To improve IT at Majestic Insurance, CIO James Woolwine knew he had to involve business executives in technology decisions. So he created a formal governance process. "The way to manage an IT department ... is to align it with business goals," Woolwine says.

Here's how the process works:

• The department heads meet with Woolwine monthly to propose and prioritize IT projects. The group creates a list of projects, which include business issues, such as addressing Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, and specific technology projects, like bringing in workflow imaging tools. So the list stays manageable, only seven projects can be on it, at most.
• An executive management team, or EMT, meets weekly to discuss IT projects and receive updates. The EMT must sign off on any project before it can begin.

This governance model spreads IT decision making across multiple business parties throughout a project's lifecycle. "You have to give up control of your IT department and let the business decide," Woolwine says. "You really become an educator, an internal salesperson who tries to get businesspeople engaged with technology."