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The Organizational Change Responsibilities of IT
How integrated is the technology group in the overall scope of your organization? Where does IT (Information Technology, Information Systems, or whatever you may call the information professionals at your company) fit? Is IT integral? Before you answer these questions, differentiate between what people might say and how things are actually working in practice.
There are three areas to explore when evaluating the organizational change responsibilities of IT within your organization: 1) the origination of ideas 2) the implementation of change, and 3) operational involvement. The role of IT and attitudes about IT in each of these phases determines the value possible from the huge investment every organization allocates to technology.
The Origination of Ideas – Is IT consulted during idea generation or is the technology to get things done an afterthought? If IT isn’t integrated into the idea generation and problem solving phase of innovation, you’re missing a critical step. Much more work must be done on integration of IT with the business side of things. This is the responsibility of the CIO of course, but many things can be done at all levels to better integrate with the business. This is about building relationships and coalitions. The best way to do this is to provide something useful. Accept that the relationship must be one-sided for awhile, providing value with no expectations for return favors. IT professionals should help business professionals be smarter and safer.
Identify ways to anticipate problems for your business counterparts. Provide solutions and tools that may be helpful to them. And ask your business colleagues to “play” with the latest toys to see how they may fit into their plans while making them more effective.
The Implementation of Change – All change projects begin with an analysis of return on investment. But who has responsibility for achieving ROI? Although this may seem unfair – it really is a partnership – IT should take responsibility for the business achieving ROI. Taking this approach dramatically changes the relationship from one of service provider to one of partner.
IT can create a tool, throw it over the fence, and hope the business uses the tool. But, what if IT took responsibility for knocking down the hurdles at the business level for using the tool? ROI can’t be realized if the tool isn’t being used. It does no one any good to be able to blame someone for not reaping the return. Also, if IT discovers at some point that the ROI can’t be realized there is a responsibility to stop the project, no matter who is paying for the effort.
Operational Involvement – The C in DMAIC (the problem solving model) stands for Control. What are the operational controls that are put in place to ensure that the original problem is being solved and that new problems haven’t popped up? Who is responsible for creating these controls? Who is most qualified? The answer lies in a shared responsibility with the best brains in the room to ensure the best approach for the organization is being taken.
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It’s very easy for the “right thing” to slip through the cracks in the role confusion between IT and the business. Remember, everyone works for the same company. The goal and strategy is company oriented not department oriented. IT and business must partner strategically to reap the highest return on investment.
Jim Canterucci, founder of Transition Management Advisors, is an executive advisor and professional speaker on the subjects of change project management and innovation. He can be reached at 614.899.9044 or on the web at www.corpchange.com.
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Learn about Jim's bestselling book Personal Brilliance at www.MyPersonalBrilliance.com. |