Steps to effective communication during system rollouts.

1. Critical Path
The Importance of
Effective Communications during IT
Changes
Dr. Jim Bohn
Pro/Axios
Minneapolis, MN

2. 65% of successful change is communication.
• People understand the change.
• People gain an understanding of what‟s happening
during the change.
• They learn how to adapt to the change.
• They prepare for the change.
• They integrate the change into day-to-day
operations.

3. Yet IT CHANGES place heavy demands on
human communication processes …
• Complexity
• Often encompass tens of thousands (millions,
billions) of interconnecting parts.
• Cognitive Demand
• Significant (Radical?!) amount of required detail.
• Terms often understood only by specialists.

4. The Primary Challenge of Communications
During an IT project …
Complexity
+ Cognitive Demand
= BOREDOM
X (busyness + distraction)

5. Boredom is costly in many ways.
• Time wasted in meetings of unnecessary
complexity.
• Opportunity costs. (I could be working on
something else.)
• Lost energy.
• Frustration.
• “This is a waste of time!”

6. IT changes require significant communication
to be effective … but …
IT Technology people are experts in IT.
They are generally not trained in
communications.

7. Critical Stakeholders of Communication
During an IT Change
Executives
To support the project
To ensure proper training
Technology Teams
Managers
External System
Users
To build the best infrastructure
To plan for effective follow-up
To assess the effectiveness of the
investment
To use the system as designed

8. How to simplify communications:
• Formatting communications by asking (and
answering) direct questions that do NOT require
technical language.
• Approach the communications from the
standpoint of the listener, not the technology
team.

9. Benefits of simplicity?
• Saves corporate investment in time, moral and
dollars:
• People don‟t have to struggle with unnecessary terms.
• Teams can move forward with what they need to „get the
job done.‟
• Prevents boredom.

10. Major Categories of Communications
During an IT Change
Executives
External System
Users
Process
What will be
different in the
new world?
Training –
what is the
plan?
Role Inventory – who does what?
Technology Teams

11. Major Categories of Communications
During an IT Change
Executives
Process
Training
Data
Management
What needs
cleanup?
What is being
added?
External System
Users
Technology Teams

12. Major Categories of Communications
During an IT Change
Executives
Process
Training –
what is the
plan?
Data
Management
What needs
Cleanup
cleanup?
What is being
added?
External System
Users
Logistics of the
Change
System Cutover
When does this
happen? To
whom? How?
Role Inventory – who does what?
Technology Teams

13. Major Categories of Communications
During an IT Change
Executives
Process
Training –
what is the
plan?
Data
Management
What needs
Cleanup
cleanup?
What is being
added?
External System
Users
Logistics of the
Change
System
System Cutover
Cutover
When does this
happen? To
whom? How?
Role Inventory – who does what?
Technology Teams
Tool
Training –
what is the
plan?

14. Major Categories of Communications
During an IT Change
Executives
Process
Training –
what is the
plan?
Data
Management
What needs
Cleanup
cleanup?
What is being
added?
External System
Users
Logistics of the
Change
System
System Cutover
Cutover
When does this
happen? To
whom? How?
Role Inventory – who does what?
Technology Teams
Tool
Training –
what is the
plan?
Infrastructure
Who buys
the system?
Who installs?
Where?
Backup?

15. Major Categories of Communications
During an IT Change
Executives
Process
Training –
what is the
plan?
Data
Management
What needs
Cleanup
cleanup?
What is being
added?
External System
Users
Logistics of the
Change
System
System Cutover
Cutover
When does this
happen? To
whom? How?
Role Inventory – who does what?
Technology Teams
Tool
Training
Infrastructure
Who buys
the system?
Who installs?
Where?
Backup?

16. Simplicity of communications during IT
projects …
• Saves precious human energy by avoiding
unnecessary boredom.
• Focuses on the necessary … and no more.
• There is no need to make something
unnecessarily complex.

17. Pro/Axios
•
•
•
•
•
We offer plainspoken guidance for those who do the work.
Check out the Rapid Diagnostic @ www.ProAxios.com
info@proaxios.com
651-302-1574
Minneapolis, MN, USA
Organizational Insight Leading to Organizational Transformation
2/4/2014