Chapter 4&5

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C h a p t e r

4 Building a Strong Relationship with the Business1

1 This chapter is based on the authors’ previously published article, Smith, H. A., and J. D. McKeen. “Building a Strong Relationship with the Business.” Communications of the Association for Information Systems 26, Article 19 (April 2010): 429–40. Reproduced by permission of the Association for Information Systems.

There is no doubt that a strong business–IT relationship is now critical to the success of an organization’s successful and effective use of IT (Bassellier and Benbasat 2004; Kitzis and Gomolski 2006). With the rapid evolution of IT in busi- ness, simply “keeping the lights on” and delivering systems on time and on budget are not enough. Today, IT’s ability to deliver value is closely linked with the nature of its relationship with a large number of business stakeholders. Recognizing this, many IT functions have tried to become “partners” with the business at the most senior strategic levels, but with limited success (Gordon and Gordon 2002). It has become clear from these initiatives that business–IT interactions are more complex and highly resistant to change than first assumed and that building a strong relationship with business is a major challenge for most IT leaders.

We know that the nature and quality of the business–IT relationship are affected by many factors such as the subfunction of IT involved (e.g., operations, application development), the business unit involved, the management levels involved, changing expectations, and general perceptions of IT (McKeen and Smith 2008). However, research suggests that IT managers are still somewhat naïve about how relationships work in business and that interpersonal interaction and clear communication are often missing between the groups. We have also learned that perceptions of the value IT delivers are correlated with how well IT is perceived to understand and identify with the business (Anonymous 2002; Gold 2006; Tallon et al. 2000).

Nevertheless, we still know very little about the elements that contribute to a “strong relationship” between IT and business, nor even about how to characterize such a relationship (Day 2007). This chapter first looks at the nature of the business–IT relationship and how an effective relationship could be characterized. Then it examines in turn each of the four foundational elements of a strong, positive relationship, making suggestions for how IT managers could strengthen them.

Chapter 4 • Building a Strong Relationship with the Business 39

The NaTure of The BusiNess–iT relaTioNship

“The IT-business relationship is a set of beliefs that one party holds about the other and how these beliefs are formed from the interactions of . . . individuals as they engage in tasks associated with an IT service” (Day 2007). The business–IT relationship in orga- nizations tends to span the full range of relationship possibilities. Some members of the focus group felt they had generally healthy and positive relationships, and others labeled them negative or ineffective. Overall, “there’s still a general perception that IT is slow, expensive, and gets in the way,” said one manager. Even the focus group member with the most positive business–IT relationship admitted it was “not easy,” and one set of researchers has described it as typically “arduous” (Pawlowski and Robey 2004).

Although “you can’t have a one-sided relationship,” as one focus group manager remarked, agreement is almost universal that IT needs to change if it is to improve. Literally dozens of articles have been written about what IT should be doing to make it better. For example, IT should better understand the fundamentals of business and aim to satisfy the “right” customers (Kitzis and Gomolski 2006); act as a knowledge broker (Pawlowski and Robey 2004); get involved in the business and be skilled marketers (Schindler 2007); manage expectations (Ross 2006); convince the business that it under- stands its goals and concerns and communicate in business language (Bassellier and Benbasat 2004); and demonstrate its competencies (Day 2007). In short, “IT has to keep proving itself” to the business to demonstrate its value (Kaarst-Brown 2005). Thus, prac- titioners and researchers both consistently stress that cultivating a strong business–IT relationship is “a continuous effort” (a focus group member); “ongoing” (Luftman and Brier 1999); a “core IT skill” (Feeny and Willcocks 1998); and “ emergent” (Day 2007).

On the business side of the relationship, two features stand out. First, business managers are often disengaged from IT work, according to both the focus group and researchers (Ross and Weill 2002). For example, in some cases in the focus group, IT staff have taken on business roles in projects in order to get them done. Second, it is clear that what business wants from this relationship is continually changing. “The business–IT relationship is cyclical,” explained one manager. “The business goes back and forth about whether it wants IT to be an order taker or an innovator. Every time the business changes what it wants, the relationship goes sour.”

So what do we know about the business–IT relationship in organizations? First, we know it is a multifaceted interaction of people and processes. It is unfortunately true that the existence of positive relationships between individual business and IT professionals does not necessarily mean that interactions will be positive on a particular develop- ment project, with the IT help desk, with an individual business unit, or between IT and the business as a whole (McKeen and Smith 2008). Because relationships manifest themselves in so many ways—formal and informal, tacit and explicit, procedural and cultural—we must recognize that their complexity means that they don’t lend them- selves to simplistic solutions (Day 2007; Guillemette et al. 2008; Ross 2006).

Second, we know difficult, complex relationships often exhibit lack of clarity around expectations and accountabilities and difficulty communicating (Galford and Drapeau 2003; Pawlowski and Robey 2004). This, in turn, leads to lack of trust. In the business–IT relationship, “complexity often arises when expectations differ in vari- ous parts of an organization, leaving a CIO with the difficult task of reconciling them and elucidating exactly what the IT function’s mission and strategic role should be”

40 Section I • Delivering Value with IT

(Guillemette et al. 2008). Several focus group members complained that different parts of their business expected different things from IT. “In some parts of our business, they want IT to be an order-taker; in others, they want us to be thought leaders and innova- tors,” stated one manager. Another noted, “We live in an age of unmet expectations. There’s never enough resources to do everything the business wants us to do.”

Third, assumptions by the business about IT tend to cluster into patterns. One researcher has identified five sets of assumptions: (1) IT is a necessary evil, (2) IT is a support, not a partner, (3) IT rules, (4) business can do IT better, and (5) business and IT are equal partners. Business leaders who espouse one of these sets will tend to have sim- ilar ideas about who should control IT’s direction, how central IT is to business strategy, the value of IT skills and knowledge, how to justify IT investments, and who benefits from IT (Kaarst-Brown 2005). Building on this idea, another study has also shown that business–IT relationships tend to vary along similar patterns. Different organizations tend to adopt one of five IT value profiles and expect IT to behave in accordance with the profile selected (see Appendix A). Problems arise when the assumptions and value profiles espoused by IT conflict with those of the organization or a specific part of the organization. As a result, many “disconnects” are often present in the relationship. For example, although IT organizations often seek to be a business partner, their participa- tion in this way is not always welcomed by the business (Pawlowski and Robey 2004).

Focus group members defined a strong business–IT relationship in ways that recognize each of these factors. To them, it should include the following:

• Clearly defined expectations, governance models, and accountabilities. • Trust between the two groups. • Articulation and incorporation of corporate and client values and priorities in all

IT work. • A blurred line between business and IT (i.e., no “us vs. them”). • IT dedicated to business success. • IT serving as a trusted advisor to the business. • Mutual recognition of IT value.

