IMLP: Business Professionals with IT Expertise

© NH Business Resource CenterHave you ever noticed how hard it is sometimes, for any company, to put together in a conversation a very technical person (no matter in which area) and a Business Leader, and have them understand each other?

While the Business Leader owns the bigger picture, interested on how everything ties up to the company’s strategy, the technical person gets deep on the details, most of the time showing things that really don’t make any difference to the higher level. I have seen that happen to me as well (playing the technical guy role, of course).

One day I was presenting the strategy for the upgrade of some servers to a Business Leader working outside of IT. I prepared a very nice timeline slide that showed all servers with their “war names,” which projects were being done in each of them, when they were going to be phased out, etc. From my end, it seemed great. When the leader saw it, though, it took me 10 minutes to explain that the blue box was the old server, the green was the new one, the “xyz” server was the staging one, and the “abc” was the Production (and the most important to him). And then he said: “OK. This slide looks great, and I can understand everything with you by my side explaining, which is good. But I think you should show somehow, in an easy way, that the new servers are way better than the old ones. This would sell the idea to me even more.” What he meant with that was (in my own words), "Show me in Business numbers how much I can grow with your solution, for how long I won't need to worry about infrastructure, and how much faster can I generate my reports."

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The Business Impact of Social Events and Networks

Lately, I have heard my friends who work outside of GE making remarks about social networking and social events that understate the business benefit of connecting with coworkers outside the traditional office setting.  Comments surface in general conversation like "social networking is just for college students" or "social events like dinners, picnics and outings are just frivolous wastes of time".

I would argue (and GE seems to agree), that the exact opposite is true.  Social events and online social networking develop the internal connections that make doing my job at GE faster and more efficient.  Here are a few examples of social events, groups and networks at GE that make me more effective and knowledgeable on the job:

All Programs Council (APC)

As an IMLP at GE Healthcare, I participated in the All Programs Council, an organization that facilitates interaction between all of GE's leadership programs and direct hires.  Other GE businesses have similar groups as well. They organize professional development speakers, MBA/Graduate fairs, sports activities and evening outings.   By participating in these events, IMLPs quickly get to know people of their age group in the talent pipeline across the business whom they can rely on when they need information on any function(HR, Engineering, Finance, etc).

IMLP Best Practice Sharing Committee

This group organizes events and sessions within the IMLP program so all of the IMLP participants from all over the world can benefit from each others' experience through training sessions and seminars.

GE Connect

Can't find the right person with the right knowledge to help with your job?  Just looking to connect with people who work in similar positions to share knowledge?  GE Connect, GE's own social network is the place to go.  The power of GE Connect to accelerate the way we do business is evident in this post from Jason Meller:

"When other professionals ask me about my experiences working for GE, a company with over 300,000 employees, my normal response is that it can actually feel like a tightly knit group. How is this possible? Well it turns out GE’s been playing the facebook game as early as 1999 with a custom built tool called Support Central."

I could keep going with all the other social events and opportunities that build better teams at work but, I would like to hear from you, our readers.  Wether you are an IMLP reading this blog, or a student who has experienced this social team building effect in other  businesses, what are your most positive social/business experiences and how did they aid you in your day to day work?