IT Alignment Is Mission Alignment
[Ed. note: This is the first in a fantastic series of guest posts by the authors of Managing Technology to Meet Your Mission. For more of Steve's thoughts on the book, check out his blog: he's writing about each chapter over 11 weeks. Of course, we also don't want you to forget to register for the ONTC, where you can hear more from all the authors.]
Let's say you have a friend who talks to you about a race they're running in soon. You might ask them about how they're training, where the race is, are they running alone, or how many races they've run before. Then, since you know some things about running, you might offer some training advice, nutrition ideas, or cool clothes to wear.
And you may help them run the race faster. How cool is that?
But, unless you have a relationship with that person, you may never know if they're running the race to raise money for a cause, not to win. They may be running to help raise awareness, fight an illness, or stop some injustice. So, while you might have helped them run faster, you didn't help them accomplish their goal.
Technology is often a solution that does the same thing.
Let's say someone from our organization comes to us with a problem or need. We provide advice, training, support, or a tool to help. But if we don't build relationships across our organization, we may help them run faster without supporting the cause.
This swings both ways, of course: if our organization and leadership create an environment and structure that forces IT to stay confined, we can only help you run faster.
That brings us to IT Alignment.
Actually, if I had the chance, I'm not sure I would call it IT Alignment. Why? It puts the focus on IT, when the real focus should be on the mission and the goals of the organization.
Can we rename it Mission Alignment?
Organizations should not have to think about how to integrate or align technology. Rather, organizations should have a culture that provides for an ongoing relationship with technology. Each area of your organization can share their goals, plans, and needs with IT, and we can work toward solutions together. This is a very different approach from IT responding to individual requests for tools or repairs.
It has to start at the top, with leadership that acknowledges technology and gives it the authority to engage, the access to be included, and the resources it needs to implement solutions. Once the organization has a culture that embraces technology as part of the team, the rest can really flourish.
John Merritt from the YMCA of San Diego describes the process of Mission Alignment as the ART of Technology:
- A = Alignment. Align your technology goals with those of the full organization.
- R = Relationship. Build a relationship between your IT Department and the full organization.
- T=Transparency. Build everything on a set of technology that works so well, it is transparent.
So how do you make this happen?
Mission Alignment may be one of the goals for the tech group, but chances are it's not the goal of the CEO, CFO, marketing department, financial development, or other key staff members. They're focused on their missions, strategic plans, operational goals, and budgets; technology is just one of the tools they can use.
Starting a conversation with these groups about IT Alignment could be a mistake. You may scare them off by talking about a technology goal.
When talking about Mission Alignment with the rest of your organization, start from where they are. Don't talk about alignment, per se. Spend time finding out what their challenges are or what is most important to them. Talk to them about those things -- no, scratch that: listen to them. Find out what they're working on and have planned, even if it isn't related to technology (because it will be related eventually). Get to know their needs. Give IT a human face.
Some great ways to do this:
- attend some of their meetings (to listen);
- volunteer to work at one of their events;
- invite them to an IT meeting; or
- organize some open Q&A sessions or trainings.
Even simpler, invite them to lunch or coffee and let them talk about some of their biggest recent successes, challenges, or upcoming plans.
As you work on the relationship, you can look for opportunities to demonstrate success in partnership. Watch for those quick win or big impact projects and get involved.
But don't immediately jump to offering technology or solutions.
Some great projects that can lead to cross department collaboration are writing and launching a social media strategy or business continuity plan, business process improvements, data analysis, budgeting, and many more.
Of course I'm oversimplifying things like culture change (and so many other elements), but can read the NTEN book for those ideas.
So, tell us in the comments: what are your methods to improve the relationship between IT and your organization and between mission and technology?
