Many years ago, when I was at the beginning of my career as a Network Engineer, I was asked to participate in a call with the entire IT team. The nearly unthinkable happened: The firm had decided to bring in a technology consultant!
So many thoughts and feelings sprang up immediately, and none were positive. Are we not doing a good enough job? Are we being replaced? Have we been doing the wrong projects? Are we spending too much money? Don’t they like our strategy? And perhaps the most disheartening thought of all: Don’t they trust us?
I was resentful and bitter and walked around with a chip on my shoulder for weeks. Not exactly the best way to create a positive impression of the Tech Team. Later, after I became a manager, I recognized my behavior as lashing out and searching for reassurance. Still, it could easily have become the dreaded “self-fulfilling action” that cemented the wrong impression in people’s minds. Over the years, too many friends and colleagues have performed this act of self-sabotage and ended up costing themselves the very things they were trying to save. I got lucky. I had a good IT Director who didn’t let me stray too far from the path before calling me out.
When the time finally came for me to meet these consultants, they were surprisingly nice, intelligent, well-informed and really listened to us. I thought maybe this might not be such a disaster after all and I opened up to them completely. I trusted that they would be able to help us get further, faster than we could have on our own.
My hopes were crushed once again not too long afterward when I read the consultant’s report. All the things we had talked about were in there! I was astounded that the firm had paid good money to have all our ideas repeated back to us! Why hadn’t they just listened to us in the first place? I went back to sulking over how unappreciated we were.
A funny thing happened while I was busy being mad, though. Our project list, including some very big-ticket items we normally wouldn’t have the budget for, got approved. Many of the partners also seemed to be much more aware of the challenges IT was dealing with, and they were more supportive, even when things went wrong. Instead of asking what we were doing about an issue, they asked, “Where is that on the plan?” Most importantly, there were many conversations about “the plan” and how IT could help people improve their business processes. There were no boundaries to the questions people started asking. I began to regularly hear, “Can technology solve this problem?” If we had an idea to improve something, we had a lot of leeway to try things and be innovative. Firm leaders had more confidence in us than ever, and right around that time, I received a lot more responsibility for managing projects and people, ultimately leading to a new and exciting career path within the firm.
Years later, when I ran the IT Department, I finally began to understand the value those consultants provided and how many of my past concerns weren’t just unfounded; they were pretty backward.
Here are some of the things I wish I’d known then:
Money talks
When people are given something for free, they value it less than something they paid for. When IT or the firm brings in consultants, they seek an agnostic and unbiased expert opinion to confirm or deny what their IT team has been telling them! In retrospect, it was a compliment and an accomplishment that so many of our ideas made it into the final report. If I hadn’t been sulking about it, I would have seen that we had, in fact, been given credit for those ideas as well. History certainly proved that out.
Make your effort known
Without an occasional “reset” of expectations by an outsider, IT teams will continue to be expected to do it faster and cheaper, with fewer people, less notice or all the above. Magic shows are amazing! But no one knows how it’s done or how much effort it takes. The audience doesn’t see the weeks and months of preparation that go into a single show.
For IT, it doesn’t matter if that show is an office move over a single weekend or a flawless M&A integration that goes live hours after the ink is dry—every success an IT team has will set the bar of expectations higher for the next one. Some mystery is good. People don’t need to see the nitty-gritty details of every project, but too much magic can unwittingly get the IT team taken for granted.
Tech teams need champions—internal, external or both. Someone needs to pull the curtain back when necessary and amaze the audience, not with the magic show but with how much effort it takes to put on the show at all.
Assess the team and identify potential
One of my favorite sayings is, “IT is a team sport.” A good consultant can give you an unbiased perspective on whether the firm has too many IT people, not enough IT people, or not the right mix of people on the IT team for the type of future the firm wants.
Your top performers probably know this also, and they’ll be the first to welcome a plan to build a right-sized team full of rock stars! Nothing is more disheartening to top performers than dead weight pulling the team down or not having enough people to carry the load.
How do you know if you have a team of rock stars and top performers? Do you have people on the team who haven’t kept their skills up to date and are keeping around older technology because that is all they are comfortable with? An honest evaluation of staff can help you determine whether you have the right people and whether they’re in the right roles to maximize their performance and careers.
Prioritize projects
Our project list was initially over one hundred projects long. We felt like we knew what to do but had trouble getting it done. How do we accomplish anything if every project is a top priority?
The reality was that while all the projects were good things to work on, we lacked focus because we didn’t understand our priorities. Priority projects should get the most and the best resources assigned to them. But every partner wanted their project to be done first, and we all had our own “pet projects” that we were passionate about, but that weren’t necessarily what the firm needed at that point. We needed help to pare down the list and avoid getting caught up in office politics.
IT project budgets are big
If the money came out of your own pocket, wouldn’t you want to know you’re spending it on the right things? The ones that will make the most difference?
A strategic plan is essential
The number one barrier in IT is communication. It can easily create a disconnect where the IT Team is working really hard on projects that the firm just doesn’t care about. Or the firm may not know how badly they really need a project that IT is trying to get done but is getting resistance from the business.
When both technology and the business get on the same page (literally, a single-page strategic plan is the best) and have a plan for prioritizing projects and moving projects forward, a lot of the communication barriers and roadblocks to success get taken care of ahead of time. The technology team is free to execute the projects, and the business is confident that the projects being worked on will help further the firm’s strategic vision.
As part of the IT team, a consultant coming in was terrifying and aggravating. As a CIO, having an unbiased expert opinion confirm our strategic direction, tactical execution, team makeup and overall technology budget was one of the most valuable tools in my arsenal!
Now, when I go into a firm, I strive to ensure we aren’t working for the business or for IT but with both together. I’ve been on both sides of the table and sat in most of the chairs. I know how scary an IT consultation can be. I also know how rewarding it can be and what a positive difference it can make in helping your people, your IT team and your firm go further faster!
Could your firm benefit from getting firm management and IT leaders in alignment?
The Boomer Technology Circles are a peer group of firm and technology leaders in the accounting profession who benefit from aligning IT and firm strategy and building valuable long-term relationships with solution providers and peers. Apply now to start building confidence in your firm’s technology decisions.
Marc Staut, Shareholder and Chief Innovation & Information Officer at Boomer Consulting, Inc., helps meet the growing needs of CPA firms by leveraging his experience to provide strategic technology assessments, planning, visioning and coaching. He feels that “technology should be an enabler – something that’s approachable, aligned with and integral to the success of each firm.” Marc is a regular speaker, author and panelist on technology in the accounting profession, cloud computing, mobile technology, leadership and vision.
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