All too often CIOs seem to have a “build it and they will come” attitude to the applications and services that their organizations create and deliver. They believe that if the IT team does a good job then the rest of the company will realize it and their value to the company will increase. Sorry guys, it doesn’t work that way. What CIOs need to be doing is systematically promoting themselves and their IT department through carefully orchestrated campaigns.

What a lot of organizations don’t realize is that IT departments operate on a different “clock” from the rest of the business. Almost every other department is closely tied to the fiscal quarterly cycle. Quarter end is the point at which these departments make a song and dance about their achievements. But things tend to be a bit different in IT.

Almost everything in IT is project-based and these projects may have little relationship with the rest of the enterprise’s cycle. Implementing a major application, creating a new private cloud, or setting up a data warehouse are projects that have no clear relationship to the flow of the business calendar.

What this means is that IT people — and by extension the CIO — tend to either keep their heads down, staying focused on projects that are “in flight” until those projects are completed, or raising their heads at a random point when few colleagues will appreciate their achievements. To market the IT organization effectively, the CIO needs to synch up with the rest of the business and produce time-positive messaging to coincide with financial period ends when everyone is looking at metrics of success.

There are other tactics CIOs can use:

• Move away from the loner attitude Within the world of IT, there is often an attitude of “I can do it all by myself.” As a CIO, you need to stop thinking this way and start making as many allies as you can. A CIO is only as strong as his/her internal network and that means taking the time to develop real relationships with as many people as possible. When those in the network appreciate what IT brings to the table, they can actively promote the work of the IT department.

• Ensure you know more about technology than your users With the consumerization of IT, CIOs are in danger of being left behind in critical areas such as mobile and social. So it is more vital than ever that CIOs evangelize technologies that have the potential to bring new value to the business.

• Ensure the IT/business relationship management function extends to the marketing of IT activities This involves promoting business success stories to the rest of the organization.

• Enlist the organization’s corporate communications department Spread the message that IT is a differentiator with the business’s customers (if you are an airline CIO that might mean a mobile boarding pass; in logistics, it might be a GPS-enabled package tracker).

If CIOs follow this advice, IT achievements will be recognized for their positive business contribution and in a way the CIO has planned — rather than the IT team only attracting attention when things go wrong.

Dr. Jim Anderson is head of Blue Elephant Consulting, which strives to turn IT leaders into great communicators.

Do you agree with Jim Anderson? Have your say by commenting below — and see this alternative point of view from José Carlos Eiras, ex-CIO of DHL Express USA and General Motors EMEA.