March 31, 2011

Sometimes it is just your job to listen

I feel like I have become a bit of a therapist in the last couple of weeks, as I have started conducting the needs gathering workshops within the organisation.

The way that I have approached this is that I have provided them with a template to capture the information they need to do their jobs; the information they create as part of their jobs; the IT/manual systems they get information from and put information into; the people they rely on for information and the people they communicate information to; and finally the limitations that they experience in all of these areas.

Many of them haven’t done the pre-work, but it is a good template to commence the conversations around.

On the whole the majority of the comments are not unexpected, the revolve around communications, standardising procedures, better access to the information they require, sorting out the shared drive, having compliant and accessible systems and so on.

So why do I say I feel like a therapist? Well there are a lot of these areas that have obviously not had someone sit down with them and give them the ability to explain where corporate systems are not supporting them properly, or where they struggle to find the information they need, or anything along these lines really.

So I’m getting everything relating to processes, organisational structures that don’t work, corporate policies relating to vehicles and any number of other frustrations coming through in the discussions.

But don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying the process and some of the conversations have allowed me to fill some gaps in my corporate knowledge in the process. And, above all else, I think that it is important that staff are given the chance to get these frustrations off their chest. Does it mean I will be able to do anything to influence changes to many of these issues? Of course not, but as the title says sometimes it is just your job to listen.

And for the things that I can influence? They will go into the Needs Matrix for inclusion in the Information Management Strategic Plan.