CIO, Change Management And Office Politics

‘Change is the only constant’ may sound clichéd, but holds the core to many a driving philosophies, including the adoption of new technologies. The success or failure of any new technology - be it cloud, mobility or for that matter anything else - within an enterprise hinges on this very factor. While the inevitability of the politics of change management is getting duly accepted, playing it with sophistication is an art that many a CIOs are yet to acquire.

The art of successfully managing change is one learnt over a period of time rather than a trait a manager is born with.

Learn To Unlearn

The learning that takes precedence over every other is the ability to unlearn some old notions while absorbing the new. This includes unlearning not only at the individual’s level but also at the organisational level as a whole. This may sound like a daunting task, but is essential to determining the success of the change management project to a significant extent. But, why is the process of unlearning so critical, and all the more so for the CIO? The answer lies in the rapid pace of technology obsolescence, which many a time requires discarding the old approach and developing a completely different one to things.

This is likely to invite reluctance from users within the organisation, who have spent significant time and effort in learning the old approach, and therein lies the major stumbling block that the CIO needs to overcome. More than technology, many a time, it’s the processes associated with it that have been ingrained over a period of time, which cannot be dismissed overnight. While the CIO as a technology leader is well equipped to handle the unlearning of old technology, its time he/she is equipped enough to handle the unlearning and learning of the management and processes side of the technology story to enable change management in its totality. For a middle manager, power comes from knowing the process better than anyone else. If someone comes along and says that the process will be overhauled then they’re not going to be open and welcoming to that change. The opportunity has to be presented as a choice- where something new can be learned and functionality improved. The choice is to accept change or stand out as a sore thumb.

Create a notion in the mind of the middle management that they are not being disadvantaged in any way but will gain more credit for becoming champions of the new process and promoting the change. “Even though they don’t have a choice, you have to make it appear that they have a choice of action and that re-instates the fact that they have power. It doesn’t diminish their standing or self-worth, and publicly they support the change management program, and this helps the project on a larger level,” states Dhir.

To ensure success, the unlearning process needs to be an organised and well-planned activity with well-defined goals and practices, and not just relegated to one of those ad hoc activities within the company.

Understand The Organisational Culture

The ease or difficulty in the acceptance of change management within an organisation, to a great extent, depends on its culture. But more than understanding the culture, the CIO needs to understand the subtle nuances associated with it. For instance, it is usually seen that Indian companies tend to be fairly hierarchical, and that clear demarcation of top management and their priorities makes projects more acceptable to the lower rung business users. However, in this case the scenario also gets complicated in terms of understanding the reality as people might end up saying things which in contrast to the reality, owing to the hierarchical pressures.

At the same time, in a less hierarchical culture there may be many power centres and the role and importance of change management will differ. Here, people are more likely to question. This leads to a scenario where genuine issues and problems are highlighted, and eventually the management will be much better. Change management in such organisations is not just telling people what to do, but is motivating them to change and having them believe that a move is necessary.

Understand People

People form the fulcrum of managing any change, irrespective of whether it is business or technology. The game of change management is not just about managing processes and practices, but also about playing the complex human psyche, making the manager’s task all the more difficult. “You have to predict the way people will react. A good CIO understands the need of self-importance for the various business heads within the organisation, and plays that to their advantage,” opines Andy Rowsell-Jones, Vice President and Research Director in Gartner’s CIO & Executive Leadership Research Team. Different people need to be approached differently, while maintaining the uniformity within the decorum of the organisational structure. Maintaining this fine balance between personalisation and uniformity is easier said than done and truly challenges the CIO’s human interaction skills. It won’t be wrong to say that once the game on the ‘people’ front is successful, it’s half the battle won.

Jayantha Prabhu, CTO of Essar Group, cites a different perspective on the people aspect. For change management to be successful stringent yet agreeable policies are necessary. However, people will always find a way not to comply. “To ensure the initiative is supported, take the time to explain the need. Also, the policies should be thought-out to restrict loop-holes for discrepancies to fall through,” he explains.

Involve Process Stakeholders

Linda Price, Group Vice President of Service Delivery with Gartner Executive Programs in Asia/Pacific, best exemplifies it citing from her own past experience as a CIO of FX Media. At FX Media they had the journalists in one building and printers in another, and there was this basket that had ‘in’ and ‘out’ check lists (called the distribution box) that would pass between the two. The IT team was criticised by the users for making work tedious and not replacing it with a more efficient process. IT may not look at a simple process as vital and time saving, but it may be very integral to the users. These stakeholders will break down the process for you and you will get a better insight into how the new project will change things. This is especially true in case of IT mediated change (for instance MDM to manage BYOD, analytics/BI implementation, mobile enabling enterprise apps) which will change the way people work, does not function under the ultimate authority of the CIO alone. “You have to practice the art of diplomacy and approach this as a partnered effort,” states Jones. A CIO restricting his world view to his/her own team and processes is living in a dream and far from reality as the different business units don’t work in isolation. The CIO has to expand the view to take into account the needs of all the stakeholders involved.

Some program tips for success with stakeholders: Plan what your change management program for every department and stakeholder will be. What is the message? How will it be best communicated? What are the potential problem areas and how to work on those? This needs to be done at the planning stage of the project itself and not after the project is completed and a training process needs to be undertaken.

Have a communication plan with the stakeholders and align their interests with the new technology. Communicate that the project is important to senior management and is a herald from above rather than an IT initiative. This will require participation from senior leaders to imprint this message. In this manner support of the project will come more readily. “At the planning and development stage of the technology implementation itself you need to do the PR for the project to get change management into the favourable books of the business users at a later stage,” recommends Price. The stakeholder being a part of the decision and design process improves the chances of success. But, at the same time, Dhir advises, not to make it appear that the technology change is expecting them to be tech-savvy. Remember, the business will always focus only on the business. So, no point complicating it.

Build Faith In Brand ‘CIO’

Even if the CIO is not sponsoring the change, he/she will be a crucial element in facilitating it. Hence, faith in the brand of the CIO becomes critical for enlisting the support of the business users and stakeholders. The key to building brand ‘CIO’ is creating a dependable reputation for the CIO and, in turn, for his/her team.

A dependable reputation can be created by practicing what you preach and by demonstrating understanding of the needs of the stakeholders involved. For larger organisations Dhir advocates a mix of both the approaches. Change management should begin in the IT team itself. Project efficiency and productivity with your own example will lure business users and instill confidence in them.

Similarly, a successful change management project teases the business to want the technology that helps them achieve their KRIs better. And, that’s only when the project is built on business understanding. The CIO needs to engage in continued interaction with the business for better understanding of the processes within each function. The business will be more willing to collaborate on IT projects if you are going to be involved in the business strategy process and make the business users see you as a leader and collaborator of business plans and their success. Besides, it also helps keep the change management program in sync with the actual business requirements and not go astray.

Instead of getting daunted by all these learning, Akhilesh Tuteja, Executive Director, KPMG, advises the CIOs to view this as an opportunity to be more inclusive and prove that business outcomes are influenced by them.