There is a lot of discussion in IT circles about creating effective organizations. But what does that really mean and how do you go about creating one?

According to Charles Araujo, president and managing consultant of CastlePointe, a lot of people confuse effectiveness with the concept of being really good at doing something. You hear people say that “it was an effective presentation” when they’re trying to tell someone that the presenter did a good job executing the delivery. But saying that something or someone is effective means much more than that it was just a job well done; being effective means that it achieved its intended objective.

This is a significant distinction and one that has relevance to many IT organizations. There are many IT organizations that, after years of process improvement efforts, now execute very efficiently - but in ways that provide very little value to the business. These organizations may be very efficient, but they are not effective because their execution is not in line with what the business truly expects.

To create an effective organization, you must identify those practices or elements within your current organizational capabilities that are hindering your ability to fulfill your mission. With these gaps identified, you can develop a plan to build the necessary capabilities. While this may sound simple, it can challenge the common approach that organizations typically take when embarking on an improvement effort.

Charles Araujo offers the following steps to improve effectiveness in your organization.

More Slideshows:

---

14 Tips for a Successful IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Implementation
Overcome resistance to the structure imposed by ITIL implementation.

Microsoft Outlook 2010: Eight Great Features
Eight reasons businesses should consider upgrading to Microsoft Outlook 2010

How to Choose the Right Cloud
Private, Public, Hybrid -- Which is the right cloud model for your business?