It’s rare to find an IT organization with more people and funding than
they have things to do. Usually it’s the
opposite…far more things to do than time or money. Numerous individuals and groups have great
ideas that involve IT, creating an extensive backlog of projects and tasks
which aren’t always prioritized across the organization. Add to that people experiencing unplanned technical
difficulties seeking IT’s help plus executives who expect any of their bright
ideas to receive IT’s immediate attention and the IT department can be a very
busy, intense place to work. Sometimes despite
all of IT’s hard work and personal heroics, business leaders still see IT as more of
an impediment than partner to the business.
Lots of things can cause this but the governance model frequently is a
major one.
Governance is about
establishing a common understanding of
1. Who has
authority to make what decisions or undertake what actions
2.
Who must be consulted before making a decision
or taking an action
3.
How are decisions made
4.
Who needs to be informed of decisions
5.
Who is accountable
6.
How are conflicts resolved
How do you know if your governance model is a culprit?
Look for the following symptoms:
1. Collisions
occur frequently. The colloquialism is “people
are stepping on each other’s toes."
Multiple people think they have the authority to decide or do things,
resulting in contention or redundant efforts.
Few companies and employees can afford duplication of effort. And, quite frankly, many people get a bit
ticked off if they are working on something only to discover someone else is
already doing it or has already done it. The result? In addition to people wasting their time, often it's accompanied by a little workplace drama.
2.
Circular ownership occurs frequently. The colloquialism here is “things are falling
on the floor.” In this case, people
assume other people own something but those people also assume someone else
owns it. Consequently, no one ones it and
important things don’t get done due to the gap in responsibility. The expectations based upon incorrect assumptions can be the source of frustration because people recognized these tasks needed to be done and unjustly blamed others when they don't get done. This also introduces counter-productive drama sometimes.
3.
The staff spends more than 10% of their time
running around in react-mode. A good
question to ask is, “What percentage of the day do my employees spend doing
what they planned to do each day versus having to fight the day’s fires?” In a well-governed organization, the average day runs according to plan versus a non-stop merry-go-round of emergencies and urgent tasks.
4.
There’s a history of making poor decisions.
Some of the common sub-optimal areas of governance are portfolio
management, project management, offering management, strategy and planning,
financial accounting, audit, risk, and business continuity. Having a plan or procedures is not
enough. There has to be uniform
understanding of and respect for roles, accountability, rules of engagement,
decision-making processes, and communication.
This must occur not only within the IT organization but between IT and
the business.
Stay tuned for ideas for creating a harmonious governance model between
IT and the business.
And a shout-out of thanks to my colleague Gisbert for giving me some ideas for this article.
And a shout-out of thanks to my colleague Gisbert for giving me some ideas for this article.