Ask most management teams and they'll say getting their organization on board with a new technology purchase and implementation is a big task. Having said that, some organizations sail through the process with great team participation and improved productivity and others don't. Why not? What's the difference? In this session you will learn the secret to creating a successful identification, selection and implementation plan. You will walk away with the tools you need to make better Technology decisions and become an integral part of the technology success for your organization. Speaker: Cheryl Marks Young, CFO, Easter Seals New Jersey Presentation delivered at ProformaTECH 2014 - http://www.proformatech.com Track: Managing Change | Session: 5

1. Empowering
Your Team:
Selecting the
Right Technology
Partner
Cheryl Marks Young
CFO, Easter Seals New Jersey

2. Agenda
• Introductions
• Technology Acumen for Leaders
•
•
•
•
Technical vs Strategic
Personality types – dealing with information overload
Key Technology Concepts
Cutting through the data – 5Qs – What does it all mean?
• ROI (return on investment) and WIIFM (what’s in it for me)
• Telling your story
• Influencing outcomes
• Using data and SMEs (subject matter experts)
• Case Studies
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3. Quotes
• “In god we trust. All others bring data”
• “If you can't describe what you are doing as a process (briefly), you don't
know what you're doing.”
• “If you do not know how to ask the right question, you discover nothing.”
~ W. Edwards Deming ~
Father of Statistical Quality Control & Inventor of
the “Plan-Do-Check-Act” Cycle
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4. Technology Acumen
• Technical versus Strategic Thinking
• Definition/Description
• When to use which concept
• Knowing your limitations and those of your audience
• Speaking their language
• Minimize or define mnemonics or abbreviations or subject specific lingo.
• Wear your own hat of authority - credibility
• Use the expert rules and regulations as a resource to back up your recommendations as
the underlying premise only
• Enlist SMEs (subject matter experts) where necessary
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5. Personality Type With Data
• Dealing with data overload
• The goal is to influence the outcome
• When too much of a good thing is not effective.
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6. Technology Acumen – Hierarchy of Financial Leadership
(with credit to Warren Tranquada, VP & CFO of NJPAC and apologies to Maslow)
Tranquada’s Theorem
“You can’t do the fun
higher level stuff unless
the base of the pyramid
is strong”
Strategy
Planning
Strategic
Leadership
Risk Management
Analysis
Reporting
Control
Compliance
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Base
Tactical

7. Technology Acumen – Key Questions
Key Questions to assess technology needs
• What problem am I trying to solve?
• What output/outcome is needed?
• Who understands the problem internally?
• Who supports the technology solution internally? Externally?
• What is the competition using?
• Do I see any trends in technology projects internally or externally?
• What decisions do I need to make and/or actions do I need to take based on
the technology and financial information?
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8. Cutting Through the Data
5 Qs
• What?
• Why?
• When?
• Where?
• How?
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9. Choosing Your Team
• Committee Structure
• Cross Functional Teams
• Internal Subject Matter Experts
• External Subject Matter Experts
• Stakeholders
• Mediators
• Time keepers
• Note takers
• Guardians of the “Gate”
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10. Team Responsibilities
• Review
• Design
• Decide
• “Sell”
• Implement
• Test
• Adjust
• Test
• Repeat Test/Adjust/Test as often as necessary until desired results achieved
• Train
• Go Live
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11. Selling Your Decision
• Influencing Outcomes
• Rules of the Road for Success
• Be Brief
• Be Specific
• Include credible data and use expert references as needed
• Be Mindful
• Be Solution Focused
• Translate the benefits of what you are trying to achieve into a benefit for your
customer
• Be Prepared
• Respond to questions – “Good Question”; I’ll get back to you vs I don’t know.
• Follow up
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12. Telling Your Story – Getting to YES
• Perspective is a Critical Success Factor
The Goal is not to implement a winning strategy or program…
It is to accelerate operational (or other) excellence to create sustainable
competitive advantage.
When we look for “Silver Bullet” Solutions we can wind up with a “Program of
the Month Mentality”. Nobody will buy another one of “those”.
Balance your perspective and walk in the other person’s shoes before you make
your pitch. Communicate a Value Proposition they can use.
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13. Telling Your Story – What is “Value”
“The Value of an item must not be based on it’s Price, but rather on the Utility that it yields”
~ Commentarii Academiae Scientiarum
~ Imperialis Petropolitanae, Tomus V
~1738
“Value depends entirely on Utility”
~ The Theory of Political Economy
~1871
“The inherent worth of a “product” is judged by the customer”
~ The Lean Lexicon
~2008
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14. Telling Your Story – “Creativity Before Capital Request”
$1 Million vs $1 Dollar Solution
During the early days of the Space program, engineers spent $1 Million to invent
a ball point pen that would write in space. Our then competition, took a pencil.
Remember to think about perspective and value propositions.
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15. Exercise – Case Studies – Influencing Outcomes
• Review Committees – Cross Functional Teams
• Your job is to review and rate each case study and answer the following
questions:
• What problem is being identified?
• Where is the problem?
• Why is it important to solve this problem?
• How is the problem being solved?
• When will the problem be solved?
• What resources are being requested?
• Who benefits: positive and negative results of this project?
• What is the ROI for this project?
• Would you approve this project and all related funding?
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16. Discussion – Case Studies
• General Ledger Package
• Electronic Records Management System
• Electronic Billing System
• Customization vs Out of the Box or Off the Shelf
• Keeping it Simple
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17. Getting to Real Results
Lessons learned:
• Identify internal and external champions
• If at first you don’t succeed…
• Think outside the box: your first solution may not be the only solution
• Creative problem solving is critical
• Cross functional teams are beneficial to success
• Quality Improvement projects are not always a zero sum game
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19. Thank You For Attending
Empowering
Your Team:
Selecting the
Right Technology
Partner
Cheryl Marks Young
CFO, Easter Seals New Jersey
Email: Cyoung@nj.easterseals.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/cherylmarksyoung/