What are the best ways to balance IT goals for short-term and long-term success?

First goal must be to assess current state of tech, team, talent, challenges, senior level support, and what is broken. Once you have identified these markers you can start to build a plan for team dynamics and leadership as well as a plan to address the immediate fires and the long term strategy. Rarely in your hiring interview do you get a clear, concise and informed picture of what the state is of the team and environment that you are taking over.

Before you can have any idea where you need to go, you must understand where you are. (Unless you want to get lost, then hey . . .) Looking at what you have, and understanding what simply must be fixed and fixed right now is critical. Only from there can you understand where your foundations are, where things are pointing, and how to begin aligning business strategy with IT progress.

From my perspective, we need to understand what meaning is broken in the vision of business, technology and process. Once this is identified, first determine what has the greatest financial impact and plan the correction as soon as possible with the best professionals you have, then identify whether the current technology will be serving the operation for a few more years and always improving it by automating processes.

Knowing your strengths and weaknesses is essential. An IT assessment is paramount; but can be done incrementally. Pick the biggest deficit to a fit gap against best practices/ frameworks (eg ITIL). Another assessment is how well is IT serving the business. This can be accomplished with a series of 1:1 interviews to determine the biggest gaps and realignment opportunities. Finally, an internal assessment with the team on the issues and challenges they are dealing with. This will also reveal diamonds in the rough that with a little polishing will shine. As results come in, socialize this information with senior level management for their buy-in. Build a plan to fill gaps, address, business needs, and transform the team.

I have found the OKR framework to be very powerful in empowering engineering teams and ensuring they are connected to the strategic objectives of our trading division. Our leadership team adopted OKRs from the top down and across technology and non technology disciplines, this really unites cross functional teams and ensures everyone is speaking the same language. It also empowers the XFT do establish the HOW empowering them to achieve the key results in the best way possible and also learn along the way. This method has taken time to embed into a division of over 200 people, it also takes discipline and hard work to maintain and measure however compared to other methods it has a much higher return on investment.

I completely agree with this statement. Defining a clear and aligned desired state for your IT operations is fundamental for setting meaningful objectives. Having both short-term and long-term goals provides a balanced perspective, allowing you to focus on immediate needs while also working towards a future vision.

The evolution of the desired state approach is intriguing. Early in my career, I served in banking as a strategic planner, where long-term strategic plans were the norm, often spanning five years and centered around substantial infrastructure investments. In the current landscape, we've witnessed a shift towards more agile six-month plans with frequent adaptations. IT departments are now highly collaborative and employ tools like Agile and DevOps to meet time-sensitive demands. It's crucial to establish a framework that transparently reports metrics to the organization, occasionally requiring adjustments and resulting in a blended framework. As the adage goes, "if you can't measure it, you can't manage it."

I agree, but beyond using tools like SMART goals, OKRs, KPIs, or balanced scorecards, involving cross-functional collaboration is key to defining a comprehensive desired state. Engage with stakeholders, IT teams, and business units to ensure alignment between IT goals and broader organizational objectives. Consider incorporating flexibility into your desired state to accommodate evolving market conditions and technological advancements. Additionally, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and innovation within the IT organization contributes to the sustainability and adaptability of long-term goals, making them more resilient to change and ensuring ongoing success.

I think, alignment with Business strategy is one of the important initials which we should focus on before deciding the long and short term goals and strategies. The next thing is to evaluate current infrastructure and solution capabilities, see the scope of improvement keeping the short/long term goals in mind. Planning the way forward strategically is very important and then execute them in a controlled environment with proper team alignment and training.

While your roadmap should be flexible, realistic and collaborative, also overlaying the Run/Grow/Transform onto that roadmap will help discern (and balance) where your priorities must be. Having to much emphasis on Transform might leave your Run on the short side. Balance is key.

The most critical aspect of building a correct roadmap is ensuring it is realistic and aligned with your actual resources. This includes IT resources, financial resources, and the business's ability to adapt to changes. For some organizations, implementing numerous changes in a short timeframe can be challenging. Additionally, when constructing your roadmap, it should be in harmony with your company's business strategy. It's also crucial that the roadmap is discussed with all stakeholders before it becomes final. This process should result in clear tasks being generated and assigned to allocated resources and external vendors.

