Previously role titles tended to be formal, and following a set structure such as the guy who was in charge of Supply was called the supply manager - wonderfully inspiring.
Today we are seeing more and more role titles that actually represent what the person is supposed to do, along with the aspirations the company has for the role. Here are just a few that I have come across in my travels.
The truly great aspect of all of these is that they focus on the human elements of management, and on the ability to build and hold a relationship.
Project Manager (Consultant Side) changed to Chief Relationship Officer/Manager
Great stuff! And how true. Regardless of any other skills the PM brings with them, the key ability is that of developing, building and holding relationships that will stand the test of commercial dealings. Without it, the show is over before it has begun...
Project Manager (Client Side) changed to Evangelist-in-Chief
Saw this recently on a rather large project (in the 10's of millions) and it worked very well. The guy at the head of the pyramid was under no doubt that it was his role to take the word out to the rest of the organization, garner support, create converts, and give the improvement initiative a life of it's own. Far better than just an administrative function in my view.
(Also seen this used very effectively for the Head of Sales, or product / methodology "Champions")
Department Head changed to Mentor-in-Chief
Sidesteps a lot of the administrative functions that a dept head does and focuses on her true role. Create more leaders, build up the people under her so that they can lead parts of the organization in turn. I see this used particularly in improvement projects (my area) and in areas where the department has a significant technical or skill element.
Training Manager changed to Talent Development Officer / Manager
I have always particularly liked this change. Training managers continually see themselves as administrators of a program of training, and guardians of the training budget. This title gets to the point - you are not here to administer a program, you are here to develop talent. Career paths, weak points, deploy best practices and so on . Brilliant term...
Human Resources changed to Talent Management
I love this! How many small consultancies have HR heads that would be more at home in the Third Reich than in the 21st century. The enforcers of policy throughout the company, discipline dispensers, pink-slip issuers, and writers of "Don't come Monday" notes.
But should it be like that? In a service industry, where people are the primary resource, and those who create and represent the brand of any company - isn't it time that we stopped taking a adversarial approach? (Particularly in a resource crunch?)
The whole idea of a Talent Manager is obvious. Find it, develop it, deploy it, and keep it if possible. Brilliant! (And must be a Tom Peters one)
IT Manager changed to Technology Advocate
For me, and probably I am the only one, and IT manager is about servers, networks, windows software and restrictive licensing. Sometimes I also associate them with ERP.. depending where they are.
But... times have changed, technology has changed, and the role they need to fulfill. Today, we have a mass onslaught of technologies designed to sideline the strong central IT department. SaaS can be bought at a department level, not at a corporate level, Web 2.0 stuff is everywhere, and communications is getting easier by the day.
And instead of helping this, they try to control and prevent it. (UK Government as a case in point...) A technology advocates' role is again blatantly obvious. The person who works out how to best use new technologies, how to reduce whole of life costs through technology adoption, how to better implement existing technologies, and how to take the best of the early twenty first century and turn it into modern productivity and knowledge tools.
Great stuff! And how true. Regardless of any other skills the PM brings with them, the key ability is that of developing, building and holding relationships that will stand the test of commercial dealings. Without it, the show is over before it has begun...
Project Manager (Client Side) changed to Evangelist-in-Chief
Saw this recently on a rather large project (in the 10's of millions) and it worked very well. The guy at the head of the pyramid was under no doubt that it was his role to take the word out to the rest of the organization, garner support, create converts, and give the improvement initiative a life of it's own. Far better than just an administrative function in my view.
(Also seen this used very effectively for the Head of Sales, or product / methodology "Champions")
Department Head changed to Mentor-in-Chief
Sidesteps a lot of the administrative functions that a dept head does and focuses on her true role. Create more leaders, build up the people under her so that they can lead parts of the organization in turn. I see this used particularly in improvement projects (my area) and in areas where the department has a significant technical or skill element.
Training Manager changed to Talent Development Officer / Manager
I have always particularly liked this change. Training managers continually see themselves as administrators of a program of training, and guardians of the training budget. This title gets to the point - you are not here to administer a program, you are here to develop talent. Career paths, weak points, deploy best practices and so on . Brilliant term...
Human Resources changed to Talent Management
I love this! How many small consultancies have HR heads that would be more at home in the Third Reich than in the 21st century. The enforcers of policy throughout the company, discipline dispensers, pink-slip issuers, and writers of "Don't come Monday" notes.
But should it be like that? In a service industry, where people are the primary resource, and those who create and represent the brand of any company - isn't it time that we stopped taking a adversarial approach? (Particularly in a resource crunch?)
The whole idea of a Talent Manager is obvious. Find it, develop it, deploy it, and keep it if possible. Brilliant! (And must be a Tom Peters one)
IT Manager changed to Technology Advocate
For me, and probably I am the only one, and IT manager is about servers, networks, windows software and restrictive licensing. Sometimes I also associate them with ERP.. depending where they are.
But... times have changed, technology has changed, and the role they need to fulfill. Today, we have a mass onslaught of technologies designed to sideline the strong central IT department. SaaS can be bought at a department level, not at a corporate level, Web 2.0 stuff is everywhere, and communications is getting easier by the day.
And instead of helping this, they try to control and prevent it. (UK Government as a case in point...) A technology advocates' role is again blatantly obvious. The person who works out how to best use new technologies, how to reduce whole of life costs through technology adoption, how to better implement existing technologies, and how to take the best of the early twenty first century and turn it into modern productivity and knowledge tools.
Head of Sales changed to Chief Energizer
Not sure where I read this for the first time, but it is a great title. Seems to be suited to the head of sales but would fit any coaching, motivating and inspiring role within an organization. (I chose sales because its hard work and really cannot live without a positive and energetic environment.)
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