2020 taught us some phrases you may hope to never see again. I nominate the word “unprecedented.” Even the old tech standby “disruption” took on a stark new tone amid the pandemic. However, 2020 also taught us how to be more mindful. More focused on managing our priorities. And certainly, more flexible.
You can see this reality in the articles that our community of IT leaders found the most valuable this year. You shared lessons learned on that traditional pain point digital transformation, but in the new light that the pandemic forced a rapid speed-up. (See, I didn’t say “unprecedented” speed-up.)
You also shared hive wisdom on two new pain points: Zoom meetings and virtual onboarding of new employees. As always, our community showed much passion around the topic of IT careers, both from a hiring and job-hunting perspective.
But you still made room to explore emerging technologies, such as robotic process automation (RPA) and Kubernetes tools. And best of all, you made time to try and bolster your emotional intelligence, for your own sake and your team’s.
Consider this quote from our number-eight story, Emotional intelligence: 3 ways to build optimism during disruption: "Optimism isn’t a passive expectation that things will get better,” Melinda Gates once said. “It’s a conviction that we can make things better.”
Here’s to making things better in 2021. We hope you can use some of the strategies in these 10 articles to do just that:
10. Digital transformation: What CIOs are accelerating during the pandemic
While many aspects of life remain on hold, many organizations are charging full steam ahead on digital transformation efforts – even giving some pieces a speed boost.
9. DevOps engineer: IT's most in-demand title for the future
Have concerns about using the term “DevOps” in job titles in the years to come? Get over it. Spend your time using the DevOps engineer title to help achieve important outcomes
8. Emotional intelligence: 3 ways to build optimism during disruption
Understanding how to cultivate optimism in the midst of a crisis can enable IT leaders and their teams to not only weather tumult but come out better for it. Try these strategies.
7. Zoom tips: 6 ways to make meetings better
Now that meeting online is a necessity, do you know the various ways to control – and improve – Zoom meetings and other online gatherings? Check out these expert tips to avoid embarrassment and boost productivity.
6. 5 open source projects that make Kubernetes even better
Open source projects bring many additional capabilities to Kubernetes, such as performance monitoring, developer tools, serverless capabilities, and CI/CD workflows. Check out these five widely used options.
[ Want to learn more about Kubernetes? Get the free eBook: O'Reilly: Kubernetes Operators: Automating the Container Orchestration Platform. ]
5. Virtual onboarding: How to welcome new hires while fully remote
Onboarding new employees when everyone is working remotely has special challenges. Consider these best practices and tips to make your virtual onboarding process succeed.
4. Agile teams wish their leaders knew these 5 truths
Leaders can get in the way of agile teams and limit their success. Consider whether your organization is guilty of any of these roadblocks.
3. 7 top DevOps engineer interview questions for 2020
Passionate, qualified DevOps engineers are hard to come by. Use these DevOps engineer interview questions to zero in on your best candidates.
2. Robotic Process Automation (RPA): 6 open source tools
Open source Robotic Process Automation tools let IT teams explore RPA without starting from scratch or committing to a commercial vendor quite yet.
1. 5 flourishing and 5 fading IT careers
Which IT careers are on the rise and which ones are disappearing? IT job hunters and hiring managers need to understand the trends.
[ Get exercises and approaches that make disparate teams stronger. Read the digital transformation ebook: Transformation Takes Practice. ]
