance, here are 3 great examples of IT departments completing big projects in impossible time frames:
- This 2-person IT staff that needed to replace their order entry system and modernize their internal green-screen interface. Both projects were big, both were urgent, and they couldn’t afford to bring in outside consultants for help. What did they do? They completed both projects internally, faster than most larger IT departments ever could.
- This company estimated a critical project would take 1,000 hours to complete. The only problem: They didn’t have 1,000 hours to spare…and the project had an unmovable deadline. What did they do? They found a way to complete the whole project in just 300 hours.
- This company needed a web-based ordering system, and they needed it fast. However, their 3-person IT staff didn’t have the time to deliver such an involved system quickly. What did they do? They managed to create and roll-out and custom web-based ordering system faster than it would’ve taken to deploy a generic, off-the-shelf option.
So, the next time you think there’s not enough time to tackle a project, just take a step back and think about the stories listed above. You’ll find that those “time” excuses no longer hold water.