Don't wait for hindsight

I was wrong about some things last week. I don't like being wrong, but I like the idea that I could have been right even less. I'm on a "need to know" basis, and for much of the data that would have informed the conclusion I drew this week, I was not "in the loop", nor should I have been. But I drew the conclusions just the same, and then I did something even worse - I passed those faulty conclusions along to others. Mind you, these were not life-threatening conclusions or even conclusions that would have any sort of quantifiable impact, but they were wrong, nevertheless.

The information would have kept me from making the wrong conclusion was and is available. Even though I was not in the loop and the information was not fed to me or part of the ambient information that would constitute "common knowledge" of a team working on particular problems or as part of my regular interactions, the information was available in a passive form, in a repository.

I don't mean to justify my bad behavior, but I don't think I'm alone in not knowing what information was available. My bad behavior can serve as an example beyond "Do your homework!"

We all get busy and pulled in ten different directions and fall victim to the "word on the street". Many of us have a tendency to operate in our own silos of consciousness. But what if I was part of a project, and my faulty logic impacted the the work of other teams? What if my team was designing something that was not informed by the entire ecosystem that would use the end product, or would have an impact on what another team was designing? What if I had a siloed culture that did not encourage collaboration?

Projects involving information technology are dicey endeavors, regardless of the business program, sector, or development methodology. There are lots of moving parts and "opportunities" for missteps, but at the top of the list is communication. To give your project the best chance of success, make sure you have good communications processes and tools across all aspects of your project, its sponsors, and stakeholders, both inside and outside the project.

The most successful project environments are open and inclusive. Collaboration drives broad perspective that can help the team understand all the moving parts and how they fit together. And there is a much better chance that you will discover parts that need to be included before designs need to be reworked. But as inviting as that sounds, many organizations do not operate that way - the information you need to do your job will be provided to you, when you need it, and you are not encouraged to look for new data that would inform a different conclusion. Many organizations are simply not transparent, and the don't have a culture of collaboration.

Transparency and an organization's culture may be similar to the classic "chicken and egg" conundrum - it's uncertain which of these must come first. Having only transparency without culture to use it appropriately will fall flat. On the flip side, having a culture that demands transparency that never materializes is a major contributor of project failure.

Peter Drucker once observed that "Culture eats strategy for breakfast,- meaning that even the best strategy can be derailed by a culture that does not support the flow of good information.

Project collaboration tools can facilitate transparency nicely, and sends a clear signal that teams' efforts are on display - for praise and for criticism, for assistance if needed. A project culture of collaboration and communication can influence the organization in which the project operation is taking place, too. This can be a gradual shift, but in projects with a robust organizational change management (OCM) component, the shift can kick into high gear. If the project is building a new way of working that demands a new way of thinking and doing within the organization, the OCM team can be working on ways to shift culture more quickly and effectively.

In so many things we do, "more" is not always better. But in project communications, "more" is nearly always better, if we need to make sure make sure context is retained and appropriate. And, we must endeavor to ensure that communications are appropriate and effective both inside the project and outside to stakeholders and the greater community of interest. Your OCM team can and should be working on ways to accelerate culture change toward adoption of whatever solution the project team is endeavoring to build. But OCM is not just about making sure the solution's new processes align with the business program. your OCM team should be working on ways to continuously foster a collaborative culture that helps to build a safety net for everyone on the team.

We are each still responsible for your individual actions and inactions, but project work is particularly intense and sometimes volatile environment that needs everyone's commitment to collaboration and a culture that helps you get there. Good communications teams realize that misinformation is driven by lack of communication and they take steps to make sure everyone has the right message.