Share what you know with millions of people
Focus is the best place to turn what you know into remarkable content
1
How can CMOs and CIOs work better together?
I was reading this article and it got me thinking, what can CMOs and CIOs do to better align their departments? What has worked in your company?
Events
- Dos and Don'ts of Small Business Marketing May 29 @ 11 am PT
- Lead Nurturing 202: The Next Generation May 31 @ 11 am PT
- The Tricks to Paid Media June 6 @ 11 am PT
- Display Advertising for Brand Awareness June 20 @ 11 am PT
Related Activity
2 Answers
My first impression whenever I read articles like this is: Your organization has some serious problems if individual *departments* and *departmental leaders* have to decide when and how to better cooperate with each other.
Every organization should be structured and operated in a way which fosters the greatest communication and cooperation and leveraging of assets between all of its teams. Otherwise, the CEO and COO (and/or the board) are not really doing their jobs. If different heads of departments have to independently find ways to work together effectively, then the long-term success of that organization is in jeopardy.
This is not to say that I believe that corporate leaders have no obligation to improve their working relationships with their peers. What I'm saying is that departmental leaders should not be the driving force in such cooperation -- this should be discussed, decided, implemented and monitored by the organization as a whole, under the leadership/guidance of the CEO/COO.
If not, there will always be ridiculous obstacles in the potential productivity, and we'll lead a series of additional "How can CxOs and CxOs work better together?" for every combination of CxO in a given company.
-ASB: http://XeeMe.com/AndrewBaker
Good morning! A number of our clients are CMOs and many of their clients are CIOs. Thus a couple observations if I may …
In the article, Rule 4 (Get CEO sign-off on program goals and deadlines) and Rule 5 (Air out philosophies, biases and constraints before the project begins) appear subordinate when in reality they have to happen first. The “play nice” guidance in Rules 1-3 depends on Rules 4 and 5. Rule 6 about sharing dashboards is about administrative convenience, not alignment per se.
Marketers always drive IT crazy because we change our minds a lot. Some clients address this by using SaaS technologies rather than burdening their in-house tech team with frequent amendments and reversals of direction. Still, as Andrew Baker points out, the business strategy that informs all CMO and CIO initiatives comes alive only via coordination if not direct collaboration. And that’s why the CEO and COO and Board “own” the alignment thing.
Answer This Question