Slew of webinars and resources

Why requirements definition is a critical first step (April 18, 2007 @ 1:00pm EST)

Managing your requirements is only half the battle. For management to be truly effective, taking the first step of defining complete, accurate requirements is absolutely critical. In this webcast, Forrester Senior Analyst Carey Schwaber will explain how you can build agreement around requirements right from the start, so there are no uncertainties down the road.

Aligning Business and IT (on demand)

Many CIOs are struggling in their quest of aligning IT with the corporate business strategies, objectives, metrics and culture. CIOs need to become more involved in the development of strategic initiatives and build an understanding of the corporate and line of business missions and goals if they seek to align IT with the corporate directions. Moreover, CIOs need to interpret that knowledge into a flexible IT strategy if the alignment is to succeed long-term.

Business Intelligence Trends (podcast)

As business intelligence (BI) evolves, new trends emerge. But whichimportant BI trends should you pay attention to? And how should yourorganization incorporate this information into BI strategies?

Webinar: Bits and bites

BPM: Aligning People, Process & Technology
Monday March 26 @ 12:00pm (EST)

Join Paul Harmon, Executive Editor, BPTrends and Principal, BPTrends Associates and Roger Burlton, Founder, Process Renewal Group and Principal, BPTrends Associates, for an insightful and lively discussion about the advantages of aligning your people, processes and technology to achieve improved enterprise performance.

Deliver what the business expects
One of the webinars mentioned in a previous post has made its slides available as well as access to a 2006 IDC research white paper by Ballou.

1, 2, 3 align your projects!

What are the steps involved in aligning projects to a strategy?

1. There are many different projects that a company can undertake. The first step is to create a list and make sure that everyone understands what each project is about.
   
2. Determine the criteria you will use. Your criteria should match your strategy and be representative of the direction you want your company to follow. For example, if you want to be a low cost provider, one of your potential criteria could be, "that a project should reduce the costs of service or increase the efficiency of providing service using your call centre."
   
3. Some things are more important than others. Weight your criteria.
4. Let the project sponsors individually score the importance of the projects using your criteria. Tabulate the results to reduce bias that the sponsors may have towards a one project or another. Projects that score high align more closely with your company's strategy and direction.
   
5. Establish high-med-low groups of projects.
   
6. The groupings and individual rankings form a basis for prioritizing.

By the end of this process you will have determined objectively which projects align better with your overall strategy and goals. Note that there are factors other than strategic fit that determine which projects will ultimately be undertaken (e.g., compliance, ROI.)

Strategy and direction

Business strategy is one of the most important things for a company. Some companies have a vision statement, a mission statement, followed by strategies to achieve the mission and implemental tactics to meet the strategy.

The basic premise is that people understand what they are working towards and why. Focus and clarity are the keys.

Guy Kawasaki suggests the use of simple mantras to provide direction rather than 60+ word MBA written, jargon-filled mission statements.

A mission statement that doesn't provide focus or clear direction does what exactly?

Here are some mission or vision statements from some companies. Tell me if you know what they're doing. Do they provide direction?

3M is a diversified technology company with a worldwide presence in the following markets: consumer and office; display and graphics; electro and communications; health care; industrial and transportation; and safety, security and protection services. What makes us so diverse is our ability to apply our technologies often in combination to an endless array of customer needs.

At IBM, we strive to lead in the invention, development and manufacture of the industry's most advanced information technologies, including computer systems, software, storage systems and microelectronics.

Alliance Data partners with its clients to develop unique insight into consumer behavior. We use that insight to create and manage customized solutions that change consumer behavior and enable our clients to build stronger, mutually-beneficial relationships with their customers.

Great companies will call Alliance Data first to create more loyal and profitable customer relationships.

Always earning the right to be our clients' first choice.

Ultimately, simply having a defined mission, vision or mantra is not enough. You need direction and a clear objective so you can tell if you are getting closer or further from your goal.