In short, a strong business–IT relationship is one where realistic, mutual expectations are clearly articulated and communicated through individual and procedural interactions and where both groups recognize that all facets of this relationship are important to the successful delivery of IT value.

Characteristics of the Business–IT Relationship

• IT has to keep proving itself. • The business is often disengaged from IT work. • Business expectations of IT change continually. • The relationship is affected by the interaction of many people and processes at multiple

levels. • Clarity is often lacking around expectations and accountabilities. • Business assumptions of IT tend to cluster. • There are many “disconnects” between the two groups.

Chapter 4 • Building a Strong Relationship with the Business 41

The fouNdaTioN of a sTroNg BusiNess–iT relaTioNship

Strong relationships do not simply happen. They are built over time and, if they are to deliver value for the organization, they must be built to endure (Day 2007). The focus group told several stories of how the business–IT relationship in their organization had deteriorated when a business or IT leader changed or when a project wasn’t delivered on time. Because it can so easily become dysfunctional, constant attention and nurturing are needed at all levels, said the focus group. However, building a strong relationship is not easy to do. Although there is no shortage of prescriptions, the sustained nature of problems in this relationship suggests that some underlying root causes need to be addressed (Appendix B provides one organization’s view of what is needed in this relationship).

We have suggested previously that four components must be in place in order to deliver real business value with IT: competence, credibility, interpersonal inter- action, and trust. The focus group reviewed these components and agreed that they also form the foundation of a successful and effective business–IT relationship. The focus group saw that developing, sustaining, and growing a strong business–IT rela- tionship in each of these areas is closely intertwined with IT’s ability to deliver value with technology. Therefore, a consistent and structured initiative to strengthen the business–IT relationship in these dimensions will also lead to an improved ability to deliver value successfully (see Figure 4.1). In the remainder of this chapter, we look at these four components in turn, discussing in detail how each acts as an important building block of a strong business–IT relationship and suggesting how each could be strengthened.

Value

Trust

Interpersonal Interaction

Credibility

Competence

figure 4.1 Strong Relationships are Built on a Strong Foundation

42 Section I • Delivering Value with IT

Building Block #1: Competence

Although a competent IT organization that consistently delivers cost-efficient and reli- able services is the bare minimum for an IT function, businesses today expect a great deal more of both their IT organizations and their IT professionals. Although many IT organizations have adopted an internal service model in order to “operate IT like a business” and have demonstrated that they can provide services as effectively as exter- nal service providers, these competencies fall short of what business now expects of IT (Kitzis and Gomolski 2006). Over the last decade, researchers and practitioners have identified a number of new competencies that are now required—to a greater or lesser extent—from all IT professionals.

First and foremost, IT staff need business knowledge. This goes beyond basic know- ledge of a single business unit to include the “big picture” of the whole organization. IT personnel need to understand the business context in which their technologies are deployed, including organizational goals and objectives, capabilities, critical success factors, environment, and constraints. At all levels, they need to be able to “think about and understand the development of the business as [any other business] member would and participate in making [it] successful in the same way” (Bassellier and Benbasat 2004). Furthermore, they need to be able to apply their business understanding to help the organization visualize the ways in which “IT can contribute to organizational per- formance and look for synergies between IT and business activities” (Bassellier and Benbasat 2004). In this regard, an important competence an IT department and its staff can bring to an organization is cross-domain and cross-functional business knowledge (Kitzis and Gomolski 2006; Wailgum 2008a).

Developing business knowledge does not mean that IT staff should become busi- nesspeople but that they should be able to demonstrate they understand the business’s goals, concerns, language, and processes and are working to help achieve them (Feeny and Willcocks 1998). One focus group organization surveyed its senior managers about IT and found that these managers felt IT staff had a poor understanding of the business; as a result, they didn’t trust IT’s ideas.

Other key competencies that IT must cultivate include the following:

• Expertise. This includes having up-to-date knowledge, being able to support a technical recommendation, applying expertise to a particular business situation, and offering wise advice on risks, options, and trade-offs, as well as the ability to bring useful new ideas and external information (e.g., about new technolo- gies or what the competition is doing with technology) to the business (Joni 2004; Pawlowski and Robey 2004).

• Financial Awareness. Awareness of how IT delivers value and the ability to act in accordance with this value is a rare and prized skill (Mahoney and Gerrard 2007). All the focus group members felt pressure to continually demonstrate the business value of IT and recognized a strong need to make all IT staff more aware of such concepts as ROI, total cost of ownership, and how IT affects the bottom line and/or business strategy.

• Execution. It is not enough to understand the business and develop a vision; IT must also operationalize them. Since much of the business–IT relationship is dynamic—that is, continually being re-created—every IT action speaks about its competence. It is well known that the inability to deliver an individual project on

Chapter 4 • Building a Strong Relationship with the Business 43

time and within budget will undermine the business’s view of IT’s overall compe- tence. However, it is also the case that the actions of IT operations, the help desk, and other IT subfunctions will also be held up to similar scrutiny. As one focus group manager stated, “Poor delivery of any type can break a relationship.”

In short, if the IT function is not seen to be competent at executing basic IT services or able to communicate in business terms, it will simply not be given an opportunity to participate in higher-order business activities, such as planning and strategy develop- ment (Gerrard 2006).

sTreNgTheNiNg CompeTeNCe

• Find ways to develop business knowledge in all IT staff. Focus group members use “lunch and learn” sessions, job shadowing, and short-term assignments in the business to accomplish this, but they recognize that more needs to be done to develop this competence.

• Link IT’s success criteria to business metrics. This not only lifts IT’s perspective to larger business concerns, but it also introduces all IT staff to the key financial and other measures that drive the rest of the organization.

• Make business value an explicit criteria in all IT decisions. Asking why the busi- ness should care about a particular IT decision, and how it will affect the business in both the long and short terms, changes the focus of IT professionals in a subtle but very effective way, enabling them to communicate even technical decisions in business terms.

• Ensure effective execution in all IT activities. This ensures that IT sends a consis- tent message of competence to all parts and levels of the organization.

Building Block #2: Credibility

Credibility is the belief that others can be counted on to do what they say they will do. It is built in many ways. Keeping agreements and acting with integrity, honesty, and openness are essential behaviors, whereas lack of timely and substantive responses and failure to observe deadlines can undermine it (Feeny et al. 1992; Greenberg et al. 2007). Focus group managers concurred that credibility is very important to the busi- ness–IT relationship. Although in earlier days, credibility was largely about the ability to deliver systems on time and budget, now earning and maintaining credibility with the business has become more complex. Today’s IT projects often involve many more elements (e.g., multiple platforms, risk management, adherence to laws and standards) and stakeholders than in the past, and the methods and tools of delivery are constantly changing. Furthermore, research shows that it is often the “little things” that can be most significant in undermining credibility and that people often make decisions based on IT’s attention or inattention to such details (Buchanan 2005). One study concluded that “each and every IT service incident and event must be considered for its long-term influence” (Day 2007).

