info-tech research group1 improving business satisfaction moving from measurement to action

Info-Tech Research Group 1

Improving Business SatisfactionMoving from Measurement to Action


What’s Next is Up to You

Info-Tech recommends the following communication activities following your completion of the survey.

All activities are optional and should be completed as you see fit.


Using the Results

IT Satisfaction Report Card

IT Capacity Report Card

Stakeholder Satisfaction Reports

So you can:

• Show you care about satisfaction and communicate to:

o Executiveso ITo Business Leaders

So you can:

• Demonstrate demands on IT to the CEO and Executives

• Communicate capacity issues to:o ITo Business Leaders

So you can:

• Manage the needs of Individual Business Leaders

• Communicate results to Individual Business Leaders

You get:

• Overall IT Satisfaction & Value

• IT Relationship Satisfaction

• Top Business Priorities

• Core Services Satisfaction

You get:

• Capacity Metrics

• IT Supply & Value Satisfaction

• Capacity Satisfaction by Department

You get:

• IT Satisfaction & Value by Department

• IT Relationship Satisfaction by Department

• Core Services Satisfaction by Department

• Capacity Metrics by Department

Stakeholder Feedback Sheets

So you can:

• Communicate to Individual Business Leaders

• Solicit Actionable Advice from Business Leaders

You get:

• Business Leader Comments and Suggestions

• A fresh perspective on actionable initiatives


Dive into your results package!

Meet with your team. Communicate why you commissioned the reports. Set aside at least three hours to go over the full report. Go off-site and turn the meeting into an annual experience.

Maximize results. Print out results and sort them by department, satisfaction level, and seniority level to elicit different perspectives. Identify areas that are critical to the organization’s success – not just IT. Pinpoint areas in which you would like advanced guidance and communicate this with Info-Tech so that we can customize the analysis to better suit your needs.

Let Info-Tech guide you. Info-Tech will walk you through your results to provide you with different views of the data, help you better understand their implications, and identify what you should do next.

Step 1. Prepare your Stakeholder Strategy with Info-Tech

Identify strengths and weaknesses:

Which departments are most satisfied?

Which departments are least satisfied?

What is IT’s prioritization of core services? o Does this align with the business’s overall

prioritization of core services?o Does this align with the highest priority

departments’ and stakeholders’ prioritization of core services?

Which core services received the highest and lowest satisfaction scores?

Which high priority areas had low satisfaction results?

In what ways do the reports identify with your expectations and differ from your expectations?

List Top 3 priorities:

1. …2. …3. …

Engage Us!

Take some time to answer the initial questions to the right. Identify three areas of high priority. Sent this to us to get a tailored analysis.


ACTION PLAN

Goal Milestone Date

-- / -- / --

Recommendation

…

Benefits• …• …• …

Barriers• …• …• …

Actions1. …2. …3. …

Step 2. Build Consensus & Accountability within IT

Goal: Build Department Buy-in

• After your results call with Info-Tech, meet with your team. The objective is not just to share the results of the call with them, but to get them to care about the results.

• Satisfying the business needs should be presented as a challenge to IT and can be used as a rallying point.

• Make it explicit that enabling the business and satisfying its stakeholders is THE mission of the IT department.

Process: Decide on an Approach1. Determine meeting format.

• Depending on IT’s size and appetite for involvement, invite the full department or your leadership team for a meeting that can range from 30 min. to several hours.

2. Determine the initial release strategy.• Identify your key areas of focus. Using the template,

prepare an initial action plan to share with your CEO and critical stakeholders.

3. Determine level of accountability to be delegated.• Decide what new responsibilities IT leaders will have

and how future results will impact them.• This is to ensure they care about the results and may

include tie-in with personal performance evaluation.


Step 3. Brief the CEO & Critical Stakeholders

Goal: Build Strong Relationships

• Meeting with your CEO and CFO should be an exercise in relationship building, especially around IT’s dedication to enabling the business and satisfying stakeholders.

• The exact flow of the meeting will depend on your organization dynamics, the data, and your preferences.

Process: Getting Direction1. Communicate results to CEO/steering committees.

• No matter how good or bad the results, they can be used to create commitment to action and improvement. Coming prepared with an agenda or talk track and initial action plans will benefit the outcome of this meeting.

2. Get CEO direction on goals and objectives.• Ask the CEO what they want to see from your initiatives.

This input should develop and improve the initial action plans. Address how to prioritize stakeholders.

• If a capacity gap exists and you feel comfortable making the case, discuss capacity & demand to get at what is feasible and what is not. Be prepared to discuss why you believe a gap exists, how it can be closed, and the benefits of closing it.

