How to be a 'ninja' influencer in your organisation

 

Following the recent appointment of Andy Nelson to the position as (part-time) Government CIO, I was reminded of a recent debate I had with a group of CIOs where we spoke about the challenges they face in terms of influencing people inside the organisation.

 

Looking at Nelson's situation, he faces tricky relationships with Ministers as well as the challenges that come with working with such a large range of public sector organisations. Throw into the mix his ongoing stewardship of the G-Cloud strategy and the fact that Nelson is taking on this role in a part time capacity, and you start to see why being a 'ninja' influencer will be key to his success.

 

Your ability to influence is closely tied to how you are perceived: for example, if line of business colleagues think you're too techie to serve their business needs, you won't win their trust; if end users think you are not responsive to their workplace requirements, they might be less likely to engage with you on the roll-out of new technologies.

 

The debate I have had with CIOs recently has been around the things you can do to improve how you are perceived in order to improve your levels of influence. These discussions have been with mid-sized and large organisations across multiple sectors. Below is a selection of some of the recommendations to come out of these discussions:

 

You may not be a showman by nature, but communicating your strategy and how that enables the business is very important. Think of all the horrible stereotypes that exist! Now that may not be you or your team, but unfortunately your end user customers are likely to need convincing - given IT's general 'bad press' over the years. In addition, where you have helped to generate additional revenue from customers, make sure this is made clear. Transforming IT's reputation from a cost centre to a business and growth enabler is critical. Also make sure you build strong links with key influencers who can help you build a positive profile, such as the marketing department.

 

Try to ensure you have created a business case that is explicitly fair to each division/unit. Be very open and clear about the return their investment will deliver in the context of their specific business requirements. Ultimately you want them to perceive IT to be a crucial business enabler (worthy of every penny!) rather than an unpopular cost centre.

 

A couple of recent conversations with Group CIOs illustrate that a successful partnership with the broader business (and IT teams in other parts of the group) is reliant not only on a collaborative strategic approach, but on ensuring you step back and publicly give credit to those colleagues/lines of business where it is due.

 

The consumerisation of IT means that most people are so much savvier about the possibilities of technologies than ever before. Furthermore, the democratisation of technology means that your line of business colleagues are likely to be as informed, if not more informed, than you when it comes to specific technologies that could aid their work. Changing the tools people use, therefore, can be challenging. Ensure that any pilots (e.g for new social media tools, or Cloud-based apps) are closely planned with lines of business, with ongoing mixed team meetings.

 

In our innovation research, we look at the requirements for successful approaches to innovation. In addition, we've heard several recent successful stories where the CIO has specifically positioned himself or herself as the connecting point for divisions and lines of business to advise on how they can share and re-use the ideas they have developed individually. Furthermore, the CIO has an important role to play in and supporting them as they make the internal business case to the CFO.

 

It is clear that most IT teams could do with more women in senior positions and it is widely accepted that more diverse management teams make better decisions over all. Think also about graduate recruitment and what you could be doing to ensure IT gets its share of fresh, intelligent and enthusiastic new talent. A well-balanced team, with highly developed communication skills will ultimately help IT and you, the CIO, to become more influential across the organisation.

 

All the very best to Nelson as he settles into his new role. Your budget might be smaller, and there is likely to be less press coverage of your work (!), but I know from speaking to many of you that you also face big challenges every day in the office.