Last week I wrote about some perceptions and realities with how IT and Marketing work together in an organization. This week I want to share some steps each group can take to make their coexistence possible in peace and harmony:
Communication – Effective communication at the appropriate time does wonders. Try it and see. It is really very simple, but for some reason harder to put into practice.
Involvement of IT – This is more of an extension of the previous point. The sooner Marketing involves IT, the better it is for both parties. It can be difficult for IT to understand why the marketers want to take a certain path if they are not involved from the outset. You will be surprised to see the “marketer” in an IT person if they are involved right at the beginning.
Flexibility – Admittedly, IT needs to be more flexible in their processes. And I think overall, new methodologies have been introduced (for ex. Agile, SCRUM etc.) which show more flexibility in implementing concepts brought about by marketers.
Verbal approach – Again I hate to generalize, but there have been times when IT has been too firm around enbracing a crazy new idea. This can cause miscommunication and mistrust. We call need to learn to explain the “why” and not just say, “that’s not a good idea”.
Bottom line is, we are one – both IT and Marketing are part of the same company desiring success.
Here at “The Bag”, curiosity and passion with both IT & Marketing are shared traits. So a little bit of love and appreciation goes a long way. Don’t you agree?