IT staff often assume that because they are competent they will be credible, but this is an invalid assumption. Thus, for example, a survey of CIOs found that they wished their developers “didn’t appear so clueless to the rest of the organization” (Wailgum 2008b). It is essential, therefore, that competence be demonstrated for others to feel

44 Section I • Delivering Value with IT

someone is credible (Ross 2006). This is especially important in relationships where there is little face-to-face interaction. In these cases in particular, work must be visible and communication constant in order to demonstrate credibility (Hurley 2006).

sTreNgTheNiNg CrediBiliTy

• Communicate frequently and explicitly. Make progress and accomplishments visible in clear and nontechnical ways. Focus group members found that when difficult decisions are planned together and clearly articulated in advance, much less tension develops in the relationship.

• Pay attention to the “little things.” Wherever possible, take steps to provide prompt feedback and responses to queries and to ensure consistently high- quality service encounters.

• Utilize external cues to credibility. Examples include awards, endorsements from third parties, and the experience and background of IT staff. These specifics can be very useful when starting a new relationship with the business.

• Assess all business touch points. All focus group members stressed the need to really listen to what the business says about its expectations and the problems it feels exist in the relationship. Just the effort alone sends a strong and positive mes- sage about the importance of this relationship, said a manager. However, he also stressed that undertaking such a review creates expectations that changes will be made, so regular reports back to the business about what is being done to improve things are especially important.

Building Block #3: interpersonal interaction

The business–IT relationship is shaped by the development of mutual understand- ing, interests, and expectations, which are formed and shaped during a wide variety of interpersonal interactions (Gold 2006). Business–IT interactions must be developed and nurtured at many different levels in the business–IT relationship, said focus group managers, and although CEO–CIO interactions can set the tone for the relationship, the connections at multiple touch points contribute to its overall quality (Flint 2004; Prewitt 2005). The following are the four significant dimensions of interpersonal interaction:

• Professionalism. This is the unarticulated set of working behaviors, attitudes, and expectations that serves as the glue that keeps teams of diverse individuals working together toward the same goal. These behaviors are not only carefully watched by the business, they are also just as important within IT, said the focus group. Members noted that difficult internal IT relationships can lead to problems delivering effective IT services. Five sets of attitudes and behaviors contribute to developing IT professionalism: (1) comportment (i.e., appearance and manners on the job), (2) preparation (i.e., displaying competence and good organization), (3) communication skill (i.e., both clarity and etiquette), (4) judgment (i.e.,  the abil- ity to make right choices for the organization), and (5) attitude (i.e.,  caring about doing a job well and about doing the right thing for the company) (McKeen and Smith 2008).

• Nontechnical communication. Over and over, research has found that the inabil- ity to communicate clearly with the business in its own terms can undermine the

Chapter 4 • Building a Strong Relationship with the Business 45

business–IT relationship (Bassellier and Benbasat 2004; Kitzis and Gomolski 2006). Today, because IT staff work across many organizational boundaries, they must also be effective at translating and interpreting needs, not only from business to technology and vice versa, but also between business units, in order to enable members of different communities to understand each other (Wailgum 2008a). Increasingly, as IT programs and services are delivered collaboratively by external partners and to external partners, clarity in communication is becoming mission critical.

• Social skills. The social dimension of the business–IT relationship is often ignored by both sides, leading to misunderstandings and lack of trust (Day 2007). Social bonds help diverse groups build trust and develop a common language, both of which are essential to a strong relationship. Socialization also helps build mutual understanding, enabling all parties to get comfortable with one another and uncovering hidden assumptions, which may become obstacles to success (Kaarst-Brown 2005). Socialization also develops empathy and facilitates problem solving (Feeny and Willcocks 1998).

Unfortunately, many IT organizations are structured in ways that create barri- ers between business and IT. For example, the use of “relationship managers” to act as interfaces between IT and the business is a mixed blessing. Although individually, these managers may be skilled and viewed positively by the business, focus group members noted that their position often leads them to act as gatekeepers to the business. One manager mentioned being hauled on the carpet to explain his lunch with a business manager (a personal friend), which hadn’t been approved by the relationship manager! “We need a broad range of social interactions with the business,” said another manager. “We use account managers, but we also encourage interactions through such things as lunches and social events.” Ongoing, face-to-face interaction is the ideal, but with today’s virtual teams and global organizations, other forms of social interaction, such as networking and collaboration tools, are being introduced to help bridge gaps in this area. Social bonds can be created in a virtual environment, but these take longer and are harder to develop although they are, if anything, more important than in a more tradi- tional workplace (Greenberg et al. 2007).

• Management of politics and conflict. The business–IT relationship can be turbulent, and IT personnel are not noted for their skills in dealing with the conflicts and challenges involved. Furthermore, conflict and politics tend to be exacerbated by the types of projects most commonly undertaken by IT—that is, those that cross internal and external organizational boundaries (Weiss and Hughes 2005). As a result, IT functions and personnel need ways to effectively address conflict and use it to deliver creative solutions. All too often, conflict is avoided or treated as a “hot potato” to be tossed up the management hierarchy (Weiss and Hughes 2005). Straight talk and the development of a healthy give- and-take attitude are fundamental to dealing with conflict at its source. Experts also recommend the development of transparent processes for managing disagreements and frank discussions of the trade-offs involved in dealing with problems (Pascale et al. 1997). These not only help stop damaging escalation and growing uncertainty but also help to model conflict-resolution skills for the staff involved.

46 Section I • Delivering Value with IT

As well, failure to understand the role of politics in a particular organization makes IT personnel less effective in their business interactions because they cannot craft “win–win” solutions. Thus, all IT staff need to understand something about politics and how they can affect their work. At more senior levels, it is imperative that IT profes- sionals learn how to act “wisely and shrewdly in a political environment” (Kitzis and Gomolski 2006). Since politics are part of every business relationship and cannot be avoided, IT personnel must learn how to work with them, said focus group members, even if they are trying to avoid them as much as possible.

sTreNgTheNiNg iNTerpersoNal iNTeraCTioNs

• Expect professionalism. IT managers must not only articulate professional values and behaviors, they must also live them and measure and reward them in their staff.

• Promote a wide variety of social interactions at all levels. Whether face-to-face or virtual, sharing information about each other ’s background and interests is an important way to bolster working relationships at all levels. Therefore, even where formal relationship managers are in place, IT leaders should encourage all IT staff to connect informally with their business colleagues. “Social interaction facilitates quick problem ownership and resolution and helps to develop a com- mon language,” said a focus group participant. Although the need for socializa- tion increases as one moves up the organizational hierarchy, even at the lowest levels staff should be expected to spend about 10 percent of their time in this type of interaction (Kitzis and Gomolski 2006).

