Finally! Here it is folks, Part I of some of my thoughts on transparency.
I really thought I was into this Enterprise 2.0 collaboration/transparency/etc. thing. I thought I was all enlightened and loved to communicate. Then I decided to do something completely unexpected and shared a link to my master project list (all 14 pages of it) with my peer directors at my firm so that they would know about upcoming IT changes. You know what I found out?
Transparency is SCARY! Why?
- If people know what you're doing all the time, they'll know when you're doing something wrong.
- Opening the kimono (so to speak) invites people to comment on what's going on. Even if you don't want them to!
- If you're the first person in your company to open the blinds, people will know much more about your work/department than you'll know about theirs.
- Even if you're not doing anything wrong, the more people know, the more gossip (both positive and negative) will happen about your doings.
Results? Well, no one has said anything. One person has looked at it. I'm honestly glad I did it, if only to experience some of the feelings that people have that make them hesitant about opening things up.
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4 comments:
Congratulations!
It is scary taking that first step. I think you will quickly realize that the benefits of being transparent will outweigh your concerns.
The real benefit to you will be if this open project list allows you to better manage your projects and communicate it to your organization. That is really the goal of the enterprise 2.0 tools.
Your fellow managers are non-techie. I would guess that they regard a 14-page list of IT projects with fear and dread. In fact, this could be an effective threat next time they're bugging you. "If you'd like join me in reviewing the IT project list...
I agree that this is a daring approach to managing your role at the firm. Perhaps the most daring thing about it is the unilateral decision to "put it all out there" and invite comment (whether you actually did or not). Do you truly want to review all of your peers project lists in return? If the answer is no, do you think IT is uniquely of interest to all parties or you just don't give a hoot about what they're up to? If you do know what they're up to, would you be interested in changing your priorities to reflect theirs?
Jim,
I'd be absolutely happy to both review their project lists and change mine accordingly.
I give lots of hoots--I firmly believe that IT is here to serve the entire firm, which includes other administrative departments.
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