Archive | C-Level Executives

The Innovation Dilemma

In todays commercial arena, innovation is critical to grow and position your company as a leader within its market(s), and position it above its competition but many don’t know where to begin nor how to foster and drive it within their organisation.

At a recent roundtable I ran, we discussed innovation and its use as a driving force for revenue growth. The roundtable attendees were IT leaders from a number of large enterprise organisations and hailed from all over Europe ready for an engaging discussion (no pressure!).
We started the discussion by going around the room asking everyone what the barriers to innovation were in their organisations.
There were a number of recurring points which weren’t surprising, such as who should own innovation across the organisation, and how do they foster and engage innovation within their organisations and prioritise the elements of it accordingly.

What did surprise me however were comments such as “what exactly is innovation?” and “is delivering new products, ideas or services that improve revenue just me doing my job well?”
I hadn’t expected to hear this but it really made sense and drove our discussion on to how do you measure innovation against doing your job well – not an easy task but if you are set an innovation target within your organisation be it revenue or service focused its a crucial one you will need to resolve.

This really highlighted to me that though every organisation is trying their damnedest to deliver innovation, what they are really struggling with is how to foster, engage with and measure it accordingly in relation to it adding tangible value.
How do you truly measure innovation? Is it through your product creation team delivering the right products to the right markets and capturing critical commercial momentum or simply altering an online process to make it easier for clients to register themselves?

The truth is that in any organisation where free thinking and entrepreneurial activity is encouraged, not stifled and is coupled with hard-working smart employees, you are going to get innovation.
You are also going to create a great working environment which will attract more smart, hard-working people who can create better products and services which create additional revenue and clear competitive advantage – what’s not to like!
Many of you will be thinking this is a brave commercial stance but you cannot argue with the results of those that do change their business strategy and working models like this. It may be hard work and anathema to some but the changing of the guard with relation to that of the traditional executive way of thinking is underway as millennial ideologies and commercial practices seep further into enterprise organisations as they rise up the executive ladder.

There are many ways in which larger organisations are trying to increase their rate of innovation such as creating innovation labs and associated teams to partner with start-up incubators like MassChallenge who do a fantastic job in this space and are non-profit.
JLAB at John Lewis is an excellent example of one such innovation hub where they are encouraging start-ups to come to them and compete to win unique access to John Lewis who will help them refine their products and their business models with the final prize being the opportunity of securing a contract with them.
Others such as UBS who are looking at new technologies which will disrupt their industry such as Blockchain and have set up labs and an open competition for entrepreneurs and technology startups around the world to compete for funding. These are fabulous opportunities for new and established start-ups to work with established corporates and really fosters the growth of innovation and entrepreneurship in our society and I am very much in favour of these efforts.

In today’s world where technology enables us to achieve so much of what we only dreamed possible a few years ago and most people now so attuned to it there really is no argument for not enabling and fostering innovation within your organisation. You now have to concentrate on changing your culture to incorporate, foster and grow innovation within your organisation. It will be hard work, but boy will it pay you back, and it might just be the best thing you’ve ever done.

 

This post has also been featured on the HP Business Value Exchange here 

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Samsung Business Discovery Day Panel

Thats me on the far left stool

That’s me on the far left stool

I was delighted to be asked by Samsung to speak on a panel at their initial Samsung Business Discovery Day in St Paul’s last week – www.samsungbusinessdiscovery.com for event info and #BizDiscovery on Twitter for some soundbites from me on the panel.
You can also click here to see the full panel session on YouTube.

The panel discussed how mobile technologies are changing the role of the CIO and how the CIO can empower the business through their use.
It was a lively, stimulating and fun discussion which included a good number of live questions from the floor.

The official detail of the event was as follows:

We are entering a new paradigm of technology in business.  The rapid adoption of consumer technology can truly liberate our most precious resources – our people – and free them to spend more time with customers and consumers.  In every sector, companies are discovering that mobile technology presents new opportunities for customer discovery – transforming service, support and ultimately improving sales.

At the Samsung Business Discovery Day we will hear how companies are putting mobile technology at the centre of their technology strategy.  Leveraging new platforms based on consumer technology to add more speed and flexibility to current business operations.  We will explore these new paradigms, share implementation experiences and generate dialogue and debate to help your organisation leverage the power of customer discovery in your business.

We believe that innovators in the technology or IT departments should be driving a new agenda – building business platforms that are mobile first and built on consumer technology.  In this mobile first world – businesses can accelerate the adoption of technology and ensure that their employees spend more time working for and on behalf of their customers.  It sparks new debate, a fresh look at the consumerisation and BYOD trends – addressing matters like enterprise security from a people centric view – allowing your employees to embrace new technology.

 

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Operating Multi-Cultural, Geographically Dispersed Teams

Long before the days of Skype, intranets, and email – teams generally needed to be in the same location in order to work effectively.
Those days are long gone and many of us now work regularly with colleagues based in different cities, countries, and continents with team members in different time zones, speaking different languages, and from different cultures.
Teams can now include many varieties or flavours of working practices. Some members may work in groups of three or more in the same office, while others may work individually in separate offices or at home. You may see some team members regularly, but you may rarely see others or even have not met at all.

