{"id":11655,"date":"2019-04-25T11:25:40","date_gmt":"2019-04-25T16:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/?p=11655"},"modified":"2019-05-21T17:40:21","modified_gmt":"2019-05-21T22:40:21","slug":"cio-strategies-5-tips-for-enabling-the-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/2019\/04\/cio-strategies-5-tips-for-enabling-the-business\/","title":{"rendered":"CIO Strategies: 5 tips for enabling the business"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Education\"Summary: The goal of any CIO or IT leader: Enable the business. Provide the business with the solutions they need to accomplish their goals. However, that’s a lot easier said than done. How can CIOs and IT leaders better enable the business? In this article, we explore a few ways to meet this goal. <\/em><\/span>
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photo credit: nuggety247<\/a> via pixabay<\/a> cc<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>Much has been written about the changing role of the CIO. I\u2019ve seen lengthy articles exploring how evolving technology changes IT departments and their value to the company. <\/p>\n

However, I recently heard a CIO sum it all up in two sentences: \u201cOur job is to enable the business,\u201d<\/em> he said. \u201cTo the extent that we enable the business, we have greater value.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s so true. The IT department isn\u2019t the back-office function of the past that just kept the lights on. The modern IT department is the business enabler.<\/p>\n

That got me thinking: How can CIOs better enable the business?<\/p>\n

The answer to that question isn\u2019t straightforward and will vary from business to business. But, there are some approaches that will apply to most businesses. Today, let\u2019s explore a few ways that CIOs can better enable the business.<\/p>\n

1. Understand the business goals<\/h3>\n

\"\"
photo credit: OpenClips<\/a> via pixabay<\/a> cc<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>I questioned whether or not to mention this point, as I feel like most IT leaders understand its importance. However, I bring it up for one simple reason: Everything starts here.<\/strong> If you don\u2019t understand the goals of the business, nothing else matters. <\/p>\n

Let me explain. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s often said there\u2019s a \u2018disconnect\u2019 between IT and the business. Why?<\/p>\n

Much of it boils down to goals and perspectives. The IT department and business often have different goals. They approach their goals from different perspectives. If two sides have different goals and perspectives (and don\u2019t understand the other side), it\u2019s a stalemate. <\/p>\n

The solution: One side needs to change perspective<\/strong>. They need to come at a solution from the other\u2019s point of view.<\/p>\n

This is critical for the modern IT leader. If you want to better enable the business, you must understand their goals. You must understand their perspective. Then, as explained below, you can help them meet those goals.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIn order to provide the most value with existing resources and drive innovation, it\u2019s important for IT to first understand the business goals in order to better support them,\u201d says Leigh Espy, IT portfolio manager and owner of ProjectBliss.net<\/span><\/a>. \u201cBusiness and IT must become partners in exploring and developing solutions to meet business goals.<\/p>\n

Whether the goals are to increase sales, improve the customer experience, or increase speed to market, IT can better support those goals when there\u2019s a better understanding and partnership. <\/p>\n

This is important because IT may be able to suggest approaches and solutions that the business may not know of or have considered. <\/p>\n

Also, IT can also help the business understand new ways of working to help reach their goals. Incorporating business agility practices in the organization can help them innovate faster, providing greater business value.<\/p>\n

This is important because it can be difficult to change the culture and ways of working. Understanding the value of new approaches can help the business better appreciate the value of approaching work in new ways.\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

2. Eliminate silos<\/h3>\n

\"\"
photo credit: anthony arrigo<\/a> via photopin<\/a> cc<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>It\u2019s a common problem. IT departments and the business are often viewed as two separate entities.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe biggest barrier to IT enabling the business are the organizational and cultural silos that separate the two sides of the business,\u201d says Alan Zucker, Founding Principal, Project Management Essentials LLC<\/span><\/a>. \u201cThe fact that we typically draw lines between business and technology is a key symptom of the underlying problem. CIOs and IT leaders must change the way they and their organizations engage with their business partners.\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now, I realize that correcting this issue is easier said than done. You can\u2019t just snap your fingers and eliminate long-standing barriers between IT and the business. <\/p>\n

What can you do? You can start small. Include business users on some IT meetings (when it makes sense) and vice versa. Create processes that expose IT staff to front-line problems. Or, as explained below, adjust your office seating to integrate the two sides.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhere proximity allows, seat the business and IT teams together,\u201d says Bret Carmichael, Founder of LEAP WORKS<\/span><\/a>. \u201cIT will get a much better sense of what the team is trying to accomplish and where they\u2019re experiencing the most pain. Include business participation in IT stand-ups or agile ceremonies.\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

3. Embrace the Shadow IT mindset<\/h3>\n

By now, you\u2019re likely familiar with the concept of \u201cShadow IT.\u201d End users bypass the IT department and adopt their own solutions. <\/p>\n

I won\u2019t get into all of the reasons why Shadow IT occurs, as it\u2019s a topic I\u2019ve previously covered in a two part article, which you can find here: Part 1<\/span><\/a> and Part 2<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Today, let\u2019s explore your approach to Shadow IT. Many IT leaders approach it with anger. After all, they spend lots of time and energy managing the company\u2019s technology and data. Then users go around all of that and create security risks. That would upset most people.<\/p>\n

While I understand that reaction, let me ask you a question: What approach would best enable the business? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Take a step back and look at the situation through the user\u2019s perspective (remember point #1?). Why are they doing this? Most often, it\u2019s not malicious. They\u2019re trying to solve a problem in the simplest way possible. They haven\u2019t found a way to solve that problem through IT-sanctioned tools, so they\u2019re making a way.<\/p>\n

