How to deal with leaders who do not understand it

The construction, improvement, and development of a company's informatization are the areas that CIOs are most concerned about and are also the biggest headache. How can we persuade executives who do not understand it to construct informatization and implement an information project?

No matter which type of leadership, it is both a challenge and a kind of training for CIOs. If you can deal with these leaders, CIOs can easily deal with other types of leaders.

Talking to leaders without an IT background about IT projects is now the biggest headache for CIOs. In particular, CIOs are even more difficult to get along with "arrogant" leaders. However, the work is still to be done. If the informatization project is not completed well, the responsibility should be borne by the CIO. Therefore, some skills are required to communicate with these "it blind" leaders.

Currently, leaders of most companies and enterprises, especially those in traditional manufacturing, have no IT background and do not know the differences between information projects and traditional projects, I don't know how to implement the current mainstream management software and what benefits it can bring to the Enterprise. On the other hand, they do not have time to understand the content. Therefore, CIOs need to use certain skills to generalize the information to the top executives of enterprises, then the CIO can continue his work.

However, it is not easy to communicate with the "blind man". This is the time to test the CIO's capabilities. At this time, CIOs can be moved to the leadership's mind only by "setting their foot in the door" based on their different personalities.

Here I will list some leaders with different personalities to see how to persuade them and let them use them for you.

Category 1: cautious leaders

In the process of enterprise management, some leaders advocate prudence and stick to the "moderate" approach. Fields that you are not familiar with are never involved. They are worried about making incorrect decisions because they are not familiar with this field. For example, when the IT project is established, they worry about being fooled by CIOs or doubt the decision-making ability of CIOs. Therefore, they can withdraw the decision-making power of information projects to themselves rather than to CIOs.

When CIOs are recommended to carry out informatization projects based on the enterprise situation and informatization development trend, the leaders will ask CIOs to conduct multiple surveys, the establishment of information projects has been postponed many times due to insufficient preparation or other reasons. When an enterprise decided to use an ERP project, it took more than a year to consider it. This is a test of employee patience. "Delay" has become a common practice for them, but they will never delay in areas they are familiar with themselves. This time, the main crux of this problem is that information projects make them feel unfamiliar and "fear" because of strangers ".

Countermeasures:

1. Let the customer speak

As a matter of fact, the top leaders of every enterprise are willing to invest as long as the informatization project can really improve enterprise management and increase enterprise profits. The question is, how can we let the top leaders understand the advantages of information-based projects in enterprise management?

When persuading leaders, one of their favorite tricks is to use the circle of friends to lead their own, and let them be "talking" and "talking" leaders, it is more useful than ten or even a hundred sentences, especially for enterprise customers. If I think it is necessary for an enterprise to go To the CRM project based on its current scale and development status, I will inquire about which of the current customers of the enterprise have gone to the CRM project, in addition, I will find a customer with better results and ask them to "show up" and talk about their feelings about using CRM. In this way, it is easier for the boss to accept the CRM project. It is more effective than talking about the benefits of CRM.

2. Let the leaders visit and inspect the actual Enterprise

For example, if an enterprise is preparing to go to an ERP project, the leaders have been hesitant and are not determined. After all, the ERP project is not a small investment. It costs nearly 1 million of the company's capital, excluding other human and material resources. On the one hand, they are worried about what benefits they will bring to the enterprise after the ERP project. If enterprise management still fails after the ERP software is available, they will certainly be scolded by enterprise investors; on the other hand, they are also worried about which software supplier to cooperate with. What is the strength of the implementation company? After all, it has little to do with their professional knowledge and they have no way to judge. At this time, I will make my killer scissors, let the software company list some successful cases, and with their help, randomly select a company that successfully implemented the ERP project, take the boss for field visits. Let him know how ERP works in the enterprise and how it helps the enterprise solve the problem. This is obviously more effective than the hype of software companies.

However, it should be noted that, before taking the boss to an on-site investigation, the CIO should first learn about the problem, the ERP project is not doing well (it may be because of the enterprise or the software company), so don't take the boss to see it unless you don't want to go to the ERP project either. Otherwise, it is to lift the stone and smash your own feet.

Category 2: perfectionist leadership

Most enterprises tend to be perfectionist, especially family enterprises. They have a certain understanding of information projects, have never eaten pork, and have seen pig run. However, they do not have a thorough understanding of information projects. In their eyes, the knowledge of information projects is obtained from books. However, in the current textbooks, the Informatization Project is a bit "divine" and only talks about the benefits of informatization projects for enterprises, the risks of information projects are never discussed. Therefore, this led to their reliance on informatization projects and thought that enterprise management could not work. As long as an informatization project was launched, it would be able to return to life, and even some leaders thought that as long as an enterprise had gone to an informatization project, they are better than Lao Tzu. Therefore, these leaders have high expectations for information projects for various reasons.

Such leadership has advantages and disadvantages for CIOs. The good thing is that they advocate information-based projects and are more generous in investment in information-based projects than their elders. At the same time, CIOs are also valued in their enterprises, with their strong support, information-based projects are easy to implement and implement. However, there will be a problem that cannot be solved by no information-based management software in their eyes, all the requirements that I need in management should be implemented for me, regardless of the size or cost. This will greatly increase the cost and implementation cycle of the Information Project, and the Information Project will be like a snowball. The larger the roll, the more difficult it is to control. Besides, there are many problems in enterprise management, it is still possible to solve the problem by improving the enterprise's own management level. The information software only plays a secondary and consolidating role.

In the face of such leadership, CIOs should not only lament that they have the honor to be reused by leaders, but also pay attention to breaking their perfectionist view at the beginning of the informatization project, give them a correct understanding of information projects.

1. A clear goal should be set during project initiation. If an enterprise wants to conduct an ERP project, it should clearly state the scope and implementation cycle of the project in the project planning book; it is best to conduct a detailed investigation and list the problems that need to be solved through ERP software; at the same time of project initiation, the risks of the ERP project, such as the risk of Business Process restructuring, should also be stated. Is good or bad, so that the top leaders are prepared. In case that the project fails or the project is not as expected, they will not be able to withstand the attack. Then the CIO's job is no longer enough.

2. We need to use various channels to give top managers the knowledge of information-based project management. In fact, many aspects of information-based project management are the same as enterprise management. As long as CIOs make a little effort, the top leaders will be clear. The problem now is that CIOs take the boss's face too seriously, if you don't want to make a point, both parties will regret the project's setbacks or failures. For example, the 20/80 principle can be used in information projects or enterprise management. Since leaders can be the top leaders of enterprises, the basic principles of this management have been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. As CIOs, as long as you talk a little bit to the top leaders, the top leaders will be aware that they will not require the information software to manage and control all the business of the enterprise. They understand that doing so is not worth the candle, it's just like they don't have to manage all their work.

3. CIOs often use technology to persuade executives. This is wrong. In addition to applying some of the above techniques, we also need to persuade the leaders in the process of solving the problem. For example, it is a process problem. Now the leaders have a headache. Don't forget that this is an opportunity. Let's solve the problem for the leaders.

The two types of leaders are just two extremes. One is a natural fear of informatization projects, and the other is an excessive worship of informatization projects. No matter which type of leadership, it is both a challenge and a kind of training for CIOs. If you can deal with these leaders, CIOs can easily deal with other types of leaders.

Since, it has become increasingly difficult for CIOs to take office. Now, the role of CIOs is gradually changing. Technology is no longer the key to determining their success or failure. The value of CIOs is mainly determined by communication and coordination.