the firm’s success is defined by a completely different set of metrics, one that the technical staff rarely understands or even cares about.

When I read this I had to agree with it. I too get usually that same feeling. It is easy for technical staff to get distracted by the latest and greatest changes in technology. Would you rather spend your day on finding more efficient tapes for the backup system, instead of evaluating the usefulness of the iPhone in your division? I know I’d prefer the novelty. Problem is, the firm’s success is defined by a completely different set of metrics, one that the technical staff rarely understands or even cares about.

If the IT culture is not aligned with the business (by the way, when are we going to recognize that IT is an integral part of the business?) then problems like us-versus-them attitude, unstructured process, or even worse, too much bureaucracy, where the process is so cumbersome that people avoid IT and nothing gets done), or a mentality that IT works in a firefighting mode, just rushing to find workarounds instead of fixing the root cause of the problems.

What to do about this? I can think of a few things that are effective to bridge this cultural gap:

1.  Exchange of ideas (Intrateam workshops)

Establish a routine of team collaboration and ideas exchange. For example, once a month have a guest from another team. Ask her to talk to your team about what she does, how she interacts with IT, and what are the most critical technical problems she faces it. This will help the IT staff to understand what others do in the firm, while providing other teams’ members to feel closer to the IT staff. Common understanding of each other’s roles and challenges improves the culture and breaks the barriers that may exist.

2.  Common goals, common metrics

Make sure the goals for the IT department are in alignment with the main business goals. Then, define metrics that help you lead your team to reach them. Constantly, remind your staff of the organization’s mission, and when approached by your staff to make decisions, think out loudly “How does this fit in our Mission?”

3.  Periodical reporting

Generate a monthly or quarterly report of activities and achievements by the IT department. Make sure each maps to at least one of the organization’s goals (otherwise, why did you do it?), and mention what divisions benefit from them. Make sure the heads of all divisions receive it. Ask them for feedback. Show them that IT is there to help, to be a team player. You can use a simple table like this:

2009-Q4 Activities Report, IT Division

4.  Targeted research

Make sure you allocate targeted research time for the IT staff. By targeted research I mean that you as the IT head approve the type of research projects that are started, and request the team member provides an explanation of how and why this is important for the corporation. They must understand that this research and its findings will be made available to the organization, and that maybe a brown-bag presentation will be requested.

Also, propose a couple of topics where you want to see some improvement (use the feedback you got from the divisions’ head when you sent them the periodical reports, and from the Suggestions box), and ask for volunteers to work on them.

By presenting the results to the rest of the organization, others will have the chance to see how creative and talented your staff is, and will start proposing more topics for research.

5.  More milestones, shorter projects

A common issue is that projects run for too long. The technical staff is, usually, looking for new things. By continuously working on the same thing for months in a row you increase the chance of people leaving. Work in conjunction with your Project Management Office – PMO (If you don’t have a PMO in place, contact Alec Satin, PMP right away), to approach long projects in a phased approach. When possible, allocate some break time between phases so the staff gets a chance to work on something else.

6.  Suggestions box

The ol’ Suggestions box is a valid tool, if used correctly. Setup an inbox where people can submit anything they want anonymously (to make sure it is anonymous, create a public accessible form that emails you the suggestion, contact me if you want to more details about how to accomplish this). Take every suggestion seriously, focus on what it is said/requested, and don’t waste time trying to figure out who sent it. This feedback is priceless, but people will only use it if they see you handle it correctly and positive changes come out of it.

Post from: Strategic IT Planning Blog, by Andres Vivas.

Is your IT Team’s Culture Aligned with the Business?

Technorati Tags: Business Strategy, Culture, IT Strategy, Metrics, PMO

Just write it down!

Well, once the meetings are over and the emails with the 20-page document with that list of goals and objectives is circulated, you probably ask yourself: Now What?

And, if you are the CIO, or the IT Director or IT Manager, the most obvious questions are, How does my team fit in here? What do we do next?

Unless your organization is one where IT and the business are pretty much the same (Think eBay, or Amazon), you probably face the common situation where the IT staff does not have a clear understanding of what their role is in the organization’s strategy.

Even though the question should have a simple answer, this challenge is faced more often than not in today’s organizations.

It is not easy for the IT specialists to understand or accept the fact that IT is a function that exists to support the organization and to help it fulfill its goals. The main goal of my future posts is to talk more about this challenge, and to propose ways to improve this situation and overcome it, bringing real value to the organization in the long run.

(Image by mshades)

Post from: Strategic IT Planning Blog, by Andres Vivas.

How IT fits in the organization’s strategy

Technorati Tags: Business Strategy, Goals, IT Strategy, Mission, Objectives, Vision

As its name indicates, the purpose of this blog is to talk about the challenges faced by CIOs and IT Directors:

• Reconcile the IT Department’s needs with those of the rest of the organization.
• Making sure that IT fits in the Business Strategic Plan (Alignment).
• Ensure that the technical staff understands that IT must support the organization.
• Provide a higher Return on Investment (ROI) for IT Projects.

If you like what you read or have something to add please reach out through the comments. I do want to hear from you.

Post from: Strategic IT Planning Blog, by Andres Vivas.

Welcome to Andres Vivas’ Blog about IT Strategic Planning

Technorati Tags: Business Strategy, IT Strategy, Strategic IT Planning