As an IT manager, one of your core responsibilities is to clearly communicate the value of your team to executive level management. Condensing your team’s output into a value proposition and summarizing its total contribution is not an easy task, but not impossible either. If you focus on the features that matter most to executive management, you can assert the value of your team and its mission-critical status. Here are a few strategies to help you think critically to get your message across:
Provide Clear Metrics
You must be able to back up any of your assertions with clear metrics that prove your claims. As much as possible, translate your team’s contribution into hard numbers, and try to focus on the ones that demonstrate productivity increases, effective cost-cutting measures, and improvements in efficiency. Try comparing metrics from year to year to show how the same team is consistently improving.
Focus on the Bottom Line
What has your team done that has directly impacted the company’s bottom line? Ultimately, this is the primary question that executive management will be concerned with. Conversely, if you avoid addressing this question, it may make you appear evasive and reinforces the notion that your team is ineffective.
Highlight Changes
What is your team doing now that it was not doing previously? Innovation is a priority in any organization, but it can be difficult to communicate the value and scope of the changes to executive level management that is removed from the process. As succinctly as possible, make it clear what you are doing differently, why you are doing it differently, and how that benefits the company as a whole.
Communicate Regularly
Trying to summarize a year’s worth of accomplishments into the span of a single meeting inevitably leads to omissions and misunderstandings. As often as possible, send your superiors updates, reports, and rundowns. This not only keeps them in the loop, it demonstrates your largest priority is to align your team’s output with the company’s broader strategic objectives.
Accept Feedback
No team is perfect. In your conversations with executive management, find out what they wish your team was doing better, and make that a priority in the coming weeks and months. Being able to internalize their feedback and turn that into measurable improvements is a clear demonstration of your team’s value.
We hope this tips will prove helpful to you! Please contact us with any questions or comments.