From leading digital transformation initiatives to finding and retaining the best talent, from securing company’s critical assets to supporting remote and hybrid work, from looking at all the metrics to presenting key findings in front of board members, CIOs have a lot on their plates.
Being a CIO of a company can be tough especially, if you are new. The first 100 days are critical and can make or break your career as a CIO. Veteran CIOs have experience on their side whch saves them from making the same mistakes that new CIOs make. Unfortunately, new CIOs don’t have this liberty. As a result, they tend to make mistakes. There is nothing wrong with that until they can learn from it and improve.
If you are interested in learning about the most common mistakes new CIOs make so you can avoid them then this article is for you. In this article, you will learn about seven common mistakes new CIOs make and how to avoid them.
7 Common Mistakes New CIOs Make and How To Avoid Them
Here are seven common mistakes new CIOs make and what they can do to avoid them.
- Trying to Change Too Many Things Too Quickly
According to the State of CIO report 2022, 84% of IT leaders believed that CIOs are expected to be changemakers and lead both technology and business initiatives from the forefront. This would put new CIOs and even experienced CIOs under a lot of pressure as they have no choice but to accelerate change implementation and adoption.
When you are a new CIO, your goal is to make a great first impression, which further fuels this approach. This forces CIOs to try to push too many buttons at the same time in the quest to change a lot of things instantly. This approach can backfire. They don’t understand the challenges and hurdles they will encounter when trying to do too many things at once.
You could face stiff resistance from employees if you try to change too many things at once as most organizations have a threshold when it comes to change. If you go beyond that, they won’t accept it. That is where young CIOs need to dial back their expectations in order to achieve success with change implementation.
- Not Understanding The Organizational Culture
One of the most common mistakes most new CIOs make is they spend much less time on understanding the organization culture than they should. This makes it difficult for them to adjust in a new setup. Experts recommend new IT leaders to spend more time on understanding the departmental culture as well as overall organizational culture so you know exactly how things work. This would make it easy for you to adjust and make necessary changes.
- Neglecting The People Altogether
According to a research conducted by Gartner, 74% of all technology purchases are partially funded by other business units other than IT. 53% of organizations said that their directors are the key decision makers followed by CIOs and CTOs when it comes to making investment in technologies like cloud hosting providers
This means that if you need to succeed as a CIO, you need to develop long term relationships with business unit heads. Most new CIOs struggle when it comes to forging long term relationships with these key decision makers and fail to persuade or influence them. Due to this, they fail to get the buy in and support from these key stakeholders for IT initiatives they are undertaking.
- Building Relationships Only With The Top Brass
On the other side of the spectrum are CIOs who only focus on building relationships with the top executives. This can also be a mistake as you need to build relationships at every level of the organization in order to succeed as a CIO. When you talk with employees at a lower level, you will come to know about their perspective and the challenges they are facing.
This will help you to develop a holistic IT strategy that not only caters to the needs of top executives but also solves the problems employees are facing at a lower level of the organization. Whether it is your front line workers or vendors and suppliers, back office employees or employees working in different departments such as HR, finance and marketing, talking to them can help you in the long run.
- Flying Solo
Just because you are the CIO of the company does not mean that you don’t need help. There are instances where even the most seasoned CIOs tend to struggle. That is where they need support from their allies but most importantly a mentor to guide them solve a complex problem. Instead of trying to fly solo, build a team you can trust. A team that can help you when you need it the most.
- Jumping Straight In Without Listening First
Most new CIOs try their best to make a great first impression early on. To do this, they try to accomplish their goals in a hurry. This forces them to dive into the ocean without testing the depth of the water with their two feets. Instead of spending some time developing a better understanding through listening to others and analyzing the data, they go at it straightaway.
Since they don’t really know what works and what does not, they end up taking many missteps along the way. By spending some time listening, understanding and analyzing, new CIOs can develop a better understanding of the pain points, prioritize projects more efficiently and can also find the right people to assign the tasks to.
- Ignoring The Process and Technology
Most CIOs are technically sound but with so much on their to-do list, they could sometimes lose focus of key processes and technologies that are driving the organization including the best dedicated server in usa. As a new CIO, it is even more important to take some time to study the business and technology processes and the entire technology stack that also includes singapore vps hosting. The better you understand how the processes and technology like cheapest dedicated server hosting works, the easier it is for you to manage things.
Which is the biggest mistake you have ever made as a new CIO? Share it with us in the comments section below.
You could face stiff resistance from employees if you try to change too many
things at once as most organizations have a threshold when it comes to change. If
you go beyond that, they won’t accept it. That is where young CIOs need to dial
back their expectations in order to achieve success with change implementation.
2.Not Understanding The Organizational Culture
One of the most common mistakes most new CIOs make is they spend much less
time on understanding the organization culture than they should. This makes it
difficult for them to adjust in a new setup. Experts recommend new IT leaders to
spend more time on understanding the departmental culture as well as overall
organizational culture so you know exactly how things work. This would make it
easy for you to adjust and make necessary changes.
3.Neglecting The People Altogether
According to a research conducted by Gartner, 74% of all technology purchases
are partially funded by other business units other than IT. 53% of organizations
said that their directors are the key decision makers followed by CIOs and CTOs
when it comes to making investment in technologies like cloud hosting providers
This means that if you need to succeed as a CIO, you need to develop long term
relationships with business unit heads. Most new CIOs struggle when it comes to
forging long term relationships with these key decision makers and fail to persuade
or influence them. Due to this, they fail to get the buy in and support from these
key stakeholders for IT initiatives they are undertaking.
4.Building Relationships Only With The Top Brass
On the other side of the spectrum are CIOs who only focus on building
relationships with the top executives. This can also be a mistake as you need to
build relationships at every level of the organization in order to succeed as a CIO.
When you talk with employees at a lower level, you will come to know about their
perspective and the challenges they are facing.
This will help you to develop a holistic IT strategy that not only caters to the needs
of top executives but also solves the problems employees are facing at a lower
level of the organization. Whether it is your front line workers or vendors and
suppliers, back office employees or employees working in different departments
such as HR, finance and marketing, talking to them can help you in the long run.
5.Flying Solo
Just because you are the CIO of the company does not mean that you don’t need
help. There are instances where even the most seasoned CIOs tend to struggle.
That is where they need support from their allies but most importantly a mentor to
guide them solve a complex problem. Instead of trying to fly solo, build a team you
can trust. A team that can help you when you need it the most.
6.Jumping Straight In Without Listening First
Most new CIOs try their best to make a great first impression early on. To do this,
they try to accomplish their goals in a hurry. This forces them to dive into the
ocean without testing the depth of the water with their two feets. Instead of
spending some time developing a better understanding through listening to others
and analyzing the data, they go at it straightaway.
Since they don’t really know what works and what does not, they end up taking
many missteps along the way. By spending some time listening, understanding and
analyzing, new CIOs can develop a better understanding of the pain points,
prioritize projects more efficiently and can also find the right people to assign the
tasks to.
7.Ignoring The Process and Technology
Most CIOs are technically sound but with so much on their to-do list, they could
sometimes lose focus of key processes and technologies that are driving the
organization including the best dedicated server in usa . As a new CIO, it is even
more important to take some time to study the business and technology processes
and the entire technology stack that also includes singapore vps hosting. The better
you understand how the processes and technology like cheapest dedicated server
hosting works, the easier it is for you to manage things.
Which is the biggest mistake you have ever made as a new CIO? Share it with us
in the comments section below.
