White Paper: Communication, Relationships, and Business Value

Transcription

1 White Paper: Communication, Relationships, and Business Value This article goes out to individuals who are accountable for establishing a happily ever after relationship between IT and the business by aligning objectives and producing success metrics against consolidated results and the difficulty encountered in accomplishing true integration. We will explore what s at the core of the challenge as well as some practical approaches for heading down the path toward improved business alignment. First, let s compare and contrast today s IT with the IT of the 1980 s. Consider your experiences and knowledge in the following areas: 1980 s 2009 Communication Business Relationships General Perceptions of IT Memos, letters, formal reports, minimal phone conferencing, video conferencing considered a luxury Structured, hierarchical, formal Data processing for financials, human resources, and corporate applications Technical people speak a different language difficult to understand Provide support for personal computers, including user training Don t really know what else they do Thrive on , on-line meetings, collaboration tools, social networking Structured, but timely Hierarchical with matrix structures becoming more common Less formal management styles Increased focus on cross-functional teams and networking Business-to-business enablement as well as internal company applications IT resources are learning the businesses and beginning to adjust their dialog less tech speak Service Desks and Contact Centers take care of what s needed by ensuring the right people get involved Copyright Maryville Technologies 1 of 5

2 Consideration of Corporate Culture How much has this evolution impacted corporate culture? Understanding culture and developing a complimentary approach is critical to the success of any IT-to-business alignment initiative. In fact, since culture is the last thing to change in organizational change programs, culture should be explored early and often with consideration to its impact and correlation to the objectives. Authors Lee G. Bolman and Terrence E. Deal teach us about the following cultural frameworks: Structural Military or Factory Command and control with specialized roles and formal relationships; Rules, policies, procedures, and hierarchies are prevalent; When structure doesn t fit a situation, the organization struggles. Human Resources The Family Emphasis on the employee, on feelings, skills and limitations; Self-managed teams and peer-controlled projects are common; Organization is tailored to the people. Political The Jungle Individual interests compete for limited resources; Power is often used, including contests of will/ego-based approaches; Internal conflict is rampant, combined with negotiation, coercion, and compromise; Issues arise when power is concentrated in the wrong place or when so broadly dispersed little is accomplished. Symbolic The Temple Social values and culture are at the heart of the organization; Traditions and ceremonies establish the direction; Emphasis is not placed on what should happen, but by what it means. Knowledge of the organization s culture can be combined with information on stakeholder expectations to create a strategic tool for use during plan execution. In other words, the importance of understanding how the organization functions and the aspirations of the leaders should be identified and tracked for on-going reference. Focus on Value, Quality, and Making Money So, let s pause for a moment and consider the primary goals of both the business and of IT Service Management (ITSM): Business 1. Create Customer Value IT Service Management (ITSM) 1. Align IT with the Objectives of the Business 2. Attract/Retain the Right Employees 2. Provide High Quality Services Copyright Maryville Technologies 2 of 5

3 Business IT Service Management (ITSM) 3. Make a Profit 3. Establish Cost-effective Services Doesn t this establish the perfect foundation for IT to integrate with the business? Value. Let s assume the business has defined value in line with the organization s customer demand and the value proposition is refined over time. If this is true, IT has an opportunity to enable the business by getting behind these objectives and working in tandem with the business to deliver results. Quality. When considering quality, have you had an opportunity to work for an organization where a Quality Management System (QMS) is utilized to manage and control operations to a defined level of quality? If so, you understand the difference as an employee working within a culture where quality matters and is expected. This epitomizes a culture where personal performance ratings are dependent upon the level of interaction with the QMS, standards, and contribution toward customer satisfaction results. The time required to produce quality is accepted and expected to be included in project estimates. In fact, qualityfocused organizations naturally drive toward standardization, improved processes, regular measurement and reporting methods, and an increased focus on the customer. Money. Establishing the capabilities and resources to deliver the right level of availability and capacity to meet the customer s needs is an integral ingredient for providing cost-effective services. Additionally, a continual service improvement program focused on increased efficiencies, customer satisfaction ratings, and establishing standards will serve to improve the bottom line over time. Value is achieved when customers acquire what they need and when the cost to them is equal to or less than what they intend to get out of the product or service. A win-win scenario is created when organizations deliver value to their customers and have a profit (positive Benefit/Cost ratio) to show for it. A Practical Approach The Initial Assessment The first step of establishing a solid understanding of both culture and business objectives will take some time, careful consideration, and communication with key stakeholders. Existing relationships should be leveraged and new relationships initiated with the intent of seeking understanding. Executive sponsorship is a required ingredient for the success of any transformational initiative. While varying degrees of integration may exist, comprehensive IT/business alignment is often a leap from current state operations putting it in the transformational space. An executive-level sponsor must be identified and visibly engaged with the activities, if not leading them first hand. Copyright Maryville Technologies 3 of 5

