Only 22% of IT Business Partners surveyed consistently explain clearly their role and how that adds value to their stakeholders
We sent out a survey last month to investigate the quality of our relationships amongst our audience. We took 5 questions from our 20 question relationship competency model to sample how we perform as IT Business Partners in this space.
Out of the 23 fully completed questionnaires, we found that:
- Suprisingly only 22% consistently explain clearly their role and how that adds value to their stakeholders
- Reassuringly 70% recognise different engagement / communication styles and adapt them to suit the needs of the audience.
- On average, our 23 respondents scored just over 7/10 - the maximum score any respondee could get was 10, if they answered all 5 questions with “consistently demonstrated”.
See the full summary of the results below. If you would like to see the cheat sheet and detailed survey profile, you can become a member of the forum either by attending the online buzz or attending our Forum on the 21 st June.
| Do you recognise different engagement / communication styles and adapt them to suit the needs of your audience? | 70% |
| Do you take steps to improve the impact of your engagement / communication style with your stakeholders? | 65% |
| Do you gain consensus on divergent points of view amongst stakeholders? | 43% |
| Do you manage politics in a positive manner? | 39% |
| Do you explain clearly your role and how that adds value for your stakeholder? | 22% |
In conclusion then, more work needs to looked at how we clarify our role, demonstrate value and manage politics in a positive way.
What to do?
Some tips: Think of the activities you do as an IT BP. Let's say for argument's sake they are a service provided by you or your team. Re-articulate these services in the form of a value proposition. A simple example template:
We help ______ to be more ________ by providing ___________ and ___________
This could be a service, project, product or activity of any description. You may end up with 10 or even 20 different activities. Once you've expressed them in this way, put them on a discussion document to circulate and discuss with your peers. Which ones stand out? Which ones cause most contention? Which ones add most value?
After you've done that exercise I strongly suspect there will be less confusion over your role and how you can add value.
For us at Baxter Thompson Associates, this validates the workshop format we provide with Convergence Essentials® where by we introduce Relationship Management and Value Management as the pre-requisite foundations for Strategic IT Partnering. In this 2 day workshop we discuss the value the role can bring in addition to managing politics!
More information can be found here:
https://www.baxterthompson.com/event?type=12
We look forward to inviting you to our next survey on Value Management soon!
