I am speaker at IT Manager of Tomorrow 2021 - Marcin Piątkowski

We present you an interview with Marcin Piątkowski, a speaker at the IT Manager of Tomorrow 2021 conference. Marcin works at ABB as Global IS Consumer Experience and Consumer Support Team Lead. 

What are yours daily challenges as IT Manager?

My daily basis work, as IT Manager, is do not disturb too much my team in their operations activities but honestly speaking I try to be a good leader who helps and supports all teams during their duties. I am a big fun of “open door” policy, and it means that everyone can ask me for advice or assistance. Additionally, I am a part of many projects and improvements initiative. The recent one is related to Kaizen program which together with my team we introduced across 6 teams, more then 60 members and very soon will be extended for whole CX – consumer experience – organization! This requires broad collaboration with many other managers to make it successful. Besides projects one of my main duties are: finance/budget management, process recruitment. We are all the time hiring new people because we are growing. Recently due to our scope extension I had to build a new team from the scratch which right now contains 14 members, and we are still missing 4 people. All in all it keeps me busy and guarantees a lot of challenges but from the other side opportunities for further development.

Definitely I am a mixture of people and business leader because I like working very closely with people especially with my team, business and management. It gives me better understanding about the operations - led by my team, requirements which come from the business and feedback from my management about our performance.

How you manage the lack of time at work?

The biggest challenges for me is lack of time, due to the organizational changes and on-going huge/global projects where together with my team we are a part of it. In 2020 a new operating model for the whole IS ABB organization was implemented. It was and still is a huge change which affected hundreds of people. In consequence, we changed the way how service is delivered to users and business including a new support model. It required many activities on many levels e.g. HR, finance, operations, management etc. In 2021, we still need to continue to adjust our daily activities into a new direction. It means that the whole surrounding environment is very dynamic e.g. We got many unusual questions, requirements from the business and high expectations from management, but I am sure that nowadays this is something typical for IT.

What has changed in your work in 2020?

This pandemic situation learnt how to manage the time more effectively but to be honest 2020 did not change too much my job, except 1st place in IT Manager of Tomorrow Awards. Why? Because I used to manage virtual and global team before hence before COVID-19, we have had already implemented very good and efficient methodology how to work together as a one team remotely: regular video meetings, virtual dashboards (Kanban), stand up hand over calls etc.

What kind of IT Manager are you?  People Leader, Tech Leader or Business Leader?

Definitely I am a mixture of People and Business Leader, because I like working very closely with people especially with my team, business and management. It gives me better understanding about the operations - led by my team, requirements which come from the business and feedback from my management about our performance. Additionally, to extend our scope and make sure that our work is beneficial for the customer.

Who is the IT Manager of Tomorrow for you?

IT Manager of Tomorrow for me is a leader who has a vision, mission and follow universal values. Treats everyone and the world with the respect. Puts the people always first, takes care of the team and let them grow and develop. When it is needed push them to take step forward and in consequences let them go. This is the person who is very close to the team and support them when it is needed. Who always believe in WIN-WIN attitude during problem-solving. Who inspires the team and other folks to be a good (wo)man. Is trusted honest and humble.

Priority for the IT Manager

Always prioritize people NOT numbers or targets (SLAs, KPIs, finance, costs etc.). Creates friendly and family atmosphere. Give them protection, make them safe / feeling safety and necessary. Gives them opportunity to contribute by pointing out the strength and encourage them to do the things where they are good at but from the other side let them fail, help them up and take lessons learnt based on those experiences.

What are the topics in business management are close to you?

Based on my experience and knowledge I think I can share my thoughts about vendors management including communication and negotiation aspects. Additionally, I can advise and exchange observations related to collaboration with stakeholders and how to build positive and continued relationship with them.

Topics to talk about with you on the conference: 

Business related:
Leadership, People Management, Team building and how to recruit good candidates, Setting the goals, How to motivate teams, Self-development, Lean Management, Kaizen, SOX compliance, Mnemotechnics,

Not business related:
My passions: biking, snowboarding, sailing, child-rearing, ice-swimming, mountains trekking, cross-fit,

One interesting fact about you that we do not know yet:

I will give you two. 

The first one - at the beginning of this year 2021, actually in Feb, I became vegetarian and I feel great because I am full of energy, more fit and my environmental awareness if much higher. The second: I am a big fun of Wim Hof – the guy who is known as “The Iceman”. He has set several Guinness World Records related to his extreme ability to withstand freezing temperatures. One of mine personal record is ride on bike when outside was 27 Celsius below 0.

If you want to get to know me even better - here you will find more in other publications: 
1. Stworzenie kultury w organizacji skupiającej się na najwyższej jakości usług - ITWiz
2. Final presentation of the IT Manager of Tomorrow Awards 2020 - video
3. Final of IT Manager of Tommorow Awards 2020 - article


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