Step 1: Defining Success and the Role of IT
Last month we dove into IT planning and strategy for success. The first and rather important step is determining what success means to your organization.
Certainly you have defined strategic goals as you move into a new year, or even a new quarter. These goals could include anything from increased operational efficiencies, market share or financial resources to driving a more positive company culture. Whatever they may be, it is likely that reaching those goals is considered a success.
So, what does this have to do with IT?
The key here is to understand the business’s needs and goals and make sure the technology and services are there to support these goals. For instance if your goal is to be more productive this year then you have to associate the real issues of the organization to the associated technology and support. There has almost certainly been a time you or a colleague has come into work and something is wrong with your technology – whether it’s email not working, you’re getting unwanted popups, maybe documents have disappeared or you have the blue screen of death. You are now losing valuable time trying to contact the right person who you hope can then fix the problem. If your goal is to increase productivity, that idea is certainly going out the window on this particular morning… Add in issues a few times a month and you lose even more operational efficiency.
Technology issues will happen, there is no getting around that, but there is a way to be better prepared and proactive about it. Your technology functioning correctly and how you want it to is an integral part of your business. While you’re taking time to create those strategic goals, create aligning IT goals as well. Help your IT team create an IT ‘vision statement’ defining how and where technology can be put into place in order to help your organization fulfill its mission, enable or enhance your strategic plan, and improve organizational effectiveness. So in this case your goal was to be more productive as an organization so you’re related technology goal is to be more proactive and better at monitoring and maintaining company’s systems.
Make sure all goals whether they are IT, HR, Finance, marketing, or any other are all aligned to your strategic goals and mutually accepted throughout the entire organization. This ensures that everyone is working within the same parameters, towards the same mutual idea of success and can utilize the correct processes to get there. A good IT team will put together a roadmap for IT success, but a great IT team will push you to make strategic business decisions and related goals that they can align to their specific IT plan.
