Why can't IT and the business get along and work together to deliver value? I am often called in to help facilitate conversations between the Information Technology organizations and the Business Units they support. Many times, I am a organizational "marriage counselor" trying to help them communicate with one another instead of talking "past one another."
So why do smart, business-focused, professional people struggle to work together?
1. Lack of common goals. Business people focus on top and bottom-line growth. IT people focus on Service Level Agreements (SLAs), requirements, and in-process metrics. But how do they drive one another? Most IT organizations cannot articulate the value they create, so they become a commodity in the eyes of the business.
2. Lack of a common language. Anyone who has ever called tech support knows that IT speaks a different language. They focus on specifics, details, and functions. The business focuses on broad objectives. It is the battle between "my PC doesn't work" (outcome) and "your hard drive is 95% fragmented."
3. Lack of frequent interactions. Many IT departments collaborate with their business unit partners to gather requirements and then disappear to deliver the solution. Many decisions get made that the business managers may not understand the full implications to their business,
So how do we fix it? Get a organizational counselor? Run a great IT marketing campaign with pretty pictures on why IT is the greatest? Tell the business they're wrong?
It takes time an effort to bring the Executive Suite, Line Management and IT in alignment. It takes real dialogue and understanding. It requires looking at multiple perspectives. It takes hard work. You may need some outside help to work through the issues, but it can pay huge dividends in the end.
Are you willing to put in the effort? Can you afford not to? Failure to do so will result in more budget cuts or calls for outsourcing in these economic times.
