250 Marchh 2021CITY OF MEMPHIS
from our office so we went along anyway. We
were blown away to find out that they not only
recycled but also provided hardware and did
imaging. We had found a very lean outfit, very
well organized and a very good partner for us.
So, two weeks later when we needed these
laptops we went to them rather a local retailer.
I reached out to them and they responded
immediately and they were able to deliver.”
This was a great confidence builder for
a division led by an untried CIO at a time
when Memphis needed its IT team to deliver.
It also illustrated the value in the focus she
gives to relationship-building. “Everything
came together as if we had practiced it
beforehand.” she said. As it happened, the
way was smoothed by the fact that Microsoft
Teams software had already been purchased
by the City of Memphis though it had never
been turned on. “We turned it on and we
put together some quick reference guides
and training materials. We simply sent
everybody home and that worked and it
has been phenomenal all the way through
and everybody has responded and it has
been a very good experience for us to see
how we have been able to come together
with partnership-building and relationship-
building.” In fact, so successful has been the
move to remote working that this arrangement
will be made permanent for many.
The tools may have been in place but that's
only half the story. We've seen how Kimberly
Bailey leads by consensus, not wanting to
impose solutions as it were, from above.
So right at the beginning of the process she
surveyed her teams to see how they felt about
working from home. “I wanted to be mindful
of the fact that many of my team have young
people studying and maybe elderly relatives
who need attention from time to time. We
have a hoteling arrangement: if someone
needs to come in or a team needs to meet,
they can schedule a space. We don't want
anyone to feel excluded, we just want them“ I want to know what each person
does, what they like about their
work and what they would
suggest to make it better”
KIMBERLY BAILEY
CIO,
CITY OF MEMPHIS