You know as well as I that people-related issues – not those related to technology – tend to be the ones that stand most in the way of information governance success.
- They don’t understand why anything needs to change since “it’s been working just fine up to now.”
- They don’t have time even to meet about it.
- And perhaps most often, they just don’t want to change the way they work with information. They won’t say so, but this is commonly what it boils down to.
Our problem is that we need them to understand, to make time for us, to change their thinking. To help them get there, we need to understand the root causes of their resistance; otherwise, we won’t get anywhere.
Politics, Baggage, and Religion
In my experience, there are three broad issues to be dealt with:
- Company POLITICS are always at work, as managers battle over control and budgets, and build barriers that stifle cooperation and communication.
- There’s also BAGGAGE, which exists in the form of the infrastructure, technology, skill sets, and experiences that are already present in your organization – any one of which can weigh heavily on creativity and innovation.
- And finally, there’s what I call RELIGION: Dogmatic commitment to a vendor, technology, or methodology that can doom new ideas without so much as a hearing. As in: “There’s no way I’d go with anyone other than Microsoft!” or “There’s no way I’d even consider going with Microsoft!” Or Amazon, or Google, or anyone else for that matter.
We Shall Overcome
How best to overcome these obstacles varies from place to place. But there are a few tried-and-true practices that are worth using as starting points and adapting as necessary.
- Personalize and empower: use imperatives vs. declaratives – not “Go Vote,” but “Be a Voter.” Make them feel as if they are in charge.
- Promote what’s in it for them: forget the organizational good; focus on their day to day and lead them to understanding that we’re not telling them to do more work, or work differently, but rather to work BETTER.
- And show off a bit so they can see how things can go: shine a spotlight on the successes you’ve achieved, however small they may be, and feature the people and business areas you’ve converted to the cause.
For you see, people-related issues require people-centered responses: not presentations and lectures about what IG is or why it’s good for the company. But rather why it’s good for THEM and their business areas, and for their skills and their career development.
THAT’s how you overcome the people-related issues that are undoubtedly slowing your progress.
Watch me deliver this message here – or listen to it instead!