Nine IT experts on how to align to shifting goals with work management
We recently attended the 2020 Gartner IT Symposium, a four-day virtual gathering of CIOs and IT executives. A compelling theme was interwoven throughout the event: the need for agility, acceleration, and authenticity to compete in the new world of work—with agility as the catalyst for all three.
As Don Scheibenreif, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner so eloquently put it during his opening keynote: "We are not planning for one future. We need to plan for many possible futures. We're seeing a rebirth of scenario planning among our leading clients."
It’s fair to say that during the significant disruption we have experienced this year, IT has been at the center of the storm. IT teams’ ability to pivot quickly under pressure has been thrust to the fore. They are uniquely positioned to help their businesses navigate unprecedented change, but doing so effectively requires a connected digital infrastructure supported by a foundational work management platform.
In Workfront’s Mighty Guide for IT teams—Is IT Focused on the Right Work for the Business?—nine IT experts from various industries provide advice on how best to align work to company strategy while keeping teams productive—and services and operations running smoothly—despite disruption and change. The guide covers common roadblocks, what causes them, and how IT teams can align strategy, goals, and work to drive execution and deliver work with the biggest impact on the business.
Lead the comeback by aligning to strategic goals.
The inability to see the forest for the trees is a common roadblock for IT teams, but with better visibility, improved demand management, and increased flexibility, teams become better at focusing on critical business priorities.
As Ashley Bard, IT Director at AdventHealth, says: “You must be clear on your priorities. Once the business has defined its strategic goals, IT leaders must help their teams understand how the work of IT aligns with the business and ultimately creates business value.”
Understanding business goals means IT teams can align incoming work with company strategy and allocate resources more effectively. And when teams know how their work contributes to business goals, productivity increases.
IT leaders need to take a big picture view when it comes to the role of the IT organization in supporting wider business growth strategies. As Tara Bucchi, IT Executive Director at CVS Health, says: “Because we support the whole organization, we have something akin to an enterprise view of everything that’s going on.”
IT is positioned to deliver maximum impact for the business.
As outlined by Gartner’s recent Hype Cycle for the Digital Workspace, the need to improve digital resiliency during and after the pandemic has firmly placed IT leaders into the spotlight and in strategic partnership with stakeholders across the enterprise. Today, IT plays an essential role in keeping the business running through unprecedented disruption. The ability to confidently anticipate and plan for future disruptions is critical. Agility is key.
An enterprise work management platform can help IT teams quickly align their innovation pipeline to shifting corporate goals. An intuitive visual of cascaded goals helps IT align requests, projects, and capacity to corporate goals throughout the delivery cycle, allowing teams to mobilize rapidly and prioritize projects that ensure the right impact.
To read what each of the nine IT experts advise on how IT can help keep the business running during unpredictable times, download the Mighty Guide for IT teams here.