Technology once was just another utility, on the same level as plumbing and electricity for a business.
Today, technology powers almost every critical business service for every company across every industry. Technology is inextricably linked to business. Without technology, business grinds to a halt. Without innovation, business stagnates.
But the reality is that technology funding and planning is still being managed in exactly the same way it was 10 or even 20 years ago, even though the nature of technology in the enterprise has fundamentally changed.
The current approach creates inconsistencies, inefficiencies, waste, and many other problems. Therefore, teams must adopt a new approach called people-centric planning. Through people-centric planning, teams are provided with sustainable, long-term funding. Additionally, teams are organized around products and value streams instead of the siloed departments of the past.
With this approach, the prioritization of the most important initiatives, also known as “big rock,” will continue. Capital expenditures for these initiatives will still be approved. There will be no slowdowns due to funding approvals or changes that typically occur when priorities change.
To successfully adopt people-centric planning, teams must commit to three key principles: managing innovation, aligning technology and business, and empowering teams. In this article, we explore how teams can align technology and business.
Traditionally, technical teams' performance has been evaluated based on characteristics such as the resilience of their systems and the lack of bugs. If their releases are unbroken and bug-free, the team is praised, or at least left alone, but when problems occur, they are often criticized. Meanwhile, business stakeholders continue to push for enhancements that increase the risk that those problems will actually occur.
This fundamental tension creates disagreement, poor communication, and confusion among both technical and business teams. When there is disagreement, it is often the technical team that is seen as the problem. A lack of governance and common metrics can exacerbate this disagreement.
The next roadblock is often one of timing, because siloed teams often prioritize work based on different criteria. Business leaders say a feature is needed by Q1, while technology leaders say it can't be delivered until Q3. How do you resolve this conflict?
People-centric planning helps teams avoid these conflicts and disconnects. Through this approach, teams create value streams that blend business and IT staff with common goals. Leaders from different functions prioritize according to negotiated agreements. The key is to strike the right balance between business priorities and back-end technical and architectural goals.
In these cases, it is often helpful to negotiate guardrails with the goal of balancing different types of work. These guardrails can often be expressed as percentages. For example, in a given quarter, the agreed upon percentages could be 20% of time allocated to defect resolution, 40% to developing new features, 20% to resolving technical debt, and 20% to discretionary work. In the next quarter, leaders would have a similar discussion and adjust the percentages as needed. To make this happen, business and technology leaders need to have a good working relationship.
People-centric planning helps teams establish closer alignment. When teams align around value streams with common goals, they can better align strategy and work, reduce unnecessary friction, and foster deeper collaboration. Shaping the backlog according to both business and technical needs helps teams establish a predictable cadence, increase trust, and accelerate progress.
Ultimately, by adopting people-centric planning, organizations can begin to align their fundraising approach with modern business and technology realities — and in the process, achieve greater agility, efficiency, and business performance.
For more information, please visit our People-Centric Planning page.
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