The document discusses improving communication between IT and business departments. It notes common stereotypes of IT professionals as living in their own world and using confusing jargon. It recommends communicating with IT about existing projects, goals, and processes to get their department in order. It also suggests communicating often with IT staff and customers, and getting IT on the CEO's agenda to improve customer perception and staff morale over time. Metrics for evaluating improved communication include whether IT communicates better with customers, customer satisfaction levels, and on-time project completions.

1. Business 2.0 Business and IT fusion Lecture 3: Communication (with Geeks) Dr Raymond Young (MBA, GAICD) Raymond.young@canberra.edu.au

2. The problem: Us vs. Them IT Stereotype: Unwilling to speak except in confusing technical jargon Living in a separate worldand unconcerned about business Self-centred, arrogant, passive-aggressive Roadblock to success Group to be managed by others IT Reality Solving IT problems requires intense focus on details Speed of change does not allow time to step back and see the bigger picture IT is in its infancy c.f. Finance/engineering Standard practices not established since mainframe era

3. Communicate existing projects, goals, resources & educate them on the processes used and time required Get IT shop in order Listen to your customers Get on CEOs agenda Communicate often

4. How to know when communication is good Measure behavioural improvements Any changes in the way IT communicates with customers? Is IT closer to customers? Is customer perception of IT getting better? Is staff morale better? What would they like improved? Is the blame game getting less prominent? Is the executive team more supportive and educated on IT projects Process improvements Is good information being created and communicated throughout dept on a timely basis Improvements in IT business fundamentals Rate IT support calls Customer satisfaction before project and QTR System up time Average call open time On-time project completions

5. How to know when communication is good Measure behavioural improvements Any changes in the way IT communicates with customers? Is IT closer to customers? Is customer perception of IT getting better? Is staff morale better? What would they like improved? Is the blame game getting less prominent? Is the executive team more supportive and educated on IT projects Process improvements Is good information being created and communicated throughout dept on a timely basis Improvements in IT business fundamentals Rate IT support calls Customer satisfaction before project and QTR System up time Average call open time On-time project completions 1 Very poor 2 Poor 3 Fair 4 OK 5 Good 6 Very Good 7 Excellent

6. Senior officer because (VISA, Passport) to be processed quickly more services ... Specialised ability to answer questions Delegation of simple requests – in house training Teach us a little more General guideline and policy for Info sharing and software development and standards, more communication More technical expertise / advice Show IT latest technology (iPad, etc)

7. Four modes of thinkingJung, Myers-Briggs http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp[1] T N ENTP, INTJ, ENFP, INFJ ESTJ, ISTP, ENTJ, INTP ESFJ, ISFP, ENFJ, INFP ESTP, ISTJ, ESFP, ISFJ F S

8. Four modes of thinkingBenziger Logic, Results Management Value: General principles Attention: operating principles (a) efficient use of resources (b) Decision making (c) Technical problem solving Structure: ‘sign’ language, analytical, logical Prefer: half-page summary, verbal debate, verbal fencing Vision, Creativity Growth and Adaptation Value: innovation, amusement Attention: new ideas, abstract patterns, big trendsStructure: internal images, non-verbal, spatial, dynamic Prefer: metaphors or symbolic images or word phrases Intuition, Empathy Peace and Harmony Value: sensitive, nurturing Attention: people,relationships Structure: rhythmical, nonverbal, feeling Prefer: singing, dancing, speaking with eyes and touching Process, Routine Building & Maintaining orderly foundations Value: dependability, time Attentive to: procedures Structure: sequential, detailed, procedural Prefer: forms, check lists

9. Tips for communicating with your boss FRONTAL LEFT BOSSES Communication Don’t take the tone of voice or his order giving personally Realise he actively dislikes incompetence, inefficiency, redundancy and emotionality. Also keep your personal life out of the workplace. Be brief. Know what you’re going to say before you say it. Stress the key points When requesting something, be specific and state logically its functional value Prepare handouts Provide half-page written summaries. Be precise, concise, black and white Present material as critical analysis restricting data to key points Use precise numbers, percentages and dollar amounts whenever possible Make sure charts and diagrams are precisely drawn Ensure technical aspects come off without a hitch Cite research when making your case Show how your policy/project will give the organisation or a key person leverage or leverage or surer ROI FRONTAL RIGHT BOSSES Communicate ideas in informal, personal conversations (don’t expect him to sit through meetings) Talk more rapidly than you usually do Show how your ideas relate to the cutting edge, the latest research, etc. Show how your ideas parallels theories in other non-related fields Create word pictures when presenting information (remember he’s a highly spatial, visual, pattern-sensitive thinker) Use metaphors Draw pictures emphasising symbols and shapes Be amused (it will endear you to your boss) In preparing handouts Cite references to link to concepts and ideas Handle all the details and paperwork yourself Watch to make sure he signs important documents Help by: If you are not a strong Frontal left, find a strong Frontal Left to help your boss lobby or negotiate support for your project with management Handle all personal disputes yourself Don’t move his stacks or clean up his workspace

