Here's how you can embody the key characteristics of an assertive IT Operations Manager.

Hire the best talent possible, train the team, treat everyone with respect. Value diversity and listen to the team members by promoting innovation as all ideas have value. Lastly, support fun activities and maintain positive morale through all partnerships. People do not leave jobs they often leave managers.

Get to it! Priority one for me is simply, "Get to IT." I've discovered in my 25+ years in the IT field many IT Managers struggle with, getting the ball rolling. Meetings are fantastic, only when they're productive. At some point you must take actionable steps. In addition, you must build in and build up a team that possess a desire to finish the job. Lead, your team. Lead in word, in action, in passion, in all communication. Ask your team how they would accomplish this task. What idea's or solutions they might have to make this endeavor a success.

It's clear to me that many IT Managers are either promoted System Administrators who still spend their day with their head in the gear or...conversely they're Manager's who perhaps delegate to their team from the golf course or convention hall, tasks and assignments having never walked a mile in the shoes of their Techs or Admins. End result? They don't have a finger on the pulse of their department. In either case, it's a recipe for disaster. One loves the tactile feel of hardware and software integration and implementation while the other plays fast and loose with operational needs and requirements while marginalizing the needs of their valued IT team members. IT Managers need to Show Up...and WORK for their team.

In my opinion, conflict resolutions begins with one very important first step, Slow it Down! Taking the time to slow down the process and the people involved allows cooler heads to prevail. In my experience, when interviewing and investigating a workplace conflict, of course it's important to separate all parties involved and take written statements while the incident is still fresh. However, not much emphases is placed on asking the right questions. In order to aggregate those questions, we must slow it down. Who, What, When...yes, of course. I ask that we consider the participants. Any personal issues? Any personal contributing factors may be playing a role? What is it you want me to hear or learn, that I'm not presently understanding?

Welcome Failure! Allow your team to fail. Expect it. Plan for it. Embrace it. Make every plane with a contingency for failure. We all plan to succeed and when we don't...we discover we're lost because we had no plan for failure. I always plan for failure with my teams and encourage them to take risks. Reach out. You will trip. You will fall. You will WIN. If your team knows failure IS an option and sometimes will be inevitable, they will feel more impowered to reach farther, go beyond and exceed your greatest expectations.

Lunch and Learn! Of course, lunch is provided, but I set up a special time where my team can gather and collaborate over topics of their choosing. The topics must be work related but it's a time for staff to teach fellow colleagues something they may be struggling with. From procurement to operations, from IT Infrastructure to payroll. I have witnessed teams train each other on the most fascinating of topics. The most important facet of this interaction is the team building and the boost to confidence and moral my team experiences as they feel empowered to engage each other and seek solutions together.

Preparing for and managing disaster recovery scenarios is a critical responsibility. I developed a comprehensive disaster recovery plan that included regular backups, failover strategies & simulated disaster recovery drills. When our primary data centre experienced a power outage, our well-rehearsed plan enabled us to switch to a secondary site with minimal downtime, ensuring business continuity Efficiently managing IT resources & planning for future capacity needs are essential skills. I conducted a detailed capacity planning exercise for our cloud infrastructure, utilising tools AWS CloudWatch & Azure Monitor. By analysing usage patterns & forecasting future demand, we optimised our resource allocation, resulting in a 25% cost reduction