Relationships drive IT satisfaction more than you might initially realize. Indeed, relationship satisfaction is so highly correlated with overall satisfaction with IT, that CIOs should focus on stakeholders with the same vigor they have for IT operations or IT services. In fact, neglecting stakeholder relationships can weaken even the most well-managed IT departments. Use this research to transform your relationships with stakeholders in order to drive IT satisfaction and success.
According to data from Info-Tech鈥檚 CIO Business Vision Diagnostic, relationships drive business satisfaction with IT more than applications, innovation, infrastructure, and even capacity. This makes sense because people, not technology, decide how to fund the IT department; people, not technology, influence your career progression; and people, not technology, help you deliver on mandates and complete objectives. People, not technology, make the real difference for IT.
1. Focus your efforts.
First, prioritize your stakeholder relationships. Identify and select the stakeholders who make the most sense to focus on. But revisit your priorities regularly to shift your focus along with your organization鈥檚 context.
2. Understand stakeholder needs and wants to drive focused value.
Relationships that deliver on organizational objectives move beyond the surface of things. It is not about being charming and likeable or about making wish lists. 滨迟鈥檚 about truly understanding your stakeholders鈥 wants and needs so that you can partner and deliver something great together.
3. Apply continuous improvement to your stakeholder relationships.
Relationships exist in a complex web of interactions within a complex organization that sits within a complex world. Leaders need to adopt approaches that allow them to continuously engage, understand, and appropriately respond to new information 鈥 about the world around them and their stakeholders 鈥 as it is learned. Adopt a continuous improvement mindset that helps you stay focused on your goals while affording you the opportunity to pivot where necessary.
Use our in-depth blueprint to transform your relationship with stakeholders and improve IT satisfaction.
Use this blueprint, along with key tools and templates, to identify and transform your working relationship with key stakeholders. By engaging stakeholders in a meaningful way and building allyship, you can enable your IT team to achieve key organizational objectives, increasing satisfaction with IT and elevating both IT and the CIO within the organization.
- Identify stakeholders that you need to focus on now but be prepared to shift focus in response to changing contexts, events, and needs.
- Understand your stakeholders through key relationship areas: communicating effectively, understanding needs, executing requests, and building capabilities.
Member Testimonials
After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real-time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve. See our top member experiences for this blueprint and what our clients have to say.
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Department of Local Government, Water and Volunteers
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Allison was extremely knowledgeable and very quickly pivoted to address the nuances of this area that I wanted to focus on, ensuring the broader co... Read More