C-level executives aren’t the technical know-how guys, but receiving I.T. status reports has become a necessary tool to lead their companies.
Executives set the company’s strategy, make high-stakes decisions, and make sure that day-to-day operations are in line with the company’s strategic goals. And while they don’t need to know how business technology works, they certainly do need to make business decisions about the information that business technology provides. Their executive teams need to receive periodic business reports for future planning, scalability, and budgeting, and to avoid unexpected surprises. And what a C-level executive doesn’t know about these I.T. businesses reports just might hurt business. It’s also important to note that C-level positions are evolving.
A look at the role of C-level executives today
At the C-level position, executives need strong leadership skills and a good grasp of business fundamentals. They are expected to offer their own insight and contribute to key decisions. From the 1980s through the early 2000s, the role of CIOs has changed. No longer concerned with just the technology, these professionals now make complex decision based on rigorous analyses regarding I.T. business reports.
They need to know how to put the oceans of information they collect to use. It’s this keen understanding that enables them to use the data from I.T. status reports in a competitive manner. Today’s CMOs need a new skill set in order to serve clients’ needs and achieve company goals. Today’s CFOs need to provide managements teams with financial data and analyses and strategic thinking is critical. These professionals need to know how to develop and interpret performance metrics from business technology reports. Understanding I.T. business reports provide these professionals with a roadmap to success. As a matter of fact, the deep understanding of I.T. status reports is a roadmap for success for all C-level executives.
The power of the quarterly business review (QBR)
QBRs or periodic I.T. business reports are incredibly important to C-level executives. And it’s important to prepare for them. They can help to improve ROI, expand value proposition, create new products, and remove obstacles to success. They also have value for benchmarking. C-level executives can use these periodic I.T. status reports to compare their company to others, pinpoint where they are falling short, and determine what needs to happen to get them up to the benchmark or past the benchmark. QBRs aren’t fluff. These reports have extreme value to C-level executives.
“Going forward, C-level executives will not simply manage their own business areas; they will be active members of the firm’s senior leadership who advise the CEO on key decisions. As one executive recruiter put it, the C-level person today needs to be more team-oriented, capable of multitasking continuously and leading without rank, and able to resist stress and make sure that his subordinates do not burn out. And he needs to do all of this with a big smile in an open plan office. In other words, we’re looking at a whole new breed of top executive.”
Download a free guide to the incredibly important reports your I.T. team should be placing on your desk regularly: 8 documents your I.T. staff should be able to provide right now (but they probably can’t). DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY NOW to avoid being the business leader whose technology hurt his company.
Additional information about business leadership and the value of I.T. status reports is available in a free whitepaper: The C-level leader and technology.
