IT Skills Development Work Group

Meeting Minutes

Attendees
In Person:
Donna Canestraro - CTG
Aniko Polgar - TechnoDyne
Mario Chiarello - OSC
James Nicol - CAI
Teleconference:
Belinda Jackson - OMRDD

Agenda for the meeting:

  • Welcome
  • General housekeeping/administration
  • BA CoP and Organizing Spring Event
    • BA Survey results and discussion ofther options for assisting the start of the CoP
  • ITSD Survey - Planning and general questions to be incorporated - brainstorming session.
  • Community of Practice Starter Kit - Status

Meeting Notes

  • Welcome - Donna opened the meeting.
  • Minor housekeeping - no housekeeping items.
  • CoP and Planning BA Spring Event and BA Survey - Discussion of the survey results - 10 respondents for a population of 44. The group brainstormed ways to help this group without overextending our resources especially in light of the poor response rate. Several ideas were suggested and the group decided on the following game plan
    • We decided that we would not be holding a special BA event in the spring due to the low response rate.
    • We decided the best way to help this community was to provide them with a framework within which they could operate but not totally rely on this workgroup for support. The framework suggested would be a listserv where folks interested in this topic could post questions, share resources and information, which were the top items noted in the survey as to what this group was looking for.
    • Donna would ask Greg Benson if we could host the listserv under the ITSD work group. This would involve Mike Chambers in setting up a new listserv. We would also see if we could identify the two respondents who stated that they would be interested in a leadership role, if they could play the role of monitor for the listserv.
    • James will reach out to the IIBA to ask if they would also help support the listserv by providing subject matter expertise to topics, information sharing, and certification discussions. James will also explore what the cost of membership to the IIBA is. We decided as a group that we should provide the members of this community opportunity outside having to formally join a professional organization. We understand non-members can attend IIBA functions at a nominal cost of $10.00/event. James would confirm this in his conversations with IIBA Albany leadership.
    • We also decided that we would have, at a minimum, the beta version of the Starter Kit so that this group could use it to help 'jump-start' their CoP.
    • We also agreed if there was no activity on the listserv within 6 months from the launch, then we would disengage the listserv noting that the community could not sustain the CoP.
  • CoP Starter Kit - We reviewed the documents that are available thus far on the Google Group and determined that we do not have to reinvent the wheel. Many of the documents are useful for our needs.
    • We decided that all we needed to provide is the NYS Forum "envelope" around the tools listed.
    • From our last (March) meeting notes it was noted that the substance of the starter kit can be something as simple as a check list, a set of templates and a list of resources.
    • Aniko and Mario will work together (with Doug) to come up with an outline (in the form of a slide show or outline) that lists 4 main components:
      • A definition of a CoP from our view point
      • Framework options it can take (listserv, face to fact meetings, virtual groups etc.)
      • Steps or check list to assist the group
      • Resource lists
    • The sub team will have a draft for us to react to for the next meeting (May 3rd)
    • We also agreed to come to the next meeting (or share prior) a list of CoPs that we are familiar with already operational in the state.
  • ITSD Survey - We discussed how best to reach the broader population of the NYS Forum to help formulate our next year's program. The original idea of a strategic planning session was scrapped due to issues raised regarding resources and redundancy to the larger NYS Forum Strategic planning event. In order to address everyone's needs and concerns, we decided on hosting two surveys. One to the general population of the NYS Forum membership and the second to the NYS Forum Co-chairs. The framework of the first survey would vet the subcategories of the list Adam started to populate looking at subject areas or domains of interest. We thought it might be helpful to post this list (once vetted with the CIO Council) on our web site and then ask participants to answer 5 - 7 questions. The second survey would be to ask the Forum co-chairs 5 questions regarding IT Skills Development within their area of concentration.
    • Both sets of questions need to be developed to see if these ideas are plausible.
    • We also discussed that at the next NYS Forum Strategic planning event, instead of having a table for the ITSD Work group, representatives from our work group would sit at each of the other tables to listen to their strategies and gain insight on how our group could help support their goals with joint training/information sessions like we did with the PM Working group and the BA Session.
  • Action Items
    • Donna will send out to the work group the following links:
      • CoP Google Group
      • Adam's IT Skills Domain areas list
    • Donna will talk to Greg about these plans and gain his insight regarding the BA listserv idea.
    • James will reach out to IIBA local president to see what they are able to provide assistance with.
    • Mario and Aniko will work with Doug and come to the next meeting (or share prior to the next meeting) a framework for the CoP Starter Kit.
    • Mario will send out the link to RoAnn Destito's presentation regarding knowledge transfer from contract consultants.
    • Donna will reach out to Adam to see if he can vet his list with the CIO Council to see if there are any other groups we should be considering.

Next Meeting: May 3, 2010 - 10:30 am, NYS Forum Offices