Jumping the Queue

Sometimes in spite of your best efforts to build the team and work collaboratively, certain executives simply will not care and will "bully" their projects to the front of the line with disastrous results. If the executive is particularly stubborn, has fallen prey to "airline magazine syndrome" and will not take no for an answer or is playing a hard-ball approach to office politics, Kowalsky says the CIO must go on record as the one who can see the risks and the possibility of this initiative not getting done properly or not at all. Doing risk analysis for the project and being sure the right people see it will secure your job in the long term, he says.

The CEO's influence and leadership are also desperately needed in such situations to diffuse matters and make the right calls, Haddad says. Thankfully, it is taking less and less time to replace even the biggest of executives - the stakeholders, and often shareholders, demand and deserve the best.

Luftman says if all else fails the best vehicle is to try to convince businesspeople to do proof of concept prototypes that specify a small but representative piece of the project under discussion. It may help to offer the businesspeople some other alternatives to allow you to identify which might be the best alternative to take when you go for full implementation.

"That's a great way of not saying no, but basically letting the business people understand what those choices might be," Luftman says. "You will minimize the risk, and hopefully identify the most appropriate approach to assessing the project that's been requested.

"The result is an instant partnership with the business and the warm glow of collaboration. The business knows when no means no, and will be all the happier when yes means yes."

Negative Capability

The ability to turn down a request begins long before that request is made

Saying "no" is a challenge that we see in many organizations, points out Raed Haddad, vice president of client programs, ESI International. Some, that Haddad would call best-in-class, have embarked on a multi-year journey to address such challenges. IT organizations that have increased their maturity in project management, and often software development, have put in place key initiatives such as:

• identification and communication of the organization's vision to help guide project selection decisions

• establishment of a formal project selection process where every project is evaluated based on pre-agreed criteria

• establishment of portfolio management processes to help look at all the projects to make the correct prioritization decisions as issues and changes come up

• systematic evaluation of projects during the concept phase, and throughout implementation phase, to ensure that the expected contributions would be realized

• inclusion of most, if not all, of the business executives with the CIOs on the portfolio and/or project selection committee.

Absent such best practices, Haddad says, and the CIO and his or her staff are faced with addressing this problem "on the fly". But it is easier to say no when you have a systematic approach and can show specific facts that lead the business executive to the "right" conclusion. Haddad has three recommendations:

1. Involve your business analyst. Before evaluating any project insist on taking the time to identify the requirements, document them, and ensure testability and the business buy-in. This effort needs an expert trained in how to gather and document requirements, work flow modelling, testing and user acceptance, and leadership skills.

The result will often identify gaps, risks and impacts to the organization that the business users have not considered. Hence, establishing the merits to lead them to cancel or adjust the project.

2. Involve the business executive. It is not about you, it is about us. The skill of bringing the business unit decision makers together then collaboratively and systematically prioritizing and selecting projects is priceless. If you have done a good job identifying and documenting requirements, you will find that it is easier to reach consensus.

The IT budgets are often set a year in advance. Commitments are made to invest in specific initiatives. This process must involve the businesses to make sure that you are capturing what is needed in the future. It is like passing a soccer ball to your left wing - you send it to where you expect your team-mate to be, not where they are right now.

Think of this as a change management process. The budget is set for specific initiatives and one business unit needs to upgrade to a new platform to adhere to regulatory requirements. Something has to give or you have to hire more people. Change Management 101 would tell you to evaluate the impact of stopping or delaying other projects to take on a new one. Systematically going through and making the tough calls together using the organizational strategy and mission as your compass is crucial. In other words, never say no alone. Have others say it with you, which will diffuse any anger away from one individual.

3. Ultimately it is about execution. Good execution is like money in the bank. There is no shortage of literature available that shows how poorly bad IT projects are run. In some estimates, one out of two projects is delivered with significant cost and time overruns and often without providing the intended contribution to the organization. Investing in project management methodologies, risk assessments and processes, and developing your employees to ensure you have the right talent, is critical to the success of an IT group. In other words, clean up your own house.

A mere 5 percent improvement in project performance can represent millions and sometime billions of annual savings. Having a better than average success rate gives you credibility, and credibility allows you to say no and have people value your opinion, rather than accuse you of being an obstacle to success.