A lire sur: http://www.cio.com/article/740097/How_CIOs_Can_Catch_the_Board_s_Ear
Telling IT's story to the board of directors requires a business focus, a strong narrative and even a little humor.
By Cio Executive Council
Thu, September 26, 2013
Thu, September 26, 2013
CIO
—
Three IT leaders share their strategies for telling the
technology story to the board of directors. In short, you need to be
focused, compelling and straightforward -- and a little humor doesn't
hurt.
I communicate with these advisers in much the same way as I do with our senior leadership team, though at a slightly higher level. Whether it's plans for our upcoming ERP implementation or mobile CRM solution, I focus on what the pain points are in our organization and the methods we can use to soothe them, such as streamlining processes or implementing paperless signup for new customers.
There's a tendency to want to prove you're the smartest technologist in the room, but the real value is in proving how your work directly affects business objectives. That's why we call our team Business Technology, not Information Technology.
Even though I'm not looking for a yea or a nay from the board, I treat it as if I am. It's been beneficial to build relationships with board members outside of the quarterly meetings, engaging them in business and technology discussions at events or conferences. They bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table, and I want to take full advantage of it.
We look at a number of corporate dynamics and the overall climate in which we operate. What are the macro industry trends? What do our customers need or want? What are our rivals doing? We gather internal documents, publicly available information and interviews with stakeholders to flesh out the narrative. At its heart, it will be a technology story, but we package it in the day-to-day issues of the business.
The CEO typically has a pretty significant voice in whatever content we take to the board. Invariably, we're working the weekend before the meeting to adjust the presentation based on the CEO's input, which always leads to a better product.
Focus on the Business Pain Points
Kent Mills, CIO, Wakefield Canada: As a privately owned company, Wakefield Canada has an advisory board of seasoned executives who offer us an unbiased perspective on how we're running our fast-growing business. While they might not technically have the power of a public board, they play a critical role, and you ignore their valuable input at your own risk.I communicate with these advisers in much the same way as I do with our senior leadership team, though at a slightly higher level. Whether it's plans for our upcoming ERP implementation or mobile CRM solution, I focus on what the pain points are in our organization and the methods we can use to soothe them, such as streamlining processes or implementing paperless signup for new customers.
There's a tendency to want to prove you're the smartest technologist in the room, but the real value is in proving how your work directly affects business objectives. That's why we call our team Business Technology, not Information Technology.
Even though I'm not looking for a yea or a nay from the board, I treat it as if I am. It's been beneficial to build relationships with board members outside of the quarterly meetings, engaging them in business and technology discussions at events or conferences. They bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table, and I want to take full advantage of it.
Tell a Compelling Story
Peter Rowe, Veteran communications officer: I tell CIOs that articulating IT value is all about telling a compelling story, and their meetings with the board of directors should be a crystallization of that story. We begin by presenting to the CEO, telling the story in the language of the business. CEOs, board members--they're incredibly smart people, but they're not technologists.We look at a number of corporate dynamics and the overall climate in which we operate. What are the macro industry trends? What do our customers need or want? What are our rivals doing? We gather internal documents, publicly available information and interviews with stakeholders to flesh out the narrative. At its heart, it will be a technology story, but we package it in the day-to-day issues of the business.
The CEO typically has a pretty significant voice in whatever content we take to the board. Invariably, we're working the weekend before the meeting to adjust the presentation based on the CEO's input, which always leads to a better product.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire