What are your top tips on how technology can be used to improve business?
Technology can be used to improve business by allowing organizations to communicate in ways not available in the past due to the poor quality, lack of availability, or high cost of equipment. Emerging telepresence services now offer an alternative to face-to-face meetings that still provides a rewarding exchange of information while cutting down on the time and money spent on travel.
Using technology to support virtual training is another benefit for businesses that need to refresh the skills of a global workforce yet do not have the funding to have employees travel to a central location. New techniques such as whiteboarding, polling, breakout rooms, and more make online training sessions truly interactive. The end result is a collaborative and engaging session that accomplishes the task at a much lower cost and without requiring the resources to travel.
What item of news recently caught your eye and why?
The way Facebook, Twitter, and other social media were able to influence political change in the Middle East. Social media is changing the identities and lives of young people who have not had a voice in the past. The speed with which information is shared—and the ease of access to a network of people from different walks of life—quickly brings people together and enables them to pursue common goals. Organizations must recognize the enormous impact these tools will have well into the future.
If you could choose another profession, what would it be?
I’d like to be the owner of a bookstore because there is nothing better than a good book!
What quality or qualities do you most value in your business associates?
Personal accountability is paramount, as is leading by example and setting the tone for the necessary structure and discipline of a team’s environment. Equally important is building trust and respect by engaging in open and honest communications.
What do you think is the worst bad habit to have at work?
Organizations are really about the people. One of a leader’s main responsibilities is to develop a solid team with a diverse set of skills and capabilities. The worst bad habit for a leader to have is to be threatened by high-potential employees in the organization and as a result not devote time and energy into further developing those employees to achieve the highest levels in the organization.
As someone at the top of your profession, what keeps you inspired or makes you hit the ground running in the morning?
Watching an organization grow and develop a unity of effort. It is truly about teamwork, and I am inspired to watch teams come together to achieve the impossible. It is rewarding to be a part of that journey and to know that you were a part of creating the environment that made a real difference in what the team was able to achieve.
About Sheri Thureen
Sheri Thureen is Vice President of Enterprise Business Transformation within CSC’s North American Public Sector—Defense. She has 23 years of information technology experience, including 18 years ERP experience. Thureen has extensive business and project-management experience and has led numerous projects involving ERP implementations, business reengineering transformations, infrastructure upgrades, and sales and marketing initiatives. She has worked on global projects spanning Europe, Asia, and the United States.
Prior to her current assignment, Thureen managed the Enterprise Business Solutions Division within the CSC Defense Group. She also managed the Logistics Modernization Program (LMP). This program successfully delivered global logistical modernization to the United States Army in support of the Army Materiel Command’s global logistics network. Under her direction, CSC’s solution became one of the largest fully integrated supply-chain, maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) solutions in the world.
About CSC
CSC is a global leader in providing technology-enabled solutions and services through three primary lines of business. These include Business Solutions and Services, the Managed Services Sector, and the North American Public Sector. CSC’s advanced capabilities include system design and integration, information technology and business process outsourcing, applications software development, Web and application hosting, mission support, and management consulting. The company has been recognized as a leader in the industry, including being named by FORTUNE magazine as one of the World’s Most Admired Companies for Information Technology Services (2011). Headquartered in Falls Church, Va., CSC has approximately 93,000 employees and reported revenue of $16.2 billion for the 12 months ended December 31, 2010. For more information, visit the company’s website at www.csc.com.
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