Uncertain Ground – Story Telling as the Solution

The technology list was my undefined assignment. I asked several managers what the desired outcome or improvement to be. Crickets. No one understood what expectation the department head wanted. Because I was employed by the IT department, it felt like there was an expectation I would ‘just know’ what to do. I did not.

Weeks and months went on with this open task with no defined due date. It hung out there like a dirty little secret of avoidance. It was just a list. No one was using, managing, or updating it. Updating it alone would only have marginal value, but I knew there was more opportunity there. I just needed to find it. Finally, in the middle of a vendor demonstration an idea was sparked. I needed to tell a story about the technology my assigned department used. I wanted a visual. So, I went to work interviewing the staff to ensure the list was complete. It proved to be a task that was an onion where I kept finding layers of value.

My objective was to close the communication gap between my assigned department and IT. Along with this inspiration for a visual, I finally was able to conceptualize how I could customize the value plan spreadsheet I found on the BRM Communities Toolkit. I took this very technical (and intimidating) template and gutted it to fit my need. I needed the spreadsheet to tell the detailed story behind the visual. This story had several different audiences. New columns needed to be added to inject the spreadsheet with the potential that I saw as possible.

As a result, the department has an updated list of software that they could self-manage on their own that includes the use, purpose and who would be evaluating the return on investment when contract renewal came up. I worked with my department to create a set of terms that defined the value statements. This would empower the staff to advocate for themselves. It would also give a defined need and expected life cycle that the IT department could better understand.

Breaking down the communication barrier empowered the department to represent their actions within a strategy conversation because there was now a defined set of criteria applied to all software used solely by their department. The spreadsheet finally created the context needed to tell their story.