Design and Sustain a Purposeful IT Culture

Go beyond value statements to create a culture that enables the departmental strategy.
There is confusion about how to translate culture from an abstract concept to something that is measurable, actionable, and process driven.
Organizations lack clarity about who is accountable and responsible for culture, with groups often pointing fingers at each other.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

When it comes to culture, the lived experience can be different from stated values. Culture is the pattern of behaviors and the way work is done rather than simply perks, working environment, and policy.
Executives’ active participation in culture change is paramount. If executives aren’t willing to change the way they behave, attempts to shift the culture will fail.
Elevate culture to a business imperative. Foster a culture that is linked to strategy rather than trying to replicate the hot culture of the moment.
Target values that will have the greatest impact. Select a few focus values as a guide and align all behaviors and work practices to those values.

Impact and Result

Executives need to clarify how the culture they want will help achieve their strategy and choose the focus values that will have the maximum impact.
Measure the current state of culture and facilitate the process of leveraging existing elements while shifting undesirable ones.

Design and Sustain a Purposeful IT Culture Research & Tools

Start here – read the Executive Brief

Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should improve your culture to enable your strategy, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

Design and Sustain a Purposeful IT Culture – Executive Brief

1. Assessment: Determine current culture and identify focus values

Complete a cultural assessment and select focus values to form core culture efforts.

2. Tools: Give IT executives the tools to drive change

Enable executives to gather feedback on behavioral perceptions and support behavioral change.

3. Behavioral Alignment: Align IT behaviors to the desired culture

Review all areas of the department to understand where the links to culture exist and create a communication plan.

Standard Internal Communications Plan

4. Sustainment: Disseminate and manage culture within the department

Customize a process to infuse behaviors aligned with focus values in work practices and complete the first wave of meetings.

Member Testimonials

After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real-time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve. See our top member experiences for this blueprint and what our clients have to say.

10.0/10

Overall Impact

$32,499

Average $ Saved

Average Days Saved

Client

Experience

Impact

$ Saved

Days Saved

Testimonial

East Bay Municipal Utility District

Guided Implementation

10/10

N/A

We had an intro call and will be kicking off a longer guided implementation on this topic. Hard to assess value, ROI, and time savings at this poi... Read More

Utah Valley University

Guided Implementation

10/10

$32,499

Nick was great. He made us realize there is much more involved in culture than we previously knew, and gave us an accurate estimate of the time it ... Read More

Workshop: Design and Sustain a Purposeful IT Culture

Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

Module 1: Conduct a Cultural Assessment

The Purpose

Determine current culture and identify focus values.

Key Benefits Achieved

Completed a cultural assessment that shows the current state of culture in your IT department.
Selected several focus values that will form the core of your culture efforts over the next year.
Clarified accountability and responsibilities for culture within the IT executive team.

Activities

Outputs

1.1

Collect quantitative and qualitative data on organizational values.

Cultural Assessment Report

1.2

Analyze and consolidate data.

Module 2: Define the Culture Through Focus Values

The Purpose

Give IT executives the tools to drive change.

Key Benefits Achieved

Enabled executives to gather feedback on how their behavior is perceived.
Provided support for behavioral change, either through individual coaching, a group discussion, or both.

Activities

Outputs

2.1

Identify why culture is a priority.

Executive Reflection Template

2.2

Connect the organizational goals to culture.

2.3

Describe the future.

2.4

Review cultural assessment data.

2.5

Pinpoint values to leverage or shift.

2.6

Craft the culture statement.

2.7

Set goals and metrics for the culture initiative.

Culture Documentation Template

Module 3: Reflect and Prepare to Implement

The Purpose

Align IT behaviors to the desired culture.

Key Benefits Achieved

Reviewed all areas of the department to understand where the links to culture exist.
Created a communication plan to guide the changes to behavior going forward.

Activities

Outputs

3.1

Executive reflection.

3.2

Anticipate challenges ahead.

3.3

Examine leadership behaviors and IT practices.

3.4

Review leadership and core competencies.

3.5

Draft a timeline.

3.6

Determine key messages for communication.

3.7

Customize the Culture Facilitation Guide for Leaders.

Culture Documentation Template

Module 4: Communicate & Action Plan

The Purpose

Disseminate and manage culture within the department.

Key Benefits Achieved

Customized a process to infuse behaviors aligned with the focus values into daily work practices.
Completed the first wave of meetings to execute this process with senior leaders.

Activities

Outputs

4.1

Develop a communication plan.

Standard Internal Communications Plan

4.2

Create an implementation roadmap.

Culture Facilitation Guide for Leaders

About Info-Tech

Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.

We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

What Is a Blueprint?

A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your IT problems.

Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.

Need Extra Help?
Speak With An Analyst

Get the help you need in this 4-phase advisory process. You'll receive 7 touchpoints with our researchers, all included in your membership.

Guided Implementation 1: Assessment: Determine current culture and identify focus values

Call 1: Confirm you are prepared to chair the culture kick-off meeting prior to meeting with the executive team.
Call 2: Create a strategy to measure the current culture in your organization.
Call 3: Discuss the results of the cultural assessment and prepare for the action meeting.

Guided Implementation 2: Tools: Give IT executives the tools to drive change

Call 1: Discuss feedback documentation and how to complete the executive reflection.

Guided Implementation 3: Behavioral Alignment: Align IT behaviors to the desired culture

Call 1: Review department processes to understand where to prioritize action and learn about best practices for influencing behavior.

Guided Implementation 4: Sustainment: Disseminate and manage culture within the department

Call 1: Discuss the facilitation process and review changes to the facilitation guide.
Call 2: Check in after all meetings have been conducted to determine when the process will need to be refreshed.

Authors

Rebecca Factor

Tracy-Lynn Reid

Contributors

Allen Annett, HR/OD Consultant and Executive Coach, DMD Connects
Richard Barrett, Speaker, Author, and Values Thought Leader, Barrett Values Centre
Greg Besner, CEO, CultureIQ
Marcia Buchholz, Associate Vice President of Human Resources, University of Calgary
Phil Buckley, Managing Director, Change with Confidence
Alexis Dean, Founder and Chief Experience Officer, Dovetail
Michael Franklin, Employee Engagement Specialist, MagnaCare
Ivan Joseph, Director of Athletics, Ryerson University
Carol Leaman, CEO, Axonify Inc.
Edward Marshall, Adjunct Professor at Duke University. www.marshallgroup.com
Colleen Meeker, Vice President of Human Resources, Victorinox Swiss Army, Inc.
Catherine Spence, Co-Founder, Pomello
Carolyn Taylor, CEO, Walking the Talk
Dr. John Traphagan, Professor of Religious Studies and Human Dimensions of Organizations, University of Texas
Dr. David S. Weiss, President & CEO of Weiss International Ltd. weissinternational.ca