4 A broad-based perspective on the current level of effectiveness between the business and IT partnership must be developed. Consider this the Where are we now? analysis that serves as a baseline for resulting improvement initiatives. A three-pronged approach is recommended for this initial assessment: 1. One-on-One Interviews with C-Level Business Leaders 2. Team-based Workshops 3. Real-time Observations One-on-One Interviews. The Executive Sponsor should proactively position these discussions with the key leaders at the top of the organization, explaining the objectives of the initiative and emphasizing the importance of candid business leader input. This is also a good time for the Executive Sponsor to communicate with other stakeholders who will hear about the project and/or potentially be involved in certain activities. Scheduling these interviews early in the data gathering process will provide a high-level pulse on the degree to which business leadership believes IT is delivering value to the business and contributing to business outcomes. These interviews also tend to validate information gathered about company culture and established business objectives (the pre-work items mentioned above). In the ideal situation, two people will team up with these interviews, working together through active participation in each and doing so with a low-pressure, relaxed approach. Team-based Workshops. Ideally, the Executive Sponsor has already informed IT about the project, planned approach, timeline, and the role(s) IT will serve. In support of the previous communications, the initiative leaders should prepare a communication for delivery multiple ways to varying audiences within IT. In parallel, organize and schedule a series of fact-gathering sessions for evaluating the current state of processes. Key stakeholders and workshop participants must have a solid understanding of how work gets done, which roles execute process activities, and where strengths and weaknesses exist. The focus should be placed on team instead of on individual performance. During the workshop sessions, a facilitator leads the workshop, encouraging discussion while managing to the objectives and allotted time. These workshops generate a quantitative scorecard and provide input to the resulting roadmap leading to business/it alignment and the primary goals of the organization discussed previously. Real-time Observations. The third component of this three-pronged approach consists of intentional interactions through regular team- and/or project-based meetings, one-on-one discussions with middle managers, follow up questions resulting from workshop activities, and informal interactions with other existing structures. The primary objective is to validate the data gathered to date (culture, governance, processes, standardization, cross-functional teamwork), to collect additional perspectives, and to generate a sense of collaboration and broad-based participation/input. The Roadmap Every organization is unique when considering culture, the approach for running the engine, the current state of processes, and the strengths/weaknesses of the resources. As a result, the report summarizing the findings from these data gathering activities varies by organization. This report should describe the Copyright Maryville Technologies 4 of 5

5 methodology utilized as well as a comprehensive roadmap for establishing projects to close gaps. This roadmap should articulate quick win, short-term, and long-term activities by organizing the results in a logical framework for execution. Delivering the report and recommendations to the appropriate audience is critical. The discussion should include individuals accountable for future direction and who have authority to make decisions on the roadmap initiatives. The identification of business drivers and dependencies to initiatives in progress should provide valuable information toward the decision-making process to follow. If possible, establish a sense of urgency for areas generating the most pain with the promise for the highest degree of business value. Just Do Something By design, the roadmap should describe a journey to be accomplished over time. While the work to be done can appear overwhelming, the roadmap should prescribe a phased approach, segregating the work into manageable projects. The important thing is to just do something, even if the initial activities are conservative in nature. Do not settle for complacency. At a minimum, IT must establish regular discussions with the business and support the objectives with intentional communications across the business and IT teams. The spirit of a partnership is key and goes hand-in-hand with relationships. Apply deposits into versus withdrawals from the relationship bank accounts and these funds will pay dividends when faced with controversial topics/decisions. Review progress against the roadmap, compared with the initial baseline, and empower broad-based action to continue making progress. At the end of the day, we all want the same thing: to provide value, to feel good about delivering a quality product, and to make money. About Maryville Technologies: Maryville Technologies is a leading independent IT professional services firm. Maryville delivers integrated solutions in support of IT service provisioning and IT service management that facilitate IT operational excellence. Our technical prowess, process expertise, project management discipline and history of facilitating IT organizational transformation help businesses optimize IT service levels at the lowest operational cost. Maryville s IT Resource Optimization ITRO methodology combines detailed process understanding that maps to industry standards with a practical how to implementation approach. Our entility IT service management utilities complement our service offerings and vendor alliances with cost effective, feature rich functionality. Maryville also has extensive experience designing, implementing, and managing the enabling infrastructure for business applications. Every day, Maryville delivers the consulting services, processes and technology that others only talk about. Contact Information: For more information, please visit our web site at or call (636) Copyright Maryville Technologies 5 of 5