• Develop “soft skills” in IT staff. Although the need for interpersonal skills in IT has never been greater, many companies still give their development short shrift, preferring instead to stress technical competencies. In developing interpersonal skills, formal training should be only one component. It is even more important that IT managers take time to develop such skills in their staff through mentor- ing and coaching. Many focus group members have implemented “soft” skills development initiatives informally, but they have also admitted that the pressure to be instantly productive often detracts from both business and IT participation in them.

Building Block #4: Trust

Effective interpersonal interactions, a belief that the job at hand will get done and get done right, and demonstrated business and technical competence are all required to facilitate trust that IT can be a successful partner with the business. But even if these are in place, proactive measures are still needed to actually build trust between the two groups. In many firms, an underlying sense of distrust of IT as a whole remains:

IT’s processes are notoriously convoluted and bureaucratic, leaving the business unsure of how to accomplish their business strategies with IT. From strategy alignment to prioritization to budgeting and resourcing to delivering value to managing costs, it must be clear that what IT is doing is for the benefit of the enterprise, not itself. (McKeen and Smith 2008)

Chapter 4 • Building a Strong Relationship with the Business 47

The most important way to build trust at this level is through effective gover- nance. The story of how one CIO managed to transform the business–IT relationship at Farm Credit Canada illustrates its importance:

[At FCC, when Paul MacDonald became CIO], IT was considered a necessary evil. Business people were afraid of it and wished it would just go away. . . . [Transforming this relationship] was a very difficult and complex job—especially for cross-functional processes. Clear responsibilities and accountabilities had to be defined. . . . “It’s all about clarity of roles and responsibilities,” MacDonald said. The new IT governance model was validated and refined through sessions with key business stakeholders. “These sessions were important to demonstrate that we weren’t just shuffling the boxes around in IT,” [MacDonald] said. . . . MacDonald also made sure that the new model actually worked the way it was supposed to. “There were cases where it didn’t . . . and with these, we made changes in our pro- cesses.” He attributes his willingness to make changes where needed to his ability to make the new model actually function the way it was supposed to. . . .

“Today, at FCC user satisfaction is very high and IT is seen as being indis- pensable. . . . [MacDonald] stressed that it is important to review and refine the new governance model continually.” “There were some things that just didn’t work,” he said. “We are still constantly learning.” (Smith and McKeen 2008)

Effective governance should be designed to build common business goals and establish a good decision-making process (Gerrard 2006). Mature processes in IT and transparency about costs develop trust (Levinson and Pastore 2005; Overby 2005). A  focus group manager stated succinctly, “[M]ore transparency equals fewer sur- prises and you get transparency through governance.” Aspects of governance that have enhanced trust in focus group organizations include integrated planning, defined accountabilities, a clear picture of mandates and authorities, and clarity around how work gets done.

Another focus group manager explained the importance of governance in this way:

In the past, we couldn’t break the trust barrier. Now, [with an effective governance structure] we are more proactive and are fighting fewer fires. Our processes ensure proper escalation and a new focus on value. In short, governance captures the value of a good relationship and good fences make good neighbours.

Trust is essential for both superior performance and for developing the collabora- tive relationships that lead to success (Greenberg et al. 2007). It is developed through consistency, clear communication, willingness to tackle challenges, and owning up to and learning from mistakes (Upton and Staats 2008). Both inconsistent messages to stakeholders and inconsistent processes and standards can seriously undermine trust (Galford and Drapeau 2003).

Nevertheless, it must be stressed that there is no optimal form of governance (Gordon and Gordon 2002). The key is to develop a model of IT governance that addresses the business’s expectations of its IT function. Thus, an IT organization can best build trust if it clearly understands the organization’s priorities for IT and designs its governance model to match (Guillemette et al. 2008).

48 Section I • Delivering Value with IT

sTreNgTheNiNg TrusT

• Design governance for clarity and transparency. IT leaders should assess how the business views IT processes—from the help desk on up. It is important to recognize that all processes play a very visible role in how IT is viewed in the organization and that clear, effective, and fair processes are needed to break the “trust barrier” between business and IT at all levels.

• Mandate the relationship. Although it may seem counterintuitive, companies have had success from strictly enforcing relationship basics such as formal roles and responsibilities, joint scorecards, and the use of common metrics. Such structural measures can ensure that common expectations, language, and goals are developed and met.

• Design IT for business expectations. Clearly understanding the primary value the business wants IT to deliver can help IT understand how to focus its process and governance models (see Appendix A).

Conclusion

There is clearly no panacea for a strong busi- ness–IT relationship. Yet, the correlation between a good relationship and the ability to deliver value with IT makes it impera- tive that leaders do all they can to develop effective interpersonal and interfunctional business–IT relations. It is unfortunately still incumbent on IT leadership to take on the bulk of this task, if only because it will make IT organizations more effective. Business–IT relationships are complex, with interactions of many types, at many levels, and between both individuals and across functional and

organizational entities. This chapter has not only identified and explored what a strong business–IT relationship should look like in its many dimensions but also has described the four major components needed to build it: competence, credibility, interpersonal skills, and trust. Unfortunately, business–IT relationships still leave a lot to be desired in most organizations. Recognizing that what it takes to build a strong business–IT partner- ship is also closely related to what is needed to deliver IT value may help to focus more attention on these mission-critical activities.

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Tallon, P., K. Kramer, and V. Gurbaxani. “Executives’ Perceptions of the Business Value of Information Technology: A Process-Oriented Approach.” Journal of Management Information Systems 16, no. 4 (Spring 2000).

Upton, D., and B. Staats. “Radically Simple IT.” Harvard Business Review R0803 (March 2008).

Wailgum, T. “Why Business Analysts Are So Important for IT and CIOs.” CIO Magazine (April 16, 2008a).

Wailgum, T. “Eight Reasons Why CIOs Think Their Application Developers Are Clueless.” CIO Magazine (September 3, 2008b).

Weiss, J., and J. Hughes. “Want collaboration? Accept—and Actively Manage—Conflict.” Harvard Business Review #R0503F (March 2005).

50 Section I • Delivering Value with IT

Appendix A

The Five IT Value Profiles

Each of the following profiles is a unique way for IT to contribute to an organization. One is not “better” than the other, nor is one profile more or less mature than any other. Each represents a different, consistent way of organizing IT to deliver value. Each is different in five ways: main activities, dominant skills and knowledge, the business–IT relationship, governance and decision-making, and accountabilities.

Profile A: Project Coordinator This type of IT function coordinates IT activities between the business and outsourc- ers. Therefore, the primary value it delivers is organizational flexibility through the IT outsourcing strategy it establishes and through promoting informed IT decision making in the business units. The Project Coordinator function works with the busi- ness units, helping them formalize their requirements, and then finds an outsourcer to develop and implement what is needed. The Project Coordinator also manages the relationships between vendors and business units, not only with the organiza- tion’s current activities but also in planning for the future by developing strategic partnerships.

