Transforming IT from Servant to Strategic Partner (continued)
Make People Skills a Priority
In the new world, people skills are increasingly important on the priority list. "IT Operations really needs to recalibrate and get back to the human element," advises Yankee Group analyst Laura DiDio in Boston, Mass. "It's imperative to communicate with other people in your organization."
While technological expertise is an acknowledged asset, an environment that spotlights tech talent to the exclusion of other skills can create a department of divas. "If you only hire and organize based on technology concerns, you will end up hearing a lot of 'that's not my problem' and 'that's not my job.' Yet the problems will still exist and IT then becomes expendable in the eyes of higher management," warns Paquet.
There is no technology fix that will solve this very human problem. Instead, people skills should top IT's "most wanted" list.
Claim the Prize
Top among those people skills is communication. When IT doesn't communicate well with the rest of the enterprise, everyone suffers - but IT suffers disproportionately.
"There are tons of examples where IT people drop the ball, lose millions [of dollars] for their enterprises and also lose recognition for what was initially a job very well done," DiDio says.
Conversely, it is common for IT managers to successfully negotiate potent deals for their organization. But because all the extras that were included with the deal were not communicated to the rest of the enterprise, those benefits were never collected. As a result, the organization never realized the significance of the achievement and, says DiDio, "it might as well never have happened."
"The root causes for relationship breakdowns between IT and the business are differing expectations and a lack of understanding of the pressures, impacts and realities of life on the other side of the fence," notes Brian Erickson, managing vice president of the Strategic Technology Solutions Practice at Hitachi Consulting in Dallas, Texas. "In the end, we believe that the closer the IT professionals are to the front-lines of the business, the more effective they can be in identifying and responding to changes." (article continues)
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