Executing a Pandemic Plan: The CIOs Response to COVID-19

CIOs representing a portion of Dallas’ largest organizations met virtually to discuss business continuity amidst the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19. At the time of the town hall on April 8, Dallas residents had been working from home for several weeks. New cases were increasing in the area, but officials believed the “Safer at Home” order was working. 

In this virtual gathering, participants discussed the execution of their pandemic plans. To set the stage, Dallas CIOs responded to a survey prior to the town hall indicating the following:

38% are continuing standard business operations at a reduced level

51% expect to return to normal business operations in less than 3 months 

48% report a high or extremely high impact on their organization’s revenue

53% predict a high or extremely high impact on their organization’s budget

The discussion was led by Chris Boult, CIO of Chuck E. Cheese; Ellen Barker, CIO of Texas Instruments; Mark Stone, SCIO of Texas A&M University; and Paola Arbour, Executive Vice President and CIO of Tenet Healthcare. They represent different sectors and discuss the implications for their respective entertainment, semiconductor, education and healthcare industries. They shared some similar experiences and successes on how their organizations are responding to the coronavirus crisis.

Evaluating the Preparation

Several executives thought their companies were well-prepared for remote work and had performed business continuity exercises. Most professionals in their workforces had laptops and VPN access. Some organizations were close, but not quite to 100% with remote access. Organizations that operate in Asia had a bit of advanced warning about what could happen with social distancing and remote work measures.  

Still, the scale and the speed at which the companies had to transition to work-from-home was hard to be fully prepared for. Decisions had to be made quickly, and teams had to be agile. Education institutions transitioned completely to online learning in less than two weeks. Healthcare organizations completely enacted their emergency response plans.

One takeaway for executives was how important it was to have a fully integrated, cross functional approach to risk management and business continuity – one that is not just about IT. Several thought the pandemic brought a cultural change around enterprise risk management and elevated the importance of it.

Challenges with Remote Work

A company with a lot of diversity in its infrastructure can find it difficult to release things quickly in a non-standard environment. Another organization was a few months away from complete connectivity and access to remote files, but not quite there. An unexpected situation arose for one company when remote workers were streaming entertainment on their company devices, inadvertently taking up too much bandwidth on the network.

A key takeaway was the need for agility over perfection in the solutions. Everyone agreed that the crisis response was a moment made for the “80/20” rule, where if the solution is close enough, it’s more important to release it and manage the issues as you go. It was not the time for bureaucracy; speed and transparent communications were essential. 

All executives also noted that they are paying close attention on the cybersecurity front because of the opportunities for people to take advantage of the situation and because of the potential need for new cyber security policies with a remote workforce.

80% right is good enough to get something out in order to be responsive and agile in a crisis.

Communicating and Staying Connected

The consensus from the discussion was that executives cannot communicate too much in a crisis. Executive teams are typically meeting daily, which is not unusual for some, but others noted their leadership teams have probably never spent more time thinking about IT operations.

Several CIOs are anticipating the possible negative economic outcomes of the crisis and how that might impact their employees. One IT team has basically taken over internal communications because they were experienced in change management and defining those messages. They noted it was important to check in regularly, not only to communicate critical messages but also to keep a pulse on morale.

Some other takeaways were emphasizing empathy in their messaging and noticing how important it has become to use video to stay connected. All were amazed at the collaboration, partnership and professionalism they have seen across their teams in a tough situation.

Thoughts from the Community

In the discussion about business continuity, the executives are starting to look ahead to return-to-work plans. In health care, they are likely to keep temperature testing and social distancing in place for the foreseeable future. Others are looking at phasing people back into the office on a rotating schedule of some kind. And one CIO is exploring a new remote onboarding plan for new hires. 

The conversation shifted to the greatest opportunities executives perceive coming out of the crisis, and the answers were enlightening. One CIO thought that they would see a fundamental change in their internal approach to decision making, with superfluous projects being taken off the table once everyone realized they weren’t important after all.

Another executive was excited for the rapid and widespread employee adoption of technology and appreciated that people were looking to IT for leadership and advice. Another felt that IT teams are now in the position of implementing true change management at the enterprise level.

by CIOs, for CIOs

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