Breaking the 'Stakeholder' CIO Paradox

Guest blog by Irving Burday.

Of the many observations in Martha Heller's book, The CIO Paradox, some of the more resonant ones for CIOs and their teams are stakeholder paradoxes and the challenges they present when trying to balance perceptions and expectations against the complexities and realities of running an IT organization.

To some leaders, these paradoxes are calls-to-action to examine stakeholder relationships and create new constructs that reposition IT as a more fully integrated and trusted partner. But to others, they’re more like unalterable truisms that persist despite best efforts to educate, illustrate and demonstrate (via a host of interactions) the constraints and challenges within the technology environment. Given the number of relationships that have to be managed within and outside the organization, it’s likely that CIOs experience both types (and variations thereof) over the course of time.

When I talk with IT leaders about challenges within their organizations, the subject of stakeholder issues or misalignment is usually an after-thought, further down the list than pressing implementation issues, service problems, or technology risks. The notion of taking a more holistic view of relationship dynamics only comes up when misalignments are sufficiently pronounced to force a change in tactics or when a different viewpoint (like The CIO Paradox) reframes the issue.

One of the ways I work with IT leaders to examine their stakeholder issues is to turn the discussion inward and focus on the capabilities of the IT organization and its ability to cope and manage stakeholder relationships. Some of the areas that can be evaluated include:

1. Impact – Depending on the history between IT and the business unit, stakeholder paradoxes can have a corrosive effect on IT teams, consuming time and energy and generating feelings of futility, under-appreciation, and being disconnected from key decisions. Not all paradoxes are of equal intensity and taking measure of their effects helps to better target those that are having the highest impact.
   
   
2. Relationship Skills – Leadership abilities are usually evaluated through the lens of getting things done and focus on delivery skills, subject matter expertise, and / or technical proficiency. Assessing relationship management abilities (i.e., social navigation skills, emotional intelligence) is a bit more subtle and nuanced. Having well-equipped and attuned IT leaders who can detect issues before they blossom into larger problems can help change relationship patterns with the business counterparts.
   
   
3. Self-Management - CIOs are hyper-effective problem solvers who instinctively ‘amp-up’ activity levels (i.e., expanding communications, doubling down on meetings) to address or attack core problems. These responses fall under the heading of ‘doing’ (attacking the problem head-on) and sometimes the focus needs to shift to an equally important set of ‘being’ actions (such as awareness, resilience, patience) that balances out the action plan.
   
   
4. Working Construct –One of the key questions that I ask IT leaders is how they manage stakeholder relationships beyond regular communication cycles, steering committees or governance sessions. In most instances, there’s little in the way of an overarching plan that helps put all the pieces into a working construct.  Paradoxes can be broken, re-formed or morphed into other equally impactful truisms but without a consistent construct to manage the model, the focus will continue to be on managing symptoms versus solving problems.

Changing the Stakeholder Conversation

Insights generated from the four evaluation categories help IT leaders change the relationship conversation from reacting to blips or chronic issues to more constructive actions. These efforts coupled with new or repurposed outward-facing tactics set the stage for a focused plan of attack that changes perceptions and strengthens capabilities.

The success of your stakeholder relationships will ultimately depend on these key variables:

• Commitment – Relationship management, especially if geared towards breaking caustic paradoxes, must be a top to bottom effort. Perceptions and expectations can be generated at all levels and the commitment to change must extend from the CIO down to team and project leads.
  
  
• Measurement – Most measures that gauge user or stakeholder satisfaction are usually narrow or singularly focused and don’t reveal many insights into the relationships across the organization. More robust indicators like the CIO Council Stakeholder Relationship Journey Tool are needed to determine the level of engagement as perceived by both IT leaders and key stakeholders.
  
  
• Sustainability – Crafting plans and determining viable courses will likely be offset by the realities of tight schedules, fire drills and a host of other commitments that challenge leaders every day. It’s reasonable to assume that there is little opportunity to institute new programs or modes of communication, so for most CIOs, leveraging existing interactions – one-on-ones, steering committee meetings, etc. – is the most realistic way to send new messages or institute new tactics that change the dynamic.

There are many levels to consider when managing stakeholder relationships. Looking at those relationships through the prism of paradoxes can generate insights about the intensity of stakeholder perceptions and expectations, and potential actions that can be applied. The good news is that with focus and some innovative thinking, there are multiple options that IT leaders can apply to improve relationships with stakeholders.