Things you don't want to hear from a CIO

[alreadypacked]

CIO "I just want to ask X"

X is covered in the document.

CIO "I stopped reading the document as it was too complicated."

I wrote the document in an idiots guide style, with more screen shots than a comic, FFS

[thunderlizard]

Then it was at the wrong level of detail. Screen shots are for a user guide, not a CIO overview.

[DaveB]

CIO "I just want to ask X"

X is covered in the document.

CIO "I stopped reading the document as it was too complicated."

I wrote the document in an idiots guide style, with more screen shots than a comic, FFS

From RFC 2795

A diagram of IMPS concepts is provided below. Non-technical readers
such as mid-level managers, marketing personnel, and liberal arts
majors are encouraged to skip the next two sections. The rest of
this document assumes that senior management has already stopped
reading.

UNless they tell you otherwise CIO's typically want a management summary, preferable less than one page, that tells them the fundamental facts. We will do this. We will use this. It will cost us this. The outcome will be this. The business benefit will be this.

Anything more than that and they tend to lose interest.

[Moose423956]

I wrote the document in an idiots guide style, with more screen shots than a comic, FFS

Did you tell him/her that?

[DimPrawn]

I was once drawn into a battle between IT and a senior manager.

Manager claimed software was defective.

I pointed out it was all in the spec.

He said, "I never read the spec it was too complicated".

I said "You signed it off".

He said "I had to, otherwise I would never have got the system".


The project got worse from that point.

[Sysman]

From RFC 2795



UNless they tell you otherwise CIO's typically want a management summary, preferable less than one page, that tells them the fundamental facts. We will do this. We will use this. It will cost us this. The outcome will be this. The business benefit will be this.

Anything more than that and they tend to lose interest.

A management summary should be no more than one page and easy to locate. It should be on a page of its own so that it can be photocopied without any extraneous info. I like to stuff them immediately after the TOC so that:

1. management only has to read the first couple of lines of the TOC far to find out where it is
2. management doesn't have to turn many pages to get there

Got to make it as easy as possible for them to pass it up to the board reasonably intact. and hopefully without any wild promises added.

[alreadypacked]

Then it was at the wrong level of detail. Screen shots are for a user guide, not a CIO overview.

It was a user guide, the CIO wanted to use it.

[DaveB]

It was a user guide, the CIO wanted to use it.

In which case he is a Knob. A pointy haired Knob at that. Maybe give him an Etch-A-Sketch instead?

[DimPrawn]

Things you don't want to hear from a CIO

The Indian team arrive Monday, please clear your desk by the end of the day. If you could help them settle in and perhaps carry their new computers, that would be great.

[amcdonald]

A management summary should be no more than one page and easy to locate.

So what's the difference between a management summary and a TPS report ?