Some relationships are casual, like the ones you have with the people who make your lattes, share the elevators you ride in, and sit next to you in the airport waiting rooms. Some are critical, like the ones you have with your spouse, your boss, and your landlord, if you have one.
The critical relationships are those in which the other person’s actions can have a serious impact on the quality of your life and your ability to meet your goals.
Recognizing this, most people manage their critical relationships with a heightened degree of care and consideration, treating the other person with special respect and investing time and effort in keeping things between the two of you on a positive footing.
What I want to impress on you today is that, as a business continuity person, your relationship with your IT department is one of the most critical relationships in your professional life. As such, it is a relationship you should approach with all of the sensitivity and consideration you can muster.
The topic is on my mind because I have recently seen a number of instances where relations between the BCM program and the IT department were less than optimal, a situation that can have serious negative repercussions on the organization’s resilience and recoverability.
What are some of the common sources of friction between the BC and IT teams, and what can you do as a BCM professional to maintain a good working relationship with your IT colleagues?
Read on for my observations and recommendations.
Observations:
It is common for the IT department to have negative feelings about one of the BCM program’s core activities: conducting the business impact analysis (BIA).
As you can see, the relationship between the IT department and the BCM program is potentially fraught with tension. However, it is important for the well-being of the organization that the two teams learn to work together effectively. Moreover, experience shows that this goal can usually be met, provided the BCM program goes about its work in a sufficiently proactive, diplomatic manner.
New In Business Continuity Management? Here’s 27 Years Of My Best Advice
How should you as a BCM person approach your relationship with your colleagues in IT? Keep reading for my recommendations, which are based on my nearly two decades in the field, working with organizations in a wide range of industries from all over the country.
Recommendations:
Admittedly, it sounds challenging. And you might now be saying to yourself: Really, Michael? In addition to everything else I have to be on top of, am I also expected to be some kind of super-salesman or diplomat toward my own organization’s IT department?
The answer is yes if you truly want to succeed in your role and help your organization.
The good news is, I can assure you from experience that it is definitely possible to take a relationship between the BCM program and the IT department that was initially thick with mistrust and turn it around so it becomes cooperative and positive for both sides. I’ve seen it happen many times, usually as a result of the BCM program’s adopting an approach such as that I describe above.
And the benefits to your organization, in terms of the strengthening of its resilience and recoverability in the event you ever face a disruption, are incalculable.