Generally, we usually get the short end of the stick in our department. However... What I've found to be true that has helped immensely as a member of management is that the more time you spend quantifying the damage you are suffering, the more effective you are in convincing upper management that your blood, sweat, and tears are real and that your problem is a large enough one to be addressed. The catch is that there is limited time to spend quantifying and presenting the problem since most of my time may be spent coordinating with other departments to handle the "workarounds" or fix the urgent needs that are a result of the system not working appropriately for business needs. Many managers and end users are so focused on getting the work done correctly or fixing/cleaning up something the system did incorrectly, we get bogged down in the details. Managers must set aside the time to get info together to present their case, or they will always get prioritized near the bottom. Revision: The squeaky wheel with the most $$ damage incurred gets the oil.

"Who said anyone wants a system that's fair? I want a system that gives the advantage to me!"

*chuckle*

Reminds me of that one Calvin & Hobbes strip where the two of them are discussing a similar situation. Calvin is griping about getting the short end of the stick, and Hobbes says, "Well, you know, life is unfair." Calvin grumps back, "Yeah, I know, but why can't it ever be unfair in my favor?"

You do raise an interesting point, though... if (for example) I found out that one of my colleagues was making five times the salary for essentially similar work, I'd go on and on about how unfair it is, but if I were the one getting the five-fold increase, I would never say it was unfair. I'm sure that says something profound about psychology, but not having studied the discipline much, I'm not sure what it is.

--Parrish

Just to pick a nit, there's nothing remarkable about 2/3 of IT managers thinking their departments are above average. If they could be rated on a scale of 0 to 100, 49 of them were rated at 51 and 1 was rated at 1, then the average is 50 and 98% of them truly are above average. Okay, that's an extreme example, but sometimes we just need to be reminded that "average" is not the 50-50 dividing line.

The timing of this post is coincidental with yesterday's (8/15/2006) "Dilbert" strip.

(Pointy-haired manager speaking):
"By now you've noticed that your jobs are hideous nightmares of frustration and underpayment.

"But what you don't know is that every other company is the same."

(to self "Reduce employee turnover - Check")

Even when I was self-employed, this was frightfully true!

Done right, IT tends to be invisible. Like the plumber, I only hear from users when crap backs up, and even when I fix the problem I know people believe I was at least partly to blame for the breakdown in the first place.

As far as I can tell, getting fair and just compensation in IT (if there really is such a thing) must include a certain amount of self-promotion, of tooting your own horn, of marketing your strategic successes in ways that are meaningful to executive management. Complaining only makes you look like you're not a team player, and in these days of outsourcing you don't want to get a pink slip solely because you display a rotten attitude.

You may not be "abnormal" for thinking that benefit could possibly be allocated fairly based upon the value of the unit to the company, its mission and goals, and the bottom line?

... but it's certainly 'unrealistic' to believe that politics plays no role in what gets funded.

The executive committee is engaging in typical risk avoidance. If each one can be assured they appear as successful as everyone else, they won't feel threatened; even if the whole organization does not benefit.

These are interesting, and certainly universal issues. Am I allowed a recommendation? There's a new book called I.T. Wars: Managing the Business-Technology Weave in the New Millennium. Frankly, it speaks to Business and IT in a plain manner, and is completely devoted to results. We found it through this press release: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/7/prweb413415.htm and a friend subsequently sent this review that he found online: http://businessforum.com/DScott_01.html - at any rate, I hope this post is allowed. I wouldn't normally recommend a book, but we are very glad we got ahold of this book - it sets the tone for any meeting, implementation, and really organizational culture for a business-forward posture.

There is a middle ground called fairness that people can find in most situations if they look hard enough.