Profile B: Systems Provider The primary mission of the Systems Provider is to provide the organization with qual- ity information systems at the lowest possible cost. Strategically, the Systems Provider uses the organization’s business plans to set IT’s goals, prepare budgets, and determine the resources needed to implement the organization’s strategy for the required systems development projects.

Profile C: Architecture Builder The primary mission of this type of IT function is to link the firm’s various business units by integrating computerized systems, data, and technological platforms. The Architecture Builder seeks to design a flexible architecture and infrastructure that will meet the company’s needs. The architecture builder typically receives broad strategic direction from the organization and designs an architecture and infrastructure with which the organization can implement its strategy.

Profile D: Partner The main objective of the Partner IT function is to create IT-enabled business capabili- ties to support current business strategies. IT and the business collaborate to achieve a two-way strategic alignment that is developed iteratively and reciprocally over time. The Partner is a catalyst for change in business processes and seeks to improve organi- zational efficiency. As guardian of the organization’s business processes, the Partner’s mission therefore extends far beyond its technological tools.

Chapter 4 • Building a Strong Relationship with the Business 51

Profile E: Technological Leader The Technological Leader tries above all to use innovation to transform the organiza- tion’s strategy. IT’s main objective is therefore to identify opportunities, find innovative organizational applications for technology that will enable the organization to secure a significant competitive advantage, and then implement such applications.

Source: Guillemette et al. 2008.

Appendix B

Guidelines for Building a Strong Business–IT Relationship

The following was provided by a focus group member and is an excerpt from a com- pany memo on improving the business–IT relationship.

Now more than ever, we must truly understand the business transformation agenda. This will require us to potentially interact differently than in the past or in a mode beyond what our executives may be looking for. We must

• Stop acting as and being viewed as order takers once IT projects have been identified.

• Develop an understanding of business improvement ideas before they become ini- tiatives or projects.

• Be prepared to offer alternative perspectives on business solutions. • Be part of the strategic equation and have “feet on the street.” • Engage early before ideas and issues turn into projects. • Continue to shape the solution during pre-concept and concept phases.

To develop a relationship with the business units where we are viewed as a trusted advisor and as adding value, we need to truly be part of their decision-making process and team. We must ask ourselves the following questions:

• Are we considered a member of the business’s senior leadership team? • Are we consulted before decisions are made or just asked to execute what has

already been decided? • Are we involved in shaping the content of the strategic agenda not just its schedule?

Creating a consistent forum for one-on-one strategic interaction should allow us to rise above the normal churn of issues, projects, or other regularly scheduled meet- ings and be positioned to truly start understanding where our help is needed. Potential short-term next steps include the following:

• Get invited to each business unit’s leadership team meetings. • Schedule a monthly one to one strategy meeting with no set agenda.

52

C h a p t e r

5 Communicating with Business Managers1

1 This chapter is based on the authors’ previously published article, Smith, H. A., and J. D. McKeen. “How to Talk so Business Will Listen . . . and Listen so Business Can Talk.” Communications of the Association for Information Systems 27, Article 13 (August 2010): 207–16. Reproduced by permission of the Association for Information Systems.

At an IT governance meeting, attended by all our business executives, our IT architect was asked to discuss IT security and what steps needed to be taken to improve it. The architect proceeded to bombard the executives with extremely low-level details—an oversaturation of information, which they did not understand—and he lost their attention in very short order. What he did not do was deliver information in a positive manner geared to his audience. As a result, there was diminished business interest and understanding about this topic and a slowed-down budget for needed upgrades, which also affected other projects.

—(Senior IT manager in a global retail organization)

As this true story illustrates, the ability to communicate with the business in busi-ness terms does not appear to be a current IT strength. This is a serious problem for IT managers because as IT and business grow more entwined, IT staff are going to need to be increasingly organization savvy and possess greater business and interpersonal competencies (Basselier and Benbasat 2004; Karlsen et al.; 2008; Mingay 2005). Yet, despite consistent complaints from both business and IT leaders about how IT staff lack business and communication skills, it seems that many IT departments still hire largely for technical competencies and have little budget available for “soft skills” development (Cukier 2007). Problems communicating with business continue to play a significant part in today’s poor perceptions of IT in organizations and inhibit what IT is able to do for the organization (McKeen and Smith 2009). IT managers often bemoan the fact that IT-based initiatives—for example, to implement new technologies or establish

Chapter 5 • Communicating with Business Managers 53

a standard infrastructure—which they believe could have significant benefits for their organizations are not funded. Many of the reasons for this lie in IT’s inability to explain the value of such investments in terms the business will understand.

In short, one of the most important skills all IT staff need to develop today is how to communicate effectively with business. “Effective communication between IT . . . and its stakeholders has never been so important . . . so complex or so difficult to get right.” (Mingay 2005). Over and over, research has shown that if IT and business cannot speak the same language, focus on the same issues, and communicate constructively, they cannot build a trusting relationship (Karlsen et al. 2008). And business is consistently more negative than IT about IT’s abilities in communicating effectively. In fact, even while IT collaboration is improving, business’s assessment of IT’s communication skills is declining (Willcoxson and Chatham 2004).

Much attention has been paid to organizational alignment between IT and business (e.g., governance, structure), while very little has been paid to the nature and impact of the social dimension of alignment, a big element of which involves communication (Reich and Benbasat 2000). This chapter explores the business and interpersonal competencies that IT staff will need in order to do their jobs effectively over the next five to seven years and what companies should be doing to help develop them. It begins by characterizing the state of communication in the business–IT rela- tionship and why “good communication” is becoming increasingly important. Then, it explores what is meant by “good communication” in this relationship and looks at some of the inhibitors of effective communication between these groups. Finally, it dis- cusses the key communication skills that need to be developed by IT staff and makes recommendations for how organizations can improve or develop communication in the business–IT relationship.

CommuniCation in the Business–it Relationship

“Poor communication is a constant source of irritation, confusion, and animosity,” said one focus group manager. Another agreed: “So many of our IT staff don’t under- stand organizational dynamics. They say and do things that would be completely inappropriate anywhere else in our company.” There is general agreement between practitioners and researchers that poor business–IT communication is the source of poor relationships and alignment between these groups (Bittler 2008; Reich and Benbasat 2000). One study noted:

Many IT people have “turned off” their business peers with too much techni- cal jargon. This is one reason why the number of IT people that are “allowed” to speak with business people has been deliberately limited in many organizations. (Bittler 2008)

Communication is both an enabler and an inhibitor of a good business–IT relationship. On one hand, poor communication tends to be persistent and of lasting concern to practitioners (Coughlan et al. 2005). Often, IT personnel are perceived to live in an “ivory tower,” disengaged from the needs of the business (Burton et al. 2008). Typically, these problems are described as a communication or a cultural “gap”

54 Section I • Delivering Value with IT

between the two groups and are considered a major cause of systems development fail- ures (Coughlan et al. 2005; Reich and Benbasat 2000). “We struggle with communica- tion gaps and challenges,” said a manager. “There’s a lot of IT arrogance we need to deal with.” Another commented, “IT doesn’t listen and doesn’t talk the talk.”

