It seems that almost every topic that catches my eye these days talks about a recession, a downturn, or some other economic woe in the world. Things are definitely slowing down overall, and even if it hasn't hit your company, it affects the way people think. Employees get nervous about their job security, they worry about the prospects for the company, and they think there's no chance for a bonus. All of this might change the way someone approaches work.
People respond to these challenges differently. Some see opportunity, and some see doom and gloom. You can't necessarily control the way people naturally look at a downturn, but you can find ways to influence their perspective, and perhaps turn them around to seek new challenges.
This article in InfoWorld talks about some ways to take advantage of the tough times. Whether your company or being impacted now or not, it might be in the future, and that can affect how your projects are viewed. Rather than waiting for there to be an effect, however, perhaps you want to be proactive in your career.
Some of the advice is common sense; things you ought to be doing if you're in IT, like being agile, measuring yourself, etc. However there is something that I think many IT people, or even business people, sometimes forget to do. In the article they call it developing multiple budgets, preparing for both potential ups and downs in the business and how it affects projects. Too often we prepare a budget or estimate based on the work we want to do and then expect the client to somehow choose what needs to be done and what can be cut. They don't always have the expertise to do that, often now knowing what projects depend on what other ones. We should give our input here.
Even if you don't build a budget, you can still prepare for cuts or expansions in your budget. Look for ways to deliver some of your services, or different services if there isn't the funding for your original project. It's not something people often think about, preferring to be optimists and assume that when a project is approved, the funding will follow it through.
Plan to change. Just as you might plan for requirements to change, plan for your funding to get altered as well.
Steve Jones
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