10. Tips for communicating with your boss BASAL LEFT BOSSES Approach them the right way, find out and follow the right procedure (to ask for a raise, getting time off, raising a complaint) Be punctual, neat, appropriate Schedule formal meeting, send memo & agenda in advance Pay attention to details Show lengthy action plan detailing who and how people will be affected Don’t hurry decisions. Basal lefts need time to review all the historical data before deciding. Talk slowly, use words carefully Emphasise security, guarantees and ways to limit risk As much supportive and historical documentation as possible e.g. other companies who have done similar work, supporting research, names and positions of supporters BASAL RIGHT BOSSES With Basal Rights, feelings are more important than the facts Listen to and reflect their feelings back to them Respond to their feelings and feelings of others. Be physically expressive (touch) if the situation permits it Get to know them before doing anything else When you want something, ask for their help in getting it Relate personally, take the time to build rapport Be social and participate fully in group processes and events When you are talking with them: Make eye contact with them Talk in terms of ‘we’ Use symbolic metaphors, especially ones that deal with life cycles, family and spiritual truths i.e. birth, seeds, parenting Present ideas and requests in personal informal conversation Use pictures (especially of people smiling) and avoid references to numbers, percentages and money Use colour (especially rose, light blue, light green or pink) If you include a bibliography include some information on the people (who they are, where they are, etc) To sell them on an idea, show them how they can use it to build morale, facilitate personal growth or help or empower others

11. Tips for communicating with your staff FRONTAL LEFT STAFF Communication Give directions and present information in a brief, direct, logical manner. Stress salient facts and highlight key points. Remember, this individual is interested in knowing the bottom line, not the process you used to get there or how you feel about it. Give them specific goals to meet but allow them to decide what process to use to accomplish the goals. Don’t be surprised if they delegate part of the task to someone else, they will consider themselves ultimately responsible for seeing the goals are met. Managing Give them work that uses their strong evaluation and decision-making skills. Do not give them work that is highly repetitious or that requires strong interpersonal skills. Plan to give them specific rewards (money, promotion, increased power) for a job well done. Frontal lefts work to get ahead. Expect them to be competitive and jockey for position in the organisational hierarchy. (Help them get promoted even over you) Provide them with a functional workspace in which they have access to all the tools they need to do their job. Whenever possible give them exclusive use of those tools (They dislike sharing their tools). Interpersonal Do not expect them to participate in social functions unless it increases their chances of promotion or advancement. Your frontal left values effectiveness and rationality. He will have extreme difficulty dealing with anything that looks like incompetence, redundancy or emotionality and will probably manifest that difficulty by becoming critical or contemptuous. It will probably be necessary to help co-workers come to terms with him since he is not interested in or skilled at working out interpersonal differences. FRONTAL RIGHT STAFF Work: Best used in a creative, R & D or trouble shooting capacity. Will become bored quickly with repetitive tasks or working with details. Best used in innovation phase and moved on once a project is up and running. Provide an overview of how the work contributes and fits in. Prefer to be given instructions that leave a lot of the details open and up to their discretion. Managing Give your Frontal Right the space they need to be creative (plenty of room to stack and spatially arrange things and many surfaces for displaying visual cues), the equipment he needs and make sure nobody bothers him while he is working. It is sometimes difficult to remember who is the boss since they certainly don’t treat you that way … try not to take it personally. They don’t follow rules either. Whenever possible, allow the frontal right employee to work alone and to set his own hours. Do not under any circumstances expect him to fit himself into a standard 9-5 schedule. Frontal right work is often unconscious. You may want to check in with them every once in while how it’s going, but be aware that sometimes they may not be able to tell you. While at work may appear to be doing nothing. This day dreaming is the frontal rights way of incubating and processing information. You will have to allow this ‘doing nothing’ or give him two or more projects to work on simultaneously. Interpersonal Those with poor basal right skills may offend others easily. Explain to others that they are not being rude, disrespectful, or making fun of them. Don’t expect them to handle these interpersonal disputes (they will tend to withdraw).

12. Tips for communicating with your staff BASAL LEFT STAFF Basal lefts need to know they have done the right thing and they followed the right procedure. To be successful, take time to give feedback and recognition to acknowledge they have done what was asked and that you are glad they are so dependable. Basal lefts do not know how to improvise or deviate from standard procedures. Give clear, specific and detailed step-by-step instructions. If it is complex break it down into sub-routines and steps. Do not be afraid to be too specific in the learning phase. If you want them to do so, design a procedure for handling exceptions. Do not ask the to handle crisis situations. Have specific procedures for all the emergencies they are likely to encounter. Basal lefts want to work regular and predictable hours. Do not expect this employee to work much voluntary overtime unless you have a clear procedure to request it. Even then don’t push it. Basal lefts work at a slow and thorough pace and will no respond well to being pressured or hurried up. They need to know what their deadlines are in advance and be able to be sure they have time to meet them. They also need to work with a minimum of interruptions. Provide an orderly workspace (files, other organising devices) in which they can have a place for everything. Do not expect them to share space with a frontal right. BASAL RIGHT STAFF Need to belong. Work for approval and recognition. Respond well to activities that encourage group sharing and include everyone. Do not respond well to hierarchies or to the idea that some people are more important than others. They need to feel they can have a dialogue (in which their feelings and opinions are valued and respected) with their supervisors and managers They need to like the people they work with and will often stay on with a job they otherwise dislike or are unsuited for because they like the people. Interpersonal Interpersonal problems are a major stress and should be taken seriously by their manager (since they are not likely to get much productive work done until the problem is handled) Work: Give them work that uses their interpersonal expertise (counselling, teaching, encouraging, nurturing). Do not expect them to be highly attentive to repetitive tasks, statistics or work that requires analysis. Need to take frequent relationship breaks. (Try to stop this will result in less productivity). Have difficulty staying on a schedule. To help them stay on task, you will need to connect their timeliness with the effect it will have on other people. Check with them often to find out not only how it is going but how they feel about it. You can get them to work overtime by asking them personally to do so (preferably as a favour) and by empathising how much they are needed or that it’s part of being a team player.

13. Other Barriers to teamworkCIO Wisdom (2004) pp82-83 Differing outlooks, priorities, interests Role conflicts Unclear objectives Dynamic environments Communication problems Lack of senior management support

14. Questions & Discussion