Most clients I have met believe that a half good solution implemented today is better than the best solution that never gets deployed. On the other hand, I have seen clients develop immense resistance to a software implementation projects because, with the best intentions in the world but the wrong approach, IT staff preached to the clients that this newest project was critical to taking the clients out of the dark ages, reforming their business processes, and saving the organization from perdition. This approach is usually unproductive for two major reasons:
- As Andrew Carnegie pointed out decades ago, criticizing someone almost always raises their resistance to you.
- So, should the IT department tell the Bursary that their business processes are archaic – in effect questioning their competence - it is usually fanciful to expect the Bursary to respond by asking the IT department what new multi-million dollar software the IT department would like to install to facilitate the necessary re-engineering. Sometimes functional departments are well aware of the need for change but have different priorities from the IT department. The IT department’s job is to keep the dialogue open so that when the functional department is ready, they will look to the IT department as a partner; or, the IT department can help to change organizational priorities through an IT Governing Council or any of a wide range of organizational change techniques (which do not include preaching).
- At the level of the individual worker, we need to consider that many people’s jobs are a huge part of their identity – after all, they spend a large part of their waking lives at work. It is therefore critical that in our eagerness to achieve “faster, cheaper, better” that we not trample upon the significant personal investment many persons have in the way they do their work. In contrast to preaching, I think one of the most effective ways to get staff members to adopt a new technology is to show them how it will reinforce their sense of worth and increase the value they bring to the organization. On the other hand, I have seen staff members develop immense resistance to technology deployments for the sole reason that they believed the technologies were being insensitively deployed.
- It is very rare that IT staff will know as much about the reasons for the organization’s functional processes as much as the functional staff, whether these functional staff are accountants, registrars, estate managers or teaching staff. So while it is helpful for IT staff to bring their learning about the best practices in the functional area to the discussion, it is even more essential that they dialogue with the functional staff openly to uncover the nuances which are essential for a good implementation in the particular organization.
I guess what I am saying is one has to work really hard to become a
trusted advisor , by showing the clients respect, gaining their trust and working really hard to keep it.
Regards, Craig.