On the other hand, there is broad recognition that good communication is essential for many reasons. First, it is fundamental to building a strong, positive business–IT rela- tionship. “When business people believe IT people ‘get it,’ the relationships are always improved” (Bittler 2008). Second, it helps set sensible expectations of IT and helps IT to manage how it is perceived in business (Day 2007). Third, it is an essential element of building trust and partnership, which in turn help drive the delivery of business value (McKeen and Smith 2012). Fourth, it is essential to conveying the business value of IT (Hunter 2007). And finally, it is critical to understanding the priorities and pressures of the business. Focus group managers spoke of the need for staff who would listen and look for new opportunities to deliver business value. In short, good communication is widely seen as being critical for IT to deliver successful projects, effective performance, and value ( Karlsen et al. 2008; Reich and Benbasat 2000; Willcoxson and Chatham 2004).

As a result, improving communication is increasingly recommended as a top pri- ority for IT managers (Burton et al. 2008; Mingay 2005). Several managers stated that they are working on building communication into their annual goals and into their expectations of staff. What is missing, however, is a better understanding of the nature of good business–IT communication and some of the obstacles IT managers face in improving it (Coughlan et al. 2005). Thus, poor communication continues to be the norm in most organizations (Pawlowski and Robey 2004).

What is “Good” CommuniCation?

Unfortunately, there is no magic formula for defining and teaching “good” communica- tion since it is a complex concept that has many dimensions. There are, however, some principles that are recognized as important elements of effective communication which can be used as guidelines for those who wish to assess their communication performance.

• Principle 1: The effectiveness of communication is measured by its outcomes. Communication is successful when it achieves the outcomes we desire (Gilberg 2006). However, all too often we measure communication by our intentions rather than its out- comes. The problem with that is this: “Communication is in the ear of the beholder,” and even the most direct, clear, understandable, and consistent message can there- fore get distorted through such filters as politics, culture, and personal points of view. As messages get passed along to others, they get further distorted, much like in the children’s game of “Telephone.” One study showed that although 97 percent of managers believed their own communication was clear, only 25 percent of the same people believed that the communication they received from their direct superior was clear and effective (Martin 2006). Another study showed that IT managers feel their communication is more effective than business managers feel it is (Willcoxson and Chatham 2004).

• Principle 2: Communication is social behavior. Communication not only trans- mits ideas but also negotiates relationships. Thus, how you say what you mean is

Chapter 5 • Communicating with Business Managers 55

just as important as what you say (Tannen 1995). This is an especially important principle for IT staff to learn because, as teams become increasingly diverse and virtual, many of the traditional nonverbal signals that we instinctively rely on to provide meaning are lost. A host of factors act as a social subtext to our commu- nication: tone of voice, rate of speed, degree of loudness, and pacing and pausing. These are all culturally learned signals that affect how we evaluate each other as people (Tannen 1995). Gender and culture are key social filters that all of us use. For example, the degree of directness and indirectness in communication has often been a source of significant misunderstandings. Women learn to be more indirect when telling others what to do so as not to be perceived as “bossy”; men are indi- rect when admitting to fault or weakness. In short, there is no one “right” way to speak, but speakers and listeners need to become more aware of the power of dif- ferent linguistic styles, and managers must learn to use and take advantage of these styles in different communication situations (Tannen 1995).

• Principle 3: Shared knowledge improves communication. It is all too well known that many IT people don’t “speak the language of the business.” As one manager stated, “Many IT staff think they’ve ‘communicated’ by explaining a technology need or a technology decision, instead of ensuring that everyone understands the business implications of what’s involved.” Studies show that the more IT staff learns about the business, the better communication becomes (Reich and Benbasat 2000). This is true not only because IT people understand business better but also because shared knowledge leads to increased frequency of communication and greater mutual under- standing, both of which lead to more success in implementation, which in turn leads to more communication and improved relationships (Reich and Benbasat 2000). Thus, the creation of shared knowledge can be the beginning of a “virtuous circle” of con- tinuously improving communication (see Figure 5.1).

• Principle 4: Mature organizations have better communication. Although commu- nication is a social process, it is also embedded within and fundamental to organiza- tional processes (Coughlan et al. 2005). Organizational maturity plays a significant part in the effectiveness of business–IT communication because strong practices support and reinforce good interpersonal communication. “You can’t be a part- ner unless you’re a mature IT organization,” explained one manager. The research supports this contention, showing that high-performing IT functions have a strong foundation of communication (Peppard and Ward 1999; Reich and Benbasat 2000). Thus, successful IT organizations embed appropriate communication in their pro- cesses and consider this to be a significant component of IT’s work (Mingay 2005). This work is even more important in times of organization transformation. “We are quite good about communicating operationally,” said a manager, “but we need to improve when talking with our business executives about strategy.” Another com- mented, “we need better skills to move up the ‘run, change, innovate’ curve, and we need the organizational maturity to do this.” The focus group identified some of the areas where improved maturity could help communication: developing busi- ness cases; assessing risk; integrating with the “big picture”; and communicating across business silos. In short, although communication is often seen as an individ- ual competency, it should be viewed and managed as an IT functional competency at all levels.

56 Section I • Delivering Value with IT

oBstaCles to effeCtive CommuniCation

Why is it so difficult to achieve effective business–IT communication? The principles haven’t changed much over time, but they have often not been applied, or they have been forgotten or ignored as busy IT managers focus on tight timelines and major deliverables (Mingay 2005). However, in addition to these considerations, some other obstacles to effective communication can hinder or prevent communication from occurring. These include the following:

• The changing nature of IT work. There is no question that IT work has become more complex over time. Increasingly, IT staff are intermediaries between third-party contract staff, global staff, or external stakeholders and vendors as well as tradi- tional business users. When multiple cultures, different political contexts, diverse time zones, and virtual relationships are added into the mix, communication simply becomes more multifaceted and challenging. Furthermore, organizations are expect- ing IT to do more for them. Transformation, innovation, or simply bigger and more visible projects all require more communication than the norm and therefore more management attention (Mingay 2005). “We must take a broader view of communi- cation,” stated an IT manager. “And we need conversations at many levels.” Thus, although IT may have adopted communication solutions that meet the needs of the past, these are inadequate for present and future needs.

Shared Knowledge

Increased Communication

Mutual Understanding and “Common Sense”

THE VIRTUOUS COMMUNICATION

CYCLE

Implementation Success

fiGuRe 5.1 Shared Knowledge Leads to Improved Communication

Chapter 5 • Communicating with Business Managers 57

• Hiring practices. “IT organizations can no longer support smart, super-talented, but socially disruptive people who cannot work well with a team or with the business,” said one manager. The group concurred that IT skills are changing to become more consultative and collaborative. Yet, frequently their organizations still hire for technology skills, rather than the “softer” skills, such as communication, which are essential for success these days. One study found that there is seri- ous misalignment in hiring between “the skills needed for a job (which heavily emphasize communication and general business skills . . . ) [and] the job require- ments that are . . . advertised (which tend to emphasize formal technical training)” (Cukier 2007).