From my point of view you should talk to your stakeholders including your customers to know the needs and gaps you have .. beside your vision as a leader .. doing that will give you a very clear plan and roadmap that you and your team must follow to achieve what is needed .. beside that you should share with your team all details and the way going forward till reach your goal “ timelines / methodologies/ stakeholders , etc “

Start by aligning IT objectives with the organization’s mission and vision. Clearly define short-term goals for operational efficiency and long-term goals for innovation. Prioritize initiatives based on impact and urgency, creating a logical roadmap. Allocate resources wisely, considering the time horizon of each goal. Assess risks and develop mitigation strategies. Engage stakeholders, communicate the rationale, and obtain buy-in. Measure progress using key performance indicators (KPIs) and be adaptable. By balancing quick wins with sustained investments, organizations can achieve lasting success.

Certainly, when planning your IT roadmap, it's crucial to align it with broader business goals. Your IT objectives should directly support and contribute to the achievement of the organization's overall strategic objectives. Make sure that goals are broken down into actionable steps, resources are allocated efficiently, and timelines are realistic. A flexible, collaborative, and balanced approach is key to adapt to changing circumstances and prioritize the most impactful actions.

Implementing IT actions with the PDCA cycle is vital for continuous improvement. It ensures a structured approach to achieving IT goals by systematically monitoring, measuring, and fine-tuning processes. Standardization through frameworks like change management, incident management, and problem management provides a structured and efficient way to handle IT operations. By incorporating PDCA and standardization, organizations can maintain consistency, transparency, and accountability in their IT efforts.

Once the roadmap is planned, I personally find it very useful to use a Kanban panel to supervise and oversee all the actions. I don't put down individual tasks, staying in a wide focus: up to small projects or groups of actions. I use a project management tool when I need to go deeper. The best structure for me is a three-column board: TO-DO, doing, done. In every follow-up meeting, I open the Kanban and move the cards between columns as the managers and staff report their actions. I find it very useful to show these coarse-grained Kanbans to the team because they are able to situate their actions in the complete picture of the company's IT, feeling their work is a part of something meaningful.

In addition to PDCA principles, fostering a culture of continuous feedback and learning is crucial during implementation. Encourage teams to share insights, challenges, and successes, promoting a collaborative and adaptive approach. Implementing agile methodologies can enhance responsiveness to changing requirements, allowing for iterative improvements. Moreover, consider the impact on end-users and ensure that communication channels remain open to address any concerns or feedback. Regularly assess the alignment of implemented actions with the overarching IT goals, fostering a proactive approach to adjustments that prioritize both short-term objectives and the sustainability of long-term success.

Implement actions using the PDCA cycle, monitoring and adjusting as needed. Employ change and incident management for transparency and accountability, balancing quality, speed, and cost.

Well, in my opinion, fostering a culture of collaboration and teamwork within the IT department is essential during the implementation phase. Encourage open communication, knowledge sharing, and cross-functional collaboration to ensure smooth execution and alignment with organizational objectives. Regular communication channels, such as meetings, progress reports, and feedback sessions, can help keep stakeholders informed and engaged throughout the implementation process. Additionally, consider conducting regular post-implementation reviews to capture lessons learned and identify areas for further optimization and refinement.

I have a 4 year strategy divided into 4 pillars (customers, business, people and financial). Each pillar has yearly objectives. Each year we do a review of accomplishments against the strategy. If something was not achieved, we check the why and decide if it still fits in the current strategy. Every 16 to 18 months, we refresh our strategy and add 2 more years to it so it's back to a 4 year strategy with specific actions and objectives.

Communication is a key aspect for successful IT operations. In most cases sharing the current state and what is planned for the next cycle (week, month, quarter) provides clear visibility to stakeholders and allows them to prioritize based on business needs. This also allows to ensure that the organization focuses on the important projects that give immediate results to business in the short term or medium term.

Kommunikation sollte nicht erst mit dem Erreichen oder Nichterreichen von Ergebnissen beginnen, sondern fortw?hrend durch die gesamte Umsetzung stattfinden. Dabei sollten einzelne Milestones und n?chste Schritte kommuniziert werden, um Erwartungen zu managen und Accountability aufrechtzuerhalten. Auch wichtig in der Art der Kommunikation ist, dass es sich bei den Updates um reine Informationen handelt und keine Einladungen zur Disskussion darstellen, da andernfalls die Umsetzung und Planung torpediert werden.

