Managed Print Services Article
Managed Print Services Article
Ken Stewart of Kearns Business Solutions
from his personal blog ChangeForge.com.
by Ken Stewart, Kearns Business Solutions
In today’s rapidly moving world, savvy businesses rely on every business unit to
‘play the game’. Each business unit must understand its function as part of the
whole much like an arm, a lung, or a brain plays its role to help the body
function.
IT is no different, and must not only understand the business goals, but
actively pursue bringing value to the business. To do so, technology leaders
must 1) align themselves with business units, 2) listen and don’t be defensive,
3)innovate, 4) and offer customers choices not obstacles.
Align:
Technology leaders find themselves working with and for more tech savvy CXO’s
and business unit leaders. The landscape has shifted and executives expect
delivery of results not excuses. By aligning yourself with your business units’
initiatives you have the best chance of understanding the drivers that make your
company successful. This will give you a chance to bring technology to bear in
order to help solve the problems and avoid becoming an obstacle contributing to
why a business unit can’t achieve its goals.
Listen:
Know you culture. IT must learn not only to listen, but to whom it must listen.
Don’t get defensive when confronted with problems and don’t accuse them of
whining. You must learn to be direct but professional and encourage your
customers on how to approach you professionally. Even if someone seems to be
attacking your personally, you must maintain a level of control. Remember who
your customers are, and what the business priorities are. But most importantly
ensure your customers understand the priorities you have and where their
priorities fall in relation to your overall strategic goals.
Innovate:
Innovation is not only coming up with good ideas yourself, but understanding
good ideas flow in and throughout the people in your company everyday. Ensure
you are seeking out advice from not only business unit leaders, but people on
the front line as well. In seeking mind share, individuals will begin seeing
that you care about their needs and aren’t just making decisions in your ‘ivory
tower’.
Choice:
Give your customers choices not obstacles. IT has been stereotyped as the
constant nay-sayer. It is important that your customers understand why
somethings can and cannot be done. Give them choices, and put the decisions in
their hands. You may find they begin helping you achieve your goals if they
align with their own. Once they begin walking in your shoes, they may just take
a step back.
It is also important to understand that you should not place artificial
obstacles in your customers’ or business unit leaders’ path as the daily
business will present enough of these. It is not enough to have a reason why
something cannot be done - have alternative solutions to the problem and you
will find this wins you a great deal of political capital.
In summary, gone are the days where IT could hide behind the mystique of
technology. Executives and customers alike are more technology savvy than ever
and can see through your ruse. You must seek to align yourself with your
company’s business units by building relationship and listening to their needs
as well as understanding their challenges. Last, continually look for ways to
innovate, and don’t allow yourself or your team to become stagnant.
If you are following these goals, you will most likely find frustration in
bumping against glass ceilings. To be successful you must persevere adversity by
staying focused on the goals. Success does not come from being the almighty
gatekeeper but in seeking to build bridges to cross the canyons of adversity as
a team.
Ken Stewart is the Director of Technology at
Kearns Business Solutions, a company
providing solutions in the managed print services and document management
industries. He also maintains his personal business and technology blog,
ChangeForge.com, focusing on the
shifting paradigms of business and technology.
This article is provided as a service by the Photizo Group and is available at www.managed-print-services.com