Enlighten Your C-suite & Its Board

How well do the people at the top really understand the decisions that they are making, the technology involved, including the tradeoffs and compromises? Consider, for example, how well does your C-suite (CEO, CFO, etc.) and its board understand what is involved? Do they understand the technology, including:

• The complexity involved
• What it can and cannot do
• How it will or won’t interact with existing systems
• What it will really cost
• How long it will actually take
• The challenges of implementation
• Security and data protection implications
• The skills required
• The risks involved, etc.

As mentioned earlier, the choice of technology is not just an IT decision, but a strategic business decision. Getting it right is an ‘all of the organization responsibility’. It is too much to rest on the shoulders of IT alone.

Q: How well do your senior leaders understand the technology decisions that must be made?

To ensure that the organization’s leaders can meaningfully contribute to the decision-making process requires that IT educates, even enlightens, their boards and other non-technical senior leaders. That will require patience and skill.

It is all too easy for people to get lost in technical jargon. Thus, IT must be careful with the language it is using. Remember, people may lead us to assume they understand more than they do because they are often reluctant to say that they don’t know. 

Customers increasingly expect seamless, user-friendly digital banking experiences. But, oversimplification is a key risk. Managing expectations is essential.

Q: How well are the expectations of key internal stakeholders being managed?

Some leaders shield their boards from too much information. To avoid complicating the issue, some may even remove the slides on risks from their transformation project presentations. However, educating senior leaders regarding risks is vital.

Q: Do key internal stakeholders understand all the risks?