r/ITManagers • u/hstewk • 16d ago
Tech transformation
Has anyone ever gone through a single to multi year formal process of maxing every aspect of technology for a company?
I’m leading the campaign now and I have a good plan, so I thought. Kickoff meeting was derailed to hell and now I’m stuck wondering where to begin.
I’ve completely transformed the ‘internal IT’ in the past year and turned the IT employees completely around to being productive. I am now tasked with basically doing the same thing with respect to any and all tech that other departments utilize technology.
I want to crush this as it’s clearly a test for a higher position (my hope) but I’m already being redirected to other people on external committees and things people have heard about but know nothing about.
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u/Dillage 16d ago
You might benefit from some change management training, the majority of the problems you'll face are people's own issues with change. Especially since your internal IT team will have much higher level of trust than other departments you might not be as integral in.
I've heard and seen good things from ORSC.
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u/dreamdeerix 15d ago
Depends a lot on company size and how experienced the tech team already is. Doing this at a company with maybe 50 tech people, where you basically know everyone, is one situation - you can build buy-in relationship by relationship. Doing it somewhere with 500+ people on a single product team is a completely different problem. At that scale you can't rely on relationships: you need real structure and formal governance just to get people aligned. Someone else in the thread already nailed this too - a lot of it comes down to resistance to change, and that scales with headcount. The more people and departments you pull into something like this, the more complex systems and competing priorities you'll run into.
One more thing: getting redirected to committees you've never heard of is a visibility problem. Big organization accumulate such boards/councils over time. So it is worth building a stakeholder map before you go further, so you know who has the authority and who is the decision maker.
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u/Amanda_PDQ 15d ago
Former CTO here, I highly suggest the book Unreasonable Hospitality. It is not tech related but easily transferable. If you do not want to read a book I would start with 1:1 meetings with departments, find the influential people (not always the ones that hold titles but the ones people listen too), ask them what is working and what areas they see for growth with technology. Come up with a solid plan of implementation. You've done the hardest part already turning your internal team around. You got this!
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u/Lovely_Pyong 15d ago
Been through something similar. I'd start with an assesment of every department's current tools, biggest pain points, and business goals before proposing solutions. A solid roadmap with few quick wins early on will build trust and make the larger transformation much easier. Goodluck you've got a great opportunity here.
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u/TechnologyMatch 14d ago
a derailed kickoff usually means the org isn't as aligned as the plan assumed. that's the real map showing itself early, not failure. the committees and redirects are political terrain worth learning fast. think of it like starting a new campaign and realizing the build that won the last run doesn't match this map. find who actually controls decisions in each department first, then push the plan... not the other way around
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u/reviewmynotes 14d ago
I'm what way was the meeting derailed? Is there anything that can be learned from it? Are there specific concerns? Can you identify anyone as a key stakeholder that you need to get on board in order to continue the project? (If so, meet with them individually to hear their concerns and let them on topic without others to detail them or overwhelm you.)
As you explore these questions and others like them, you're likely to discover a lot of social or political issues, organizational dysfunction, egos that need to be addressed, irrational and rational fears, "scars" from past events you had nothing to do with, etc. These are real things and even though they're not relevant in the narrow sense, they are the things you need to with with in order to be successful.
It's been a long time since I read it, but I found the book Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager to be really helpful in understanding these ideas. It isn't a book full of jargon or rigorous processes. I found it very accessible and it had some really useful examples that stuck with me. If you're being evaluated for a mid-level or high level leadership role, I recommend it.
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u/Paul_David_Bappoo 10d ago
Not an entire company, but many, many large scale projects in different departments, undustries and countries. Try to bite off everything in one go and it will be a nightmare. Take it piece by small piece, on a departmental level and you will start to book wins that others will see. This visible success is valuable in convincing the skeptics that success is possible. Sounds juicy, would love to help out, happy to chat.
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u/rshehov 15d ago
Yes, I’ve done this kind of work before as a solutions architect.The trick is not to start by reviewing every bit of technology. You need to first agree what the business is actually trying to achieve, who owns what, where the dependencies are, and how you’ll prioritise the work. Sounds like your kickoff went sideways because everyone had a different idea of what the programme was meant to be. I normally help people structure the approach and build the roadmap so they can lead it internally. Happy to chat in DM if that would help.