Multiple Hat Survival Guide

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Multiple Hat Survival Guide

• Karen Langley, SAIC
• Georgia Oracle Users Group
• May 10, 2007

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Agenda

• Background
• How many hats do you ear?
• Levels of Leadership
• Who am I?
• What hats do I wear?
• How did I get so many hats?
• How to Survive
• Tips to Survive

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Some Background

• Education Upstate NY
• 1980 BA Math Siena College
• 1982 MS Computer Science Union College
• Practical Education Programmer with KAPL,
  started with Oracle6 then moved south and on to
  Oracle7 and beyond!
• Employed by SAIC

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How many hats to you wear?

• Personal
• Parent
• Spouse
• Son/Daughter
• Sibling

• PTA Volunteer
• Band Parent
• Soccer Coach
• Member of Choir

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How many hats to you wear?

• Business
• Employee
• Manager
• Co-worker

• Customer
• Provider

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Levels of Hats and Leadership
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Levels of Hats and Leadership

• People at the Top
• People in the Middle
• People at the Bottom

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People at the Bottom

• Not a bad place to be
• Limited number of tasks responsibilities
• Can be physically or mentally challenging
• May become an expert in the task

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People at the Top

• Fewer hats but responsible for success/failure of
  organization
• Can choose what to do
• Determine priorities
• Focus on Strengths
• Direct time/energy on greatest return
• Delegate or dismiss everything else

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People in the Middle

• Perform tasks with knowledge beyond personal
  experience
• Deal with multiple priorities that change
• Time resources often limited
• Demands/expectations from all sides
• Mgmt, Followers, Customers, Vendors

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Who am I?
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Who am I?

• Work for SAIC Science Applications
  International Corporation - gt40K employees
  worldwide
• IT Program Manager for DOE customer in Oak Ridge
• Result of outsource gt8 yrs ago
• Now subcontractor to small business

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Who am I?

• Unix and Database Support Teams Manager
• East TN Oracle Users Group President
• Formerly on IOUG Board of Directors

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What Hats do I Wear?
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What Hats do I Wear?
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What Hats do I Wear?

• Member of Division Senior Leadership Team
• Opportunities to work on proposals
• Division Office Space Coordinator
• Office space needs for various contracts

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What Hats do I Wear?

• IT Program Manager for DOE
• Customer Interface
• Regular meetings with Customer Mgmt
• Functional Responsibility
• Get the work done
• Financial Responsibility
• Plan the hours worked by whom
• Profitable program

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What Hats do I Wear?

• Direct manager for Database and Unix staff
  supporting DOE and other customers including
  internal systems
• Some technical support particularly from
  historical perspective (why did what when)

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What Hats do I Wear?

• ETOUG
• President
• IOUG
• Member since 1996
• Finance Committee
• 2007 Board of Directors Election Committee Chair
• Chocolate Provider

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How Did I Get so Many Hats?
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How did I get so many hats?

• Career Path
• Programmer
• DBA
• Lead DBA
• Manager of one, then many, then lots!
• Did a good job at one piece of the task and
  picked up the whole task!

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How did I get so many hats?

• Volunteered
• Drafted
• Willing to be flexible
• Like the challenge and variety of assignments

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So if you wear multiple hats.How do you Survive?

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How to Survive

• Understand the responsibility of each hat
• Wear the right hat at the right time

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How to Survive

• Be yourself in all hats
• Dont neglect any hat

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Practical Tips to Survive Multiple Hats

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Survival Tips

• Understand the Priorities
• Especially the hot ones
• Make Good Use of your time
• Delegate
• Do little things now and then forget them

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Survival Tips

• Just Say No!
• Be organized
• Keep your desk clean (dont look at mine!)
• Planner if that is your style

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Survival Tips

• Have a good team working for you
• Managers
• Staff
• Technical
• Administrative
• Be Flexible

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Survival Tips

• Take time out for yourself
• Have a positive attitude
• Enjoy the challenge

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The Key to Successfully Navigate the Multi-Hat
Challenge

• Knowing what hat to put on and then enjoying the
  challenge.
• - John C. Maxwell, The 360 Leader

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Resources

• The 360 Leader by John C. Maxwell
• Top 7 Tips for Managing Multiple Projects by
  Kevin Kearns from Top7Business.Com
• Personal Experience!

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Questions or Comments?

• Multiple Hat Survival Guide
• Karen Langley
• langleyk_at_saic.com
• 865-425-5506