I’ve worked for organizations where IT moves too fast (and thus wastes money and alienates customers) and others where IT moves too slow (and thus the customers go around IT as much as possible). I’ve also worked in places where IT does both, often in the same day.

This week, I have the pleasure of sitting in all-day meetings related to a series of IT infrastructure projects we are pursuing. The folks in charge of coordinating this effort brought in a vendor to lead a brief engagement designed to help IT project teams and key business stakeholders better understand how to proceed with these key projects. This is a noble goal, and it’s one I support. However, I fear that the engagement was put together too quickly and with almost no deliberation. It’s just my opinion, of course, and I’m sure that this engagement will have some value. I, for one, want to make sure that we obtain that value even though the process has been a bit hasty. But will it have equal value to the dollar amount on the contract? That I don’t know.

To be fair, I’m certain that we’re moving quickly in this effort because we’ve been far too slow with similar efforts in the past. But, it seems as though the pendulum has swung the other direction. So here is the underlying question: How does IT get things done, without moving too fast or too slow? Here are a couple of my thoughts off the top of my head:

1) Empower people in the right places - IT doesn’t need to poke it’s nose into all areas of the business just because something smells like technology. The question is, what information technologies do we need to be involved in?

2) Respect the Business and Keep them Informed - IT managers like to talk about getting users in the room, then they go and demand they be present without respect for the ever-crushing workload which they have to deal with. If you need to move fast, and you need your customer, it’s your responsibility to move mountains for them, not ask that they do so for you. 

3) Remember who you are working for - An extension to number 2. Sometimes is looks like IT is the tail wagging the organizational dog, as if our business units exist to use our technologies. If IT feels the need to get things done fast, then I would imagine that there is a good business reason for doing so (there had better be). If that’s the case, its our responsibility to help the business understand how moving fast is our best bet for meeting that need. When we help the business understand that, they get in our corner and help us move as a partner, not someone we feel the need to drag along.

What else am I missing here? Quite a bit, I’m sure, so additional thoughts would be appreciated.