• IT and business organization structures. A few years ago, many IT functions attempted to deal with their communication problems by creating relationship managers. These were skilled IT individuals whose job was to bridge the busi- ness and IT organizations and thus act as a communication conduit between the two groups. Unfortunately, relationship managers have become a mixed blessing at best and an obstacle at worst, restricting contact between the two groups and thereby limiting the development of shared knowledge and mutual understand- ing. “Relationship managers appear to do more to exacerbate rather than amelio- rate,” found one study (Coughlan et al. 2005). A focus group manager agreed, “You can’t partner if your only contact is through a relationship manager.” Furthermore, business silos can make communication about enterprise issues extremely chal- lenging for IT staff, who can be expected to play a “knowledge broker” role, not only between IT and business but also between business units (Pawlowski and Robey 2004).

• Nature and frequency of communication. It’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg situa- tion: More frequent contact with business leads to improved communication, but IT’s communication is often so full of jargon, technocentric, and inappropriate that many organizations have sought ways to limit the amount and nature of commu- nication between the two groups. One study found that about one-third of IT staff simply did not speak to the business at all (Basselier and Benbasat 2004). However, some of the focus group stated that, even when they are not restricted, IT staff often have trouble getting business to take the time to sit with them. Researchers have pointed out that it is the sharing of tacit and unstructured knowledge, which takes place in low-risk and informal settings, that contributes most to effective communi- cation and mutual understanding (Basselier and Benbasat 2004; Dunne 2002; Kitzis and Gomolski 2006). Limiting one’s focus to formal interactions (e.g., through IT governance processes) has been shown to be the least effective way of communicat- ing successfully (Dunne 2002).

• Attitude. Finally, IT’s attitude can be a huge obstacle to good communication. It was surprising to hear this complaint from so many in the focus group. “Our IT staff think their work is about IT. They don’t understand that we’re here to deliver business value with technology,” one manager stated. One manager described IT staff as “crotchety”; another as “obtuse”; and several stated IT staff are “defen- sive.” It is not surprising that if this is the case, a negative attitude on the part of an IT worker toward his or her work, business, or employer ends up being reflected in communication and how it is perceived (McKeen and Smith 2012). In turn, this can color how the communication is received (Anonymous 2005; Martin  2006).

58 Section I • Delivering Value with IT

Unfortunately as well, many IT staff are motivated by the desire to be right rather than the desire to communicate effectively (Gilberg 2006). “We definitely need a ‘we’ attitude in IT,” said a manager, “not an ‘us–them’ attitude.”

Overcoming these obstacles will require a combination of management attention to all dimensions of business–IT communication and the development of critical com- munication skills in IT staff. The next two sections of this chapter address these issues.

“t-level” CommuniCation skills foR it staff

Although IT workers’ communication skills need upgrading, there is no one-size-fits-all strategy for doing this (Kalin 2006). Nor do lists of communication competencies move us much further forward in clarifying exactly what IT workers are doing wrong and what needs to change in their communication style (see Appendix A for a sample list). It has been suggested that as business becomes more complex, it really needs more T-shaped professionals who are not only deep problem solvers in their home discipline but also capable of interacting with and understanding others from a wide range of disciplines and functional areas (Ding 2008). People possessing these skills are able to shape their knowl- edge to fit problems and apply synergistic thinking (Leonard-Barton 1995). Unfortunately, most IT organizations encourage I-shaped skills—that is, deep functional expertise. As a result, the individual is driven ever deeper into his or her specialized set of skills (Leonard- Barton 1995).

Developing T-shaped IT staff addresses the concern some in the focus group expressed that emphasizing the development of “soft skills” could come at the expense of the excellent technology skills still needed by the organization. “You don’t want your staff becoming disconnected from their technological capabilities,” said one. “Connecting the dots” between the group’s comments and the research on communica- tion shows that four communication skills form the horizontal bar of the “T” for IT pro- fessionals (the vertical one being the professionals’ technology skills and knowledge):

1. Translation. IT staff typically fail miserably at translating IT issues and con- cerns into business impacts—as illustrated by the story at the beginning of this chapter. Eliminating jargon is the first step. “Too often our IT population speaks in nano-words and gigabits, instead of using the English language,” said a man- ager. However, translation requires more than this because it requires the ability to understand how IT initiatives will affect the business or deliver value to it. To com- municate effectively about IT’s value, IT managers “must translate IT’s operational performance into business performance . . . and drive home the message that all IT initiatives are business initiatives” (Hunter 2007). It is not often recognized that IT staff are effectively knowledge brokers and that translation is a critical part of their work (Pawlowski and Robey 2004). As a result, bridging and translation skills are still rare in IT, agreed the focus group.

The work involved in translation can be characterized as a four-step process where IT staff move from the world of technology into the world of business to dis- cuss problems in terms of business impact and possible business solutions and then back into IT to translate these solutions into technological reality (see Figure 5.2). “In the end,” said a manager, “we must be able to translate what the business knows and wants into actionable IT proposals.”

Chapter 5 • Communicating with Business Managers 59

2. Tailoring. IT staff also need to adapt their communication to the needs of their audience. This involves two skills. First, IT workers need to know their audience— understanding their needs, their agendas, and their politics—so that they communicate in ways the business needs and wants to hear (Burton et al. 2008). Second, all IT per- sonnel need to know how to choose communication methods appropriately. For example, bad news is best delivered in face-to-face meetings, not in reports or e-mails (as some in the focus group reported); and presentations to executives are not the place to expound on one’s technology expertise (Martin 2006).

3. Transparency. Transparency is a cornerstone of trust in the business–IT relation- ship (Smith and McKeen 2007), and IT managers should not assume that success speaks for itself. The business needs to see what is being done in IT and what it costs. In fact, it has been suggested that transparency is the key to changing the business’s perception of IT’s value (Levinson and Pastore 2005). At an individual level, one member of the focus group defined transparency as communication that is “honest, accurate, ethical, and respectful.” “We need honesty and openness,” stated another. Transparency also means involving the right people in making decisions and recog- nizing that the goal is to get the communication process flowing both ways (Burton et al. 2008; Dunne 2002). Other ways to promote transparent communication include checking assumptions, clarifying goals, stating intentions up front, and asking for feedback on understanding (Dunne 2002; Gilberg 2006).

