The IT Professional and Change Leadership
By Colin Konschak
Information technology leaders are at the forefront of change in their organizations. The reason is simple: the revolution needed in health care today requires a combination of IT knowledge and strong leadership.
To survive, health care organizations must excel in the quality of care they provide and distinguish themselves in specific treatments and/or procedures, as well as in meeting patient expectations. They also must satisfy their physicians and staff—prized resources in a shrinking pool. Looking at the challenges ahead, it is clear that this is a time of huge career opportunity for health care information technology leaders. However, they must be able to lead change.
The ability to lead change is a highly valued skill. To do this successfully, leaders must excel at influencing the overall culture of their organizations and developing and communicating a vision for the “new” organization. The culture of most health care organizations must change radically to create the kind of environment necessary for improving care delivery. Otherwise, the old culture will stifle change. But technology can be the linchpin to safer, more efficient care delivery; that’s why IT leaders should spearhead changes in organizational culture.
Culture is the context within which employees understand their environment and how to respond to it. As employees develop solutions to everyday problems, those solutions are passed on to new hires, and, eventually, they become institutionalized.
Organizational development expert Edgar H. Schein has identified five important elements for influencing corporate culture:
• Attention to issues
• Reaction to crises
• Role modeling
• Allocation of rewards
• Criteria for selecting or dismissing employees.
The attention leaders give to issues or problems is critical. If you are implementing an organizationwide electronic health record, for example, all of the implementation team leaders must communicate with each other every day about the project’s progress and ensure that top IT and other leaders keep the message that change is necessary out front. With continuous emphasis, everyone in the organization will understand this is a main concern and they will prioritize their projects accordingly.
Next, consider how you, as a leader, react to crises. Crises create high emotion and how leaders react will send a strong message to staff. In any intensive IT implementation, there will be setbacks. Always ensure that if things go wrong, you can propose an alternative that can a setback into an opportunity.
Role modeling is also important. Employees watch the behaviors of their leaders. We’re all familiar with the CEO who pushes adoption of technology as a critical success factor, yet refuses to carry a Blackberry or use the intranet to communicate. Leaders must embody their vision for the organization, or that vision will not be taken seriously. IT leaders can excel in this area.
The fourth mechanism is allocation of rewards. Rewards express clearly what the organization values. Therefore, incentive plans should be directly aligned with organizational goals.
The criteria a leader uses to select and dismiss employees are also critical. The IT leader’s success will depend on hiring and retaining people who embrace change, accept the vision for the future and are proactive in operationalizing change. These are the only people who should be working for you.
To successfully lead change, you must also effectively develop and communicate a vision for the “new” organization. When drastic change is required, the leader’s vision provides a clear picture of the future and instills faith in employees that it will be achieved.
A successful vision describes the future organization, focusing on the big picture. When developing a vision, successful leaders evaluate the old vision of the organization and determine which elements are still relevant. This shows employees that their past work and successes have brought the organization to the point of embarking on this new direction and diminishes the impression that the entire world has changed overnight.
Most importantly, successful leaders must develop a vision for the future that is both credible and stretches the organization’s capabilities. Next, they must communicate that vision to the rest of the organization through multiple media and at every opportunity.
Only when leaders influence the overall culture of the organization and effectively develop and communicate their vision will employees be empowered to achieve leadership’s vision.
Colin Konschak is an associate partner with IBM Global Business Consulting Services in Virginia Beach, Va. He can be reached at (757) 641-0481 or by e-mail at colin.konschak@us.ibm.com.
This article 1st appeared in the December 2099 issue of Trustee Magazine.
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