Once again, I am in awe at the collective wisdom and the willingness to share among the people who read Management Skills Blog. Yesterday we published a question from our mailbag. Here is the essence:
I have difficulty getting anything done because the people lack interest. They do not realize how much the business hinges on IT. I have tried introducing standard policies like email, AUP, DRP, a disaster recovery plan, but they just have no interest despite the importance.
To read the full story and all of the comments, please follow this link. Silly Policy.
One thing I have found over the years in classroom teaching, no matter how smart I think I am, no one listens. My son doesn’t listen, my wife doesn’t listen, my class members don’t listen. Yet, I am a teacher. How do I get people to listen? It’s the same conundrum for our IT manager. How can he get people to understand how important his IT policies are? It’s actually the same conundrum for any manager with any policy. How do we get people to listen?
We don’t. People will not listen until they see the benefit to listen. Here is what I would do if I were the IT manager in this situation. The objective is to raise awareness of the importance of these policies and procedures.
I would start with a survey. This can be administered via email without anyone’s permission. The questions should follow something like this:
1. On any given day, how many hours do you spend at the computer?
2. What tasks do you perform each day that are made easier with the computer?
3. How would you accomplish those daily tasks if the computer system were to fail this Friday?
4. How important is our computer system to your ability to perform in your role?
5. How could the computer system better help you perform in your role?
6. What could the IT department do to better help you perform in your role?
Remember, this is just the beginning to establish two things.
1. How the computer system is really helpful.
2. How much you are interested in their success.
And this is just the beginning. -TF
Thats great advice. I’m glad i joined this blog. Am waiting for more on this issue. thanks.
Seems like a subtle, gentle approach to create awareness of the role the computer has in people jobs, Tom.
That’s so true. Its like a sales man who is staring at 2 possible customers with their arms crossed. The concept is they don’t like what your selling or they do not understand the value of what you are selling. You are trying to sell them on spending money is how they see it. A list like that might make their arms comedown and relax enough to understand the seriousness of the situation. You could use the old sales tactics after that and see what happens. Tell them this is what’s needed and give them several price point options to choose from with benefits of each, and ask them to pick the one.
First, thank you for an excellent blog.
Second, I’d suggest that the first step in getting folks to listen is to meet them where they are at. To me, this means doing my homework — really working to understand the problem(s) that most concern them. This might mean investing many hours in preparation before the meeting.
Then, when I have an opportunity to talk with them, I start by checking my understanding of the problem(s) I suspect concern them. I have found that when you start by trying to check your understanding of the problem area — rather than immediately trying to give solutions — you get all the time you need. It’s also kind of a paradigm-shift, since many folks are in a rush to push their preferred solutions.
Over the years, I’ve found that this approach is a reasonable starting point. Kind of in-line with Covey’s advice of “Seek first to understand.”
Best,
John Sambrook