4. Thinking, talking, and listening. An important communication skill that is increasingly valued by business is the ability to “think outside the box” and to challenge the status quo, albeit diplomatically and responsibly. Focus group man- agers suggested that IT staff need to think “horizontally” across the enterprise in order to do what is best for the business. Communicating innovative ideas effec- tively involves “getting inside the head of the business,” they explained. In the future, the ideal IT manager will “think and talk like a business person with a strong background in technology” (Kitzis and Gomolski 2006). Thinking, how- ever, does not mean simply blurting out ideas; it means understanding how and where to speak and how to listen to others. Learning to listen can be a challenge

Translation

Translation

BUSINESS IT

Business Impact of

Technology Issues

Business Solutions

IT Solutions

Technology Issues

fiGuRe 5.2 Communicating with Business Involves Translation

60 Section I • Delivering Value with IT

for IT staff who tend to be impatient with politics and the process of coming to a solution that everyone can live with (Dunne 2002). Similarly, IT staff can underesti- mate the importance of listening to nonverbal communication or the “noise” of the context in which communication takes place (Anonymous 2005; Coughlan et al. 2005). In short, this skill involves more than simply “talking and waiting to talk” but also incorporates a more sophisticated and nuanced awareness of the process of communication, recognizing that how one reaches a decision is as important to the success of communication as the actual decision itself.

impRovinG Business–it CommuniCation

The focus group managers were the first to admit that much more needs to be done in their own organizations to improve communication between IT and the business at all levels. However, they were also implementing a number of practices that they believed would promote the development of good communication skills among their staff and also as an IT function. Their recommendations included the following:

• Make the importance of effective communication visible. It is well accepted that if you want people to pay attention to something, you need to measure and incentiv- ize for it. Several managers felt that good communication skills should be expected of every IT staff member. “These are now baseline expectations for us,” said one. A  key way to get staff to pay attention is to incorporate communication skills into performance appraisals. One company makes it clear that specialized “niche” skills are more likely to be outsourced and that those who understand and can work with the business are more likely to have a long-term career in its organization.

• Work with HR to develop new skills expectations and roles. Several firms are incorporating specific communication competencies into staff role descriptions. One is even trying to create jobs that have titles which reflect the types of com- petencies needed, such as “senior business consultant,” “technology relationship manager,” and “business technology specialist.” Another is trying to make it easier for IT staff to transfer laterally into the business for a period of time.

• Develop communication skills both formally and informally. To support these new expectations, some firms offer formal training in communication skills in areas such as making presentations, communication styles, and negotiations. Incorporating com- munication skills into personal development plans is one way some managers tailor formal skills development for personal needs. However, the effectiveness of formal training is “mixed,” said many managers, and some firms don’t offer it at all, or only as part of management development. More informal approaches include mentoring, lunch-and-learn sessions, and self-assessment tools.

• Increase the nature and frequency of communication. Although not an ini- tiative of any of the focus groups, the research is clear that creating a “virtuous communication cycle” starts with creating shared knowledge between the two groups all levels. There are few “quick fixes” to the communication problem, but the importance of regular communication between IT and business at all levels cannot be overemphasized (Reich and Benbasat 2000). Wherever possible, prior- ity should be given to informal communication and social interaction as these are the best ways to build up shared language and understanding (Burton et al.; 2008;

Chapter 5 • Communicating with Business Managers 61

Dunne 2002). These types of interactions are particularly important when face-to- face communication is irregular or impossible (Greenberg et al. 2007). Recognizing this, one company that makes extensive use of global, virtual teams encourages socialization, and even virtual parties, through its social networking technologies.

• Spend more time on communication. Most important, IT leaders at all levels need to spend more time on communication—not only in what and how they communicate personally but, rather, in learning how their staff and organizations communicate. They need to seek out and remove obstacles to communication, coach their staff, become sensitized to their organization’s communication processes (both formal and informal), and do whatever it takes to develop a shared understanding and language with the business. Although the initial investment of time may be high, it is certain to pay off in terms of an improved relationship with business and greater perceptions of IT value.

Conclusion

“What we have here is a failure to commu- nicate” is a famous (and sarcastic) movie quote that is nevertheless an extraordinarily accurate description of the business–IT rela- tionship. Although many words and docu- ments may flow between the two groups, it is fair to say that often little true commu- nication is occurring. This has resulted in misunderstandings, dysfunctional behavior, and, above all, a failure to deliver value to the organization. This chapter has examined the difficult and complex challenges facing IT leaders as they attempt to improve their function’s communication with the business. It demonstrated that good communication has both social and organizational dimen- sions, both of which need to be appropri- ately managed. It also showed that there is a “virtuous circle” of communication, which is associated with improved IT performance

and perceptions of IT value. In short, good communication is important to the success- ful implementation of IT in business, and developing it is therefore worth more time and attention than most managers currently pay to it. This chapter has focused on the IT side of the communication equation—since it is usually held to be the culprit in the sometimes nasty war of words that ranges back and forth between the two groups. There is much that can be done within IT to improve communication skills—without los- ing technology capabilities—but it neverthe- less behooves business managers to explore ways in which they can assist IT in doing this. Most important, they can make the time and effort to ensure that IT staff are well edu- cated in how their business works. If they do, business leaders just might find that many of IT’s “communication problems” disappear.

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Chapter 5 • Communicating with Business Managers 63

Appendix A

IT Communication Competencies

Level 1 Listens and clearly presents information

• Listens/pays attention actively and objectively (Persons with hearing impairments may lip-read.) • Presents information and facts in a logical manner, using appropriate phrasing and vocabulary • Shares information willingly and on a timely basis • Communicates with others honestly, respectfully, and sensitively • Recognizes and uses nonverbal communications

Level 2 Fosters two-way communication

• Recalls others’ main points and takes them into account in own communication • Checks own understanding of others’ communication (e.g., paraphrases, asks questions) • Elicits comments or feedback on what has been said • Maintains continuous, open, and consistent communication with others, considering nonverbal

messaging as required

Level 3 Adapts communication

• Tailors communication (e.g., content, style, and medium) to diverse audiences • Reads cues from diverse listeners to assess when and how to change planned communication

approach to effectively deliver message • Communicates equally effectively with all organizational levels and sells ideas and concepts • Understands others’ complex or underlying needs, motivations, emotions, or concerns and

communicates effectively despite the sensitivity of the situation

Level 4 Communicates complex messages

• Communicates complex issues clearly and credibly with widely varied audiences • Handles difficult on-the-spot questions (e.g., from senior executives, public officials, interest

groups, or the media) • Reads nonverbal communications signs and adapts materials and approach as required • Overcomes resistance and secures support for ideas or initiatives through high-impact

communication

Level 5 Communicates strategically

• Scans the environment for key information and messages to form the development of com- munication strategies

• Communicates strategically to achieve specific objectives (e.g., considers optimal “messaging” and timing of communication)

• Uses varied communication vehicles and opportunities to promote dialogue and develop shared understanding and consensus

Reproduced by permission of the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC) of Canada www.ictc-ctic.ca