What is the human capital of Information Technology
The Information Technology come from a technology provider role, which demanded solutions and business, in the best case, it was through a requirements document. They developed and delivered finished solutions for user testing. The communication between the two sides produced timely and speaking two different languages, functional and technical. Do not be shocked if these projects are classified as inefficient by definition.
The projects no longer reach the Information Technology in a
requirements document and delivered to completion. Scrum-type methodologies are
now used, with definitions and quick deliveries, in small phases, with total
integration between technical and functional teams.
The testing and commissioning are carried out by users. You
no longer wait months, even years, to see results. Now these are tested with
the user from the first moment. Technicians no longer work alone, they no
longer lock themselves in their computers. They are expected to be good
communicators and above all to know how to listen. It is very evident that the
current Information Technology profile is very different from that of a few
years ago.
Driving and carrying out this evolution of the IT team
should be a fundamental strategic objective for the CIO , whenever they
encounter this situation. To collaborate with the business objectives, it is
essential to work integrated into it. IT can no longer be isolated again.
The organization of the team.
The technological labor market is large enough to cover
specific and urgent needs.
The volume of IT projects is never constant, it always has
very pronounced peaks and valleys.
The CIO's responsibility is to make the line of work tend to
be constant using his planning for it.
If the team that intends to build Information Technologies
is an expert team in all senses, within projects in which there are external
personnel, the management tasks must fall to the internal team. It is a mistake
to outsource the management of projects, since it is never easy for a supplier
to understand the true need of the business.
The external are a good quarry for Information Technology In
the case of staff from other companies rather than independent professionals,
it should be transparent with the supplier. The collaboration contract that is
signed must not contain protection clauses for the work team.
In any case, the balance between external and internal must
be sought and maintained .
Performance evaluation.
The CIO develops a plan for his area. This planning is based
first on the strategic objectives of the company and then on the strategic
objectives of Information Technology linked to the former. Based on those
goals, the CIO groups and prioritizes projects once they are estimated and
approved.
The CIO should measure their results based on the following
factors:
1. Contribution
to strategic objectives : this is the fundamental objective of the Information
Technology area. It is difficult to establish an index that measures this
indicator, since the information can be too subjective.
2. Quality
of the work delivered : it can be measured in terms of deviations in delivery
dates, incidents once put into production, how adjusted the solution to the
requirements of the user area or the performance obtained.
3. Customer
satisfaction : it has a lot to do with the previous point, but in this case it
is a subjective assessment, of which variables such as communication and
treatment between the two teams are part.
4. Innovation
capacity : this is what companies should expect from Information Technology and
the best indicator of the future. When an Information Technology area manages
to invest time in innovation, it must mean that it is perfectly meeting the
business demand.
The CIO must also individually evaluate his team according
to their contribution to the same objectives and in the same way, in addition
to their personal contribution to the area.
And this contribution is made in two ways:
1. Teamwork
: there are people who create a team more than others. These are people who
establish and maintain communication networks between employees in the area.
2. Knowledge
leaders : there are other types of people, who do not have to coincide with the
previous one, who are the agglutinators of knowledge.
Talent management.
Not all people can be measured according to the same
competencies and within them with the same scales. Because not all people
occupy the same positions within the team . One piece of advice in this regard
is to evaluate people of equal responsibility in the same way with the same
criteria. The skills may also vary as every CIO want to get from the
performance of his team.
