Articles
Marrying Marketing and High Tech
By Daniel Oromaner
December 1986
Editor's note: Daniel Oromaner is President of The Qualitative Difference, Inc. This article has been edited for length and is based on a group facilitation/team building project for Citicorp.
Two years ago, a Columbia University study conducted for Business Week magazine confirmed what most executives already knew from experience: the work philosophies, standards, and goals of computer people--the techies--differ markedly from those of management people.
Gradually, as the computer has become the life force of many organizations, this gap is closing, partially because of an emerging trend in crossover functions as managers become more at ease in the world of technology.
There still remains, however, a significant disparity between those individuals in people-related fields--sometimes referred to as "touchy-feelies"--and computer people. The differences are understandable.
Members of the marketing, advertising, market research, personnel, and training departments have been educated to read, predict, evaluate, and influence human behavior. The touchy-feelies operate in a subjective world of broad concepts and intuitive reasoning. The techies, on the other hand, labor in a maze of precise, impersonal data that can be manipulated at will.
In the past, the techies and touchy-feelies in the banking industry have had little need to bridge the gap between them. Now, in the arena of electronic services, a sudden demand for compatibility has developed between the two camps. In many cases, the relationship has been rocky, creating needless delays in an already highly competitive industry.
For marketing executives, the new area of electronic banking has necessitated a solid understanding of the needs and motivations of the market that is ready or potentially ready to convert to computer services. It has also meant that marketers must become familiar with the technology's capabilities and conversant in the language associated with the technology. Those responsible for the actual design of the software have had to learn to create a product that truly simplifies and expedites a customer's financial affairs while remaining user friendly.
To cut development costs, many banks have entered into joint ventures with non-banking entities, further increasing the need for tight working relationships and close communication across industries.
In one institution, the techies perceived the members of the marketing department as disorganized creatives who harbored unrealistic expectations for the technology and the speed with which the software could be developed. The marketing department saw their techies as insensitive to a market that had neither the time nor motivation to adjust to a program's complicated functions.
Emotions were so high and the level of cooperation so low that the marketing director hesitated to place herself in the position of project manager for the upcoming strategy sessions. She decided that an outsider, who had no real or perceived hidden agenda, would make a bettor facilitator for the sessions. Although an independent moderator is not always necessary, in this instance the director believed that both the technology and marketing staffs would benefit from the objectivity an outsider could provide.
Strategy Sessions
Utilize an Offsite facility. Whether or not an outside moderator is used, strategy sessions are always more productive if they are held away from corporate premises. This is particularly true if the participants have strong underlying resistance or hostility toward one another or to the topic at hand. Offsites generally reduce the number of interruptions and provide a psychological separation from work-related stresses and the accumulation of problems that have developed in the recent past.
A Balanced Agenda. A well-planned program, providing a mixture of relaxing activities and carefully designed hostility-reducing exercises allows participants to lower resistance and open their minds to others' ideas and frustrations. The value of these exercises, which are sometimes dismissed as purely recreational, should never be underestimated. They help establish or mend relationships that will be crucial during the strategy formation stage and later, when the strategies need to be implemented by a coordinated communicative team. There is no substitute for cooperation. There is no better way to achieve cooperation than through the creation of common understanding and good feelings.
Reduce Resistance to the Meeting Itself. One of the simplest, yet most effective, means to reduce hostility or resistance is to address these feelings immediately, before the main topic of the meeting is broached. Begin the sessions by asking participants to list on paper each of the reasons why they do and do not want to be at this particular meeting. When these lists are later read aloud, participants are able to air their own apprehensions as well as hear those of others. The understanding that each has pressures and misgivings often generates a sympathetic bond between groups or individuals at even the most opposite poles.
Establish Clear Goals. The next crucial task is to define the goals for the session. Participants bring a number and variety of misconceptions and personal agendas to these kinds of meetings. As a result, the facilitator should ask participants to list each of their specific expectations on paper. These expectations are then recorded on a flip chart as they are verbalized for the group. This procedure allows the facilitator to clearly define the goals of the sessions and the nature of the issues that will need to be addressed. It also provides the opportunity to pinpoint those topics that will not be covered during the sessions. This will help reduce deliberate or accidental sidetracking and non-productive tangents later on.
Establish a Common Language. Every industry develops its own buzzwords. In a banking institution, each department also has a tendency to develop its own vocabulary. Departments will also learn to function with a certain set of values and procedures that become second nature to the employees. When two different departments must work together, they can never assume that a common understanding or that a common vocabulary exists between them. A simple phrase such as, "as soon as possible," may translate, "in two or three days" to a marketer used to functioning under the constraints of consumer and banking trends. The same phrase could represent six months of analysis to a computer programmer working with a series of minute and complex data. One of the leader's functions will be to make certain that every participant understands the terms and concepts that are used during the sessions.
Encourage the Positive; Discourage the Negative. The session leader will set a positive tone for the meeting if he or she accepts, uncritically, all remarks and suggestions. By recording every response on a flip chart, the leader encourages freethinking and communicates the message that all suggestions are valued and have potential for further development. Group participants should not be allowed to denigrate or dismiss the ideas of others. Suggestions can be evaluated later for their feasibility but should not be discouraged during the initial process. Ideas that may be seen as too simple or too outrageous at first, in the final analysis, be the most logical solution to the problem.
Praise Creativity and Innovation. When individuals are afraid of censure or criticism, they will limit their participation to a very narrow range of "acceptable" responses. To encourage creative solutions, the leader must listen carefully for divergent thoughts and innovative ideas and praise their originators. If none are forthcoming and the group's collective imagination seems stalemated, creative exercises, completely unrelated to the problem at hand, may be warranted. These exercises, of which there are many, are designed to stimulate the child-like part of every adult that is more accepting of unconventional ideas. They are also fun. Often, the most serious problems can be more easily solved when all involved learn to "lighten up."
Be on the Lookout for Hostility. Throughout the meeting, the leader must be sensitive to any continuing signs of group hostility. These may include a refusal to participate in discussions or activities, disruptive talking or note passing, or negative body postures. In cases of overt hostility, the leader should ask each participant to state his or her feelings. In this way, the leader may obtain a clearer understanding of what is bothering the group, and possibly discover that only a few individuals are uncomfortable. Once the extent and source of the difficulty is clarified, the group leader then can work with the group to address the concerns and get everyone back on track.
Clarifying Decisions. Before the end of a session, the leader must always take sufficient time to recap. It is absolutely necessary to determine if each participant has an accurate understanding of the decisions made during the session. Participants must comprehend their specific responsibilities, and know with whom they will be working and to whom they will be reporting. Definite, realistic timelines and deadlines must be set and agreed to.
Evaluate the Session. Asking for written evaluations of each session will allow the leader to judge the group's progress and detect any remaining problem areas. Participants are also assured, once again, that they are being heard.
"Till Death Do Us Part"
The need for communication and cooperation between departments and, in the case of joint ventures, entire companies will increase as advanced technological services become more pervasive. The marriage of "high tech" with "high touch" may not be made in heaven, but it is a marriage made forever. The banking industry is hoping that computer systems set up for home banking will become as common as ATMs.
It will be the responsibility of the marketing department, working closely with technicians, to develop and position a palatable electronic product that will keep a bank's service competitive. The accomplishment of this task will require marketing executives who are at home with technology and who have the skills necessary to establish effective channels of communication among all the departments involved.