Regardless of the framework selected there is an absolute need to create an IT Strategy which is aligned to the organization’s vision, mission, goals, and objectives. Without a correlation between IT and the business, the IT Strategy will fall off the rails easily. First conduct a SWOT analysis using an independent partner with business and IT leadership to identify facts and remove perceptions. Using the information in the SWOT, build future state categorized aspirations to create the IT Strategy with a four-year horizon. Develop a refresh every eighteen months or concurrent with organizational budgeting and planning. Lastly, the IT Strategy requires communication with business leadership. Conduct one-on-one meetings with leadership.

Effective communication with stakeholders and customers is a critical component of successful IT operations. Sharing achievements, challenges, and lessons learned fosters transparency and trust. Demonstrating the value and benefits delivered to the business helps in building support and understanding.

Having the feedback of stakeholders and customers is mandatory, but do not forget the team's feedback. Maybe the project ended well, on time and on budget, but it could have been at the expense of a stressed team. The team is the most important asset for achieving our goals. We need to listen to it and try to improve the aspects that made it troubled and unhappy. If not, it will be very difficult to gain the staff's motivation for our next project.

Sustaining momentum is not easy but vitally important. Using a framework like Objectives & Key Results (OKRs) is great tool to track your strategic objectives. A good example: Objective: mature organizational cybersecurity governance to align with industry best practices.. Key Result: obtain 90% compliance for employee training by 2026 This approach can be multi year (compliance rate may be 70% this year) and aspirational to move your operations in the right direction. Review frequently, calibrate when business demands evolve and pivot accordingly.

The greatest ROI comes from partnerships throughout the business. If your strategy is sound, it will hold up the scrutiny. If not, iteration will improve it and the right individual contributors and leaders will evolve with it.

Regularly reviewing our strategy with stakeholder feedback has been instrumental. It ensures we stay aligned with business objectives and can make necessary adjustments to our IT goals for continued success.

Budget and resources for short term goals needs to be squeezed out from yearly IT budget.However all long term goals needs to be funded by business unit ( beneficiary)or central pool . I have seen the budget for long term goals are getting pushed to the IT budget which directly impacts the IT services.

It will be good to have a clear vision which identifies where we want to go and why that is the best for the organisation. Then comparing that with the current state will identify the gaps. The gaps need to be understood holistically from a People, Process, Technology and Governance perspective. The organisation has existing priorities and need to be able to meet today's need but also start investing in tomorrow. It is always a challenge on how to prioritise and where to invest and these could vary depending on the organisational context. Having an incremental roadmap to build the capabilities and address the gaps over time and how this releases continuous value is key. The critical bit is walking the talk.

What's the purpose of corporate IT? IT has to have the focus on business value! Listen and understand the problem behind the problem and have a clear focus on your target architecture. Align that with the business strategy. Before allocating resources, you have to focus on daily business and ensure, that your current services are running. Then define a balance between improvement of existing services and enhancement of your portfolio. Regularly discuss within a strategic decision process planned projects, reflecting added value, risk mitigation and estimated cost and decide together with business. After that you should follow the described steps: determine your status quo, describe your target, plan, do, check and communicate results.

I’d like to emphasize the crucial aspect of ensuring digital goal alignment with our corporate 3-5 year objectives. This alignment provides a clear roadmap for the team. Crafting yearly objectives using the OKR (Objectives and Key Results) method is a powerful tool for turning these high-level goals into actionable, measurable steps. Furthermore, embracing intent leadership is the key to empowering our team members to make informed decisions. By clearly communicating our intent and trust in their capabilities, we not only encourage strategic thinking but also foster a culture of ownership and responsibility. This approach empowers our team to become proactive problem solvers, driving the organization closer to its strategic goals.

Balancing short & long-term IT goals is crucial for org success. Prioritize goals based on business impact, feasibility, & strategic alignment. Align short-term goals with long-term ones & distribute resources effectively. Regular reviews allow adjustments as needed. Engage stakeholders in goal setting for buy-in & balanced priorities. Consider risks for each goal. Invest in innovation & tech upgrades for long-term success; maintain existing systems for short-term goals. Train IT team to support all goals. Balance quick wins with strategic initiatives to showcase IT dept's value. Manage IT projects like a portfolio for immediate results & future investments.