Building Bridges: 7 Ways to Get Marketing & IT to Play Nice

We all have our war stories, everyone in the web business.  Marketing has trouble getting through to IT, and IT gets supremely frustrated with Marketing.  But you know what, we all have to work together, more so now than ever.  It benefits everyone if we make an effort to get along.

At the Optimost Optimization Summit held here in San Francisco on October 3rd, I had the opportunity to moderate a panel discussion entitled Building Bridges: Strategies for Overcoming the Marketing/IT Chasm.  I had 4 panelists, all clients and partners of Optimost, who shared their own war stories and also provided insights about what it takes to get Marketing and IT to play nice. 

Here's what I learned from my panelists:

1. Choose the right person or group to serve as the bridge.  Look for a good communicator who has a really solid understanding of IT but also knows the business side.  If you're going to fill this role internally, consider an IT person who'd like to make a career transition to business.
2. Transcend politics.  Sometimes it helps to bring in a politically agnostic party to fill the bridge role, perhaps a consultant.  [Disclosure: yes I am a consultant.  However, this was an unsolicited comment from my panelist on the client side.]
3. Encourage regular communication.  Get an IT rep to attend Marketing meetings, and get a Marketing rep to attend IT meetings.
4. Recognize the issue of control.  IT often doesn't want to give up control to Marketing, so make sure control is considered before you act.  Example: involve IT in vendor selection - don't just buy a tool and spring it on them.
5. Consider timing.  Nobody likes last-minute requests!  Marketers need to give sufficient lead time when requests are made.  If you know you'll need help with an upcoming project, communicate project status to everyone.
6. Provide context.  When asking IT for help, share not just WHAT but WHY they're being asked to do something.  Conversely when IT communicates back how long something will take, it's helpful to know why it'll take that amount of time.
7. Share results.  At the end of a successful project, be sure to acknowledge IT for their contribution.

Toward the end of the session one audience member made a great observation about why we're often at odds: Marketing wants change and IT wants stability.  Think about it - Marketing strives to find newer, better ways of reaching the customer, and IT's goal is to keep the system running smoothly in the first place.  Next time you find yourself in a conflict between these groups, try standing in the other person's shoes. 

Incidentally, I'm new to public speaking, so getting up on stage at the Optimost event was a big deal for me.  I'll be up on stage again at eMetrics in DC on October 16th; this time I get to talk about Successful Career Management Strategies for Web Analytics Professionals.  If you're there, please stop by and say hello.

And go on, there's the comment form.  Tell me your thoughts on bridge-building.

Comments

[Judah]

Hi June,

Good points! I'd also add "listen generously" and "prioritize deliverables." :)

See you soon!

Judah