3. Determine which other critical stakeholders to engage.• Determine which other stakeholders should be looped in.

Prepare an Agenda:

Topic: … Topic Owners: … Discussion Time: [#] min. Decision or Required Result: … Review Date: -- / -- / --

Bring your Tools:

Info-Tech IT Satisfaction Report Card Info-Tech IT Capacity Report Card Info-Tech Client Feedback Forms Action Plans (completed) … … …

Develop Outputs:

Example: CEO Mandate for Improvement Program Example: Commitment to Increased Budget Flexibility … … …


Goal: Actively Manage Stakeholders

• How you tackle meeting with business leaders will depend on how many there are and how many are important to the CEO.

Process: Build the Stakeholder Playbook

1. Identify and prioritize stakeholders.• Use the discussion with the CEO as a starting point.

2. Decide who will be accountable for stakeholders.• The CIO shouldn’t be responsible for managing more than

ten individual business stakeholders, so decide who will.• For organizations with an unwieldy number of

stakeholders, consider using a tier system to group them.

3. Create a plan and regular meeting process.• Begin by reiterating the objective of the program: creating

stakeholder satisfaction and driving business value.• Use the Department Priorities Poster to review results.• Areas with very low scores, very high scores, or significant

deviation from the business should be explored. Address neutral or negative feedback with a positive, client-facing attitude.

• Use the Action Plan templates to develop solutions. 4. Determine an on-going Stakeholder Management Plan.

• At minimum, follow up with each stakeholder six months after the survey. Create a program to ensure this occurs.

Step 4. Build Relationships with Key Decision-Makers

Start with a Plan:

Communicate Individual Department Results Communicate IT Goals Identify Business Leader Priorities & Pain Points

Bring your Tools:

Info-Tech IT Satisfaction Report Card Info-Tech IT Capacity Report Card Info-Tech Client Feedback Forms Action Plans (blank) Department Priorities Poster

o Mission, Goal, Objectives …

Develop a Timeline for Follow-up Meetings:

1st Quarter: 2nd Quarter:3rd Quarter: 4th Quarter:


Step 5. Create Company and Business Unit Action Plans

Goal: Create Action Plans

• The purpose of IT team meetings is to help create a business-focused improvement plan for individual teams.

• Focus on improving performance regardless of current satisfaction levels, not just criticizing current results. Use business leader feedback to underpin action plans.

• Allow the IT team to brainstorm to keep them engaged and invested in the outcome.

Process: Get to Action

1. Create a company-wide IT Project Plan.• Begin by organizing all of the initiatives coming out of this

program into a single portfolio so that they can be managed and delegated to appropriate IT teams.

2. Create action plans for each business unit.• Create and document plans against which progress can

be measured.• Have the team commit to goals and measurable outcomes

within the next quarter or the next year so that progress can be measured and communicated.

3. Build an on-going communication plan.• Getting to action is not enough; progress must be regularly

communicated to the business to keep them satisfied.

ACTION PLAN

Goal Milestone Date

-- / -- / --

Recommendation

…

Benefits• …• …• …

Barriers• …• …• …

Actions1. …2. …3. …


Step 6. Communicate Success & Improvement

Goal: Communicate to the Business

• By this point you should have a clear understanding of a) business leader priorities and b) commitments to action from IT teams.

• With this information you are ready to assemble business leaders and share IT’s improvement plan over the next year.

• This information should be communicated to all business leaders who were invited to participate in the survey.

Process: Execute on your Annual Plan

1. Manage communication with quarterly business updates.• Soliciting feedback and not acting on it is as bad as not

soliciting it at all, if not worse. Schedule quarterly updates with the business to communicate progress.

• Prepare a timeline that highlights the milestones that were and will be achieved.

• Post results scorecards to keep them top of mind.

2. Six Month Follow-Up: Meet with all business leaders.• Depending on number of participants and quality of results,

this may be conducted as one meeting or a series.• To keep business leaders engaged this meeting must be

conducted within three months of completing the survey.

Highlight Success Stories:

… … … … … …

Be Transparent in Identifying Challenges:

… … …

Reflect on Action Plans and Integrate Improvements into a Timeline:

1st Quarter Actions:2nd Quarter Actions: 3rd Quarter Actions: 4th Quarter Actions:


Year 2

Timeline

Survey Stakeholders

Analyze Results

Develop Initial Release Strategy

Meet with IT

Six Month Update

Quarterly Update

On-going Communication Plan

Build IT Project Plans

Meet with Stakeholders

Create a Stakeholder Management Plan

Quarterly Update

Survey Stakeholders

Meet with CEO & Critical Stakeholders

Month 1

Month 3

Month 9

Month 6

info-tech research group1 improving business satisfaction moving from measurement to action

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