Telecom & Technology Consulting
There’s an old adage that the quality of one’s relationships is determined by the quality of one’s communication. From a tech leader’s perspective, that sentiment is more important than ever. Organizations today have massive technology budgets. Those dollar allocations bring serious expectations in terms of what the investment will produce. But CIOs often can’t articulate the real-world business value they deliver.
That needs to change. Because of the convergence of business and technology, the perception of IT needs to shift from being a cost center to being an integral department that drives profits. And the change begins by how you talk about IT with others in the C-Suite, as well as with middle managers and even frontline workers.
Focus on performance and specific outcomes rather than abstract metrics. Instead of providing details about systems, software, and AI implementation, tell stories: How you played a major role in reducing risk, improving productivity, and most critically, boosting sales and cutting costs. That’s the key – speaking in language those around you can understand, in terms they can easily digest. That communication style is essential, because the tech lingo of the past won’t change the lack of perceived value typically attached to IT.
Tell stories of IT success not just once, not only here and there, but consistently. Over time, you’ll create the expectation of someone who’s always conveying value, continually sharing examples of what IT has accomplished for the greater good. Sure, people appreciate that an internal system is now more user-friendly, but they’ll be overjoyed with a recent technical initiative that increased lead conversion by 18%.
Stories are effective for conveying value because, at the root, they create visibility into what you actually do and the associated results. While people can literally see output from marketing (a web site, an email, a digital ad), while they can observe a sales meeting, for many the entire concept of technology is abstract. Stories provide not only justification for IT’s function and budget, they also provide compelling evidence for their achievements.
But effective stories don’t only include the pure narrative. To create maximum impact, it’s important for audiences to connect to the details of the story. That’s why tech leaders must provide more than the results of IT initiatives. When explaining the rationale for a potential project, convey what’s in it for them. How will others benefit both professionally and personally from the implementation? Money saved, time-to-market reduced. How will it foster larger organizational goals? Tell your stories angled in a manner that increases buy-in, that address their pain points. Doing so creates shared perspectives among your colleagues, which in turn injects a sense of the true value of IT projects.
These are all ideas, of course. In order to implement these ideas into practice, consider hosting a regularly scheduled IT council (monthly, quarterly, etc.) with all key business stakeholders. It’s an opportunity to update everyone about progress with current initiatives, and share plans for projects that may begin down the line. Answer questions, provide more details, all while speaking in real-world business terms.
You also get the chance to genuinely learn from front-line workers and middle managers about small, yet significant challenges they face each day. What they say can then be folded into the given initiative, furthering their respect and understanding of the value the IT department delivers. In this way the work becomes true “solutions” – not just theoretical proposals, but plans based on everyday problems and roadblocks.
Boiled down to its essence, the CIO storyteller is one who connects dots using this equation: Problem X was solved with Solution Y, which led to these specific results, which then created these specific business benefits. All which equal a greater company-wide perception of IT value.
