It’s now common to find multi-generational tech teams in large corporations, and it’s a great way for the young to learn from the old and vice versa.

These teams are critical to business growth, yet frequently they’re neglected when it comes to personal growth. While older team members may have experienced significant
transformations within the company, often not much has changed for them personally.

Bi-modal IT teams

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The term bi-modal is often used to refer to the division between legacy and new technology teams, systems and services operating together. This is highlighted when large corporations buy smaller online digital businesses.

In these cases, the IT team needs to be able to maintain both the new and legacy technologies. In this situation, a flexible approach is required, and older team members can become frustrated with new ways of working.

Rather than running the risk of losing knowledgeable staff members, you should ensure your IT teams get the training and guidance they need to adapt to new situations.

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How to orchestrate change

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The agility you need to handle a bi-modal IT
environment will not come from the legacy team if they’ve been neglected when it comes to training and personal development.

If you have a multi-generational team, and bi-modal
differences, you will also have multiple approaches and
viewpoints. For example, those working with newer digital
environments are generally more agile and used to frequent change. Those working with legacy systems are used to doing more monitoring and changes happen less frequently.

Therefore, change needs to be managed. It helps to find champions within your legacy and modern teams to facilitate integration between people and systems. And acknowledge that there is more than one solution to any problem – both legacy and modern employees should give their input into how change can be handled.

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Less analysis, more collaboration

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Another big adjustment in the way IT staff function has come about because computer systems are now more reliable and updated more frequently, meaning the need for sysadmin is diminishing.

While analysis is still a requirement, there’s another way to assess change – and that’s to collaborate. For legacy IT staff, this is a big shift, especially if you’re someone who wants to work with computers and not people.

It is now about aligning systems and software with business needs rather than just accepting the parameters of
whatever the system or software offers. And with the advent of cloud technologies, legacy technology employees must learn to adapt or look for a new career as organisations outsource IT functions to third-party providers.

Bridge that gap

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In multi-generational IT teams, there’s often a distinct divide between legacy and new staff, and this is never more apparent than in merger and acquisition situations. Older team members may have neglected to learn new skills or not been given the opportunity to by their employers.

Preparing for post-merger integration is an ideal time to review how the working environment has changed over the years for your IT teams, and how well equipped you think they are to deal with future transformation.

Plan for PMI success

If you’d like to know how to prepare your teams and systems for post-merger integration success and gain maximum value from your IT,
contact us for a friendly discussion regarding your particular business needs.

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