When you look at this way, you realize something: Shadow IT is not the problem, it\u2019s a symptom<\/strong>. The problem usually lies in the fact that the users don\u2019t have the right tools (or don\u2019t think they have the right tools). <\/p>\n

If you ask me, I\u2019d rather deal with users who have this mindset than those who just sit around and complain when they don\u2019t have the right tools. These are the people who want to get things done. Help them.<\/p>\n

How? Sit down with these users and understand what they\u2019re trying to accomplish. Work with them to find (or get) an IT-sanctioned tool that will meet their needs. Give them self-service tools that let them (securely) build their own solutions, while letting IT control data and user access.<\/p>\n

Now, there\u2019s much more to cover on this topic, but there\u2019s not enough room to mention it here. Feel free to check out this article to learn how to deal with Shadow IT the right way<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

4. Examine your processes<\/h3>\n

Businesses often fall into ruts. They get locked into specific processes. These ruts are not only hard to escape from, they\u2019re harmful. <\/p>\n

For example, what process must a user follow when requesting IT solutions? How quickly do they receive help? Put yourself in their shoes. Is this an easy process for the user?<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t stop there. Question all of your processes. Ask yourself, \u201cWhy do we do X?\u201d If the answer is, \u201cI\u2019m not sure,\u201d or \u201cwe\u2019ve always done that,\u201d it\u2019s time to change. <\/p>\n

As you examine your processes, you\u2019ll find they fall into 3 categories:
\n – Eliminate:<\/strong> Processes that are not helpful and cannot be fixed.
\n – Keep:<\/strong> Processes that work as they should and cannot be improved.
\n – Improve:<\/strong> Processes that are inefficient and can be improved through automation. As explained below, automating these processes will often free up your IT department to accomplish more with your current resources.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cCIOs and IT leader are struggling as the number of tasks and values expected from them are growing while very often the amount of resources they have doesn’t grow at the same rate,\u201d says Irit Gillath, VP Marketing, Syslink Xandria<\/span><\/a>. \u201cWhen analyzing IT time one can see that a large amount is allocated to repetitive mundane tasks such as network and system monitoring and reporting. Putting in place tools that automate monitoring, provide early-detection of issues before they spiral to business and even using machine learning provide suggested solutions, relief the load on IT teams and let them focus their time on innovation.\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

5. Take a product design approach to IT<\/h3>\n

\n\u201cA culture of innovation needs to be fostered by IT leadership within the IT organization,\u201d says Ian McClarty, President & CEO, PhoenixNAP Global IT Services<\/span><\/a>. \u201cA culture of innovation isn\u2019t afraid of experimentation but has to be balanced with any regulatory and compliance; the overall organization has to follow.\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now, I\u2019d say that every IT department wants a culture of innovation. So, why doesn\u2019t everyone have it? <\/p>\n

Changing the culture is easier said than done. Moving away from a risk-averse culture to an innovation culture isn\u2019t as simple as flipping a switch. It\u2019s a vague goal that will vary by company. Let\u2019s explore a couple of practical ways to become more innovative.<\/p>\n

Approach requests from a product design standpoint<\/strong>
\nHow do you approach business requests? Most IT departments look at them like checklist items. Once they meet the request, they move on to the next one. <\/p>\n

This article<\/span><\/a> shares a different approach that fosters innovation: Approach business requests as product opportunities. How can you use this solution in other areas? Here’s a great example of this approach from the article:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easy to make an announcement about creating a culture of innovation, only to have everyone return to the old way of doing things in the day-to-day.<\/p>\n

To counter that, the CIO of Service King, a collision repair chain, decided to use the existing IT framework to create a culture of productization over projects. He told his team to examine any business request that came in for product opportunities. What else can you do with the widget one business unit requested? As long as they met the original request, the team was free to innovate, experiment, fail and work with whatever teams necessary.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Experimentation and feedback<\/strong>
\nAs mentioned above, businesses often fall into ruts. Why? They get caught up in the familiar. They do the things they\u2019ve always done without wondering why. <\/p>\n

This mentality won\u2019t enable the business. It will maintain the status quo. As an IT leader, it\u2019s your job to change this mentality. <\/p>\n

\n\u201cCreate a learning culture that puts emphasis on rapid experimentation (features and technologies) and tight feedback loops,\u201d says Carmichael.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He brings up a great point. A culture of experimentation requires tight feedback loops. It\u2019s all about trying new things, getting feedback, and adjusting. Without those feedback loops, experimentation doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n

Summary<\/h3>\n

These are just a few ways that CIOs can improve business enablement, but the list could be much longer. Would you add anything to this list? Feel free to comment below!<\/p>\n

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Summary: The goal of any CIO or IT leader: Enable the business. Provide the business with the solutions they need to accomplish their goals. However, that’s a lot easier said than done. How can CIOs and IT leaders better enable the business? In this article, we explore a few ways to meet this goal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","slim_seo":{"title":"CIO Strategies: 5 tips for enabling the business - mrc's Cup of Joe Blog","description":"Summary: The goal of any CIO or IT leader: Enable the business. Provide the business with the solutions they need to accomplish their goals. However, that's a l"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[106,81],"class_list":["post-11655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-productivity","tag-cio","tag-cio-challenges"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11655"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11718,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11655\/revisions\/11718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}