Regardless of how people are organised, managing a team that’s geographically dispersed can present big challenges, even for the most experienced bosses. How do you ensure that everyone feels they’re being treated fairly, if you see some team members much more than others? How can you prevent remote team members from feeling isolated? And how do you get all members to buy into the team’s objectives and stay on track?

When selecting people to work in a geographically dispersed team, it throws up the need for individuals with strong qualities such as self-motivation and the ability to work independently rather than those that need constant encouragement. They will need to have exceptional communication skills and be comfortable communicating regularly via Skype or conference call. Finally, and as with almost every hire you make, they need to be results-driven and comfortable being assessed using KPIs.
Reward performance fairly, consistently and appropriately across the group, making sure workers in remote offices feel as valued and rewarded as those in the same location as you.

The key for me with leading a geographically dispersed team is that it’s essential for members to unite around a common purpose – everyone must agree to the team’s strategic objectives and goals.
Breaking down your strategy and showing where each individual and team contributes to delivering it is an excellent and powerful way to achieve this. This “roadmap” for your team ensures that everyone is focused on what the whole IT organisation needs to deliver and how they enact within it.
From breaking down your strategy to the team or individual level, you can clearly define everyone’s roles and responsibilities, identify key resources, and decide how the team operates. This can then be used to set the relative goals and objectives that each individual can be assessed by.

You MUST create and operate a strong communications strategy, especially if your team members are in different time zones and speak different languages.
It is easy to misunderstand a message or directive if you’re being communicated with in a language that is not your mother tongue, so it’s imperative that you follow up as often as you can across your team(s) and make sure everyone understands and is clear on what you’re trying to achieve. Good meeting practice with clear agendas and well-written minutes should help allay any miscommunication.

It’s easy when managing geographically dispersed teams to not realise the morale of individuals is being effected, as due to the lack of daily contact you won’t be able to see their body language or detect any slight deviations in attitude.
It’s easy for individuals to think that your behaviour or lack of contact is a direct slight on their performance or lack of meaning to the cause.
They know you’re busy but be careful when communicating via email that your emails aren’t too abrupt or short, especially as they may be well be picked up and read differently in a time zone where they can’t instantly communicate with you to discuss or clarify the underlying tone. Also, make a rule for yourself that you don’t miss more than one team conference or video call in a row.

Don’t lose sight of the need to be personable and approachable to anybody no matter of their location or position, as there is more to leading geographically dispersed teams than just sitting in on conference calls or throwing out the option to email you if there’s an issue.

Trust me, people will really appreciate you just picking up the phone or making regular visits and hosting a team meal or evening drink – it helps to break down barriers and shows people that they are part of the larger team despite the size or location of their team.

Finally, its important to promote team bonding and if you can (budget permitting) get the whole team together at least once a year even if only for a couple of days or at a key location per region depending on size.
Make these events informative and a forum for creativity and discussion but don’t forget to add in a bit of fun through some social activities.

As well as this, look at setting up some inexpensive webcams for team members to Skype each other and an Intranet team page or forum where individuals can input suggestions or throw ideas around.
Tools such as Yammer, Chatter and Messenger can also allow constant contact and are great as an instant communication channel as they allow you to do things such as see that somebody in a remote location is available and crossing over on your time zone be they working late or coming in early.

This piece has also been posted on my Outsource Magazine column at http://dlvr.it/3wPhcn and here on The Business Value Exchange in my position as CIO ‘Thought Leader’.

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Flexible IT Systems – Building Systems that can Overlap Across Functions

My latest ‘CIO Thought Leadership’ piece entitled, ‘Flexible IT Systems – Building Systems that can Overlap Across Functions.’
This piece is available in the IT-Enabled Business Innovation topic section on The Business Value Exchange.
Read it here and get involved by leaving a comment.

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Post Merger Integration – Do’s and Don’ts

My latest ‘CIO Thought Leadership’ piece entitled, ‘Post Merger Integration – Do’s and Don’ts.’
This is the last piece in a series that I have written for the Mergers and Acquisition topic section on The Business Value Exchange.
Read it here and get involved by leaving a comment.

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Communication and its Importance in the M&A process

My latest ‘CIO Thought Leadership’ piece entitled, ‘Communication and its Importance in the M&A process.’
This is my latest piece in a series that I am writing for the Mergers and Acquisition topic section on The Business Value Exchange.
Read it here and get involved by leaving a comment.

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Tips for Effective Due Diligence

My fourth ‘CIO Thought Leadership’ piece entitled, ‘Tips for Effective Due Diligence.’
This is the fourth piece in a series that I am writing for the Mergers and Acquisition topic section on The Business Value Exchange.
Read it here and get involved by leaving a comment.

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