For example, a recent presenter was a vice president who oversees the transportation company's long-distance drivers. "We had worked on six different applications for [the drivers] -- things like being able to give differential pay based on a driver's home location, issuing them a fuel card to give them our company discount at selected service stations across the country, and paying them for their orientation as our business partner," says Michael. After the presentation, Michael says, his team saw how those applications related to hiring and retaining drivers.

Michael also takes his people to the business. "We take someone in IT and send them to a terminal for a few days and let them see how it operates firsthand. This helps them understand what our business is like and gives them an insight into what IT can do to help them make money for the company," he says.

Picking personable people

Whom you manage can be as important as how you manage. "I try to find candidates who I know are very good communicators, who have had accolades for great customer service," says Cara A. Babachicos, CIO and corporate director at Partners Continuing Care System Inc., the nonacute care services division of Partners HealthCare System Inc. in Boston. According to Babachicos, good hires are people who have established a balance between job tasks and these kinds of skills.

"They need to be smart and technically astute, but it's all in how they present an issue and how people perceive it, and their communication of the matter," says Babachicos. And in the end, she says, it really comes down to whether people like them.