Why are people often the afterthought in an ITIL implementation, when they are the individuals who carry out the processes? One reason is that because the ITIL framework supports IT Service Management (ITSM), it’s usually driven as an IT programme. The IT department understands process and technology, but not as much people or the importance of IT communications.
Unfortunately, many organisations realise far too late that even if they have designed the best IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) processes in the world and helped automate them with the best technology, they still need people to drive them. If you don’t have engaged and motivated people executing on the ITIL processes, there is little chance of realising the full benefit envisioned at the beginning of an ITIL implementation and ITSM programme.
To ensure that people are not forgotten in an ITIL implementation, an organisation must look outside the technology and address the need for better IT communications.
ITIL communications plan
Many people ask when they should start the communications plan for an ITIL implementation. The answer is easy: You start the day after you get the business case approved. Many ITIL programmes are doomed for failure because the communications plan is started a week before the technology is rolled out.
One of the key tenets of ITIL is awareness and keeping people informed of what is happening in IT Service Management. ITIL is as much about visibility and awareness as it is about process adoption.
An ITIL implementation needs commitment from the IT service consumer base — a well-executed communications programme can help gain that commitment and ensure ITIL processes are internalised among its constituents. Characteristics of a successful ITIL communications plan include:
A challenge in any ITIL communications plan is tailoring the communications to individuals. Through the years, many of us have learned the best way to communicate is to present the information in a format with which the recipient is most comfortable. But how do you know what that best way is? Effective communication requires an understanding of the personality traits of the individual. There are a few proven techniques that you can use to tailor communications and get the message effectively delivered and understood.
One such technique is done using a simple set of questions to help determine a person’s dominance in four areas:
By understanding how people fit into these sectors and the dominance within them, you can quickly determine the best way to communicate. A number of organisations have employees who voluntarily display charts that show their profile on their workstations so people who come to talk to them understand how to best present information to them. For example, it is ineffective to position an idea to a person who is detailed-dominant in an emotional or interpersonal format.
Targeted IT communications
In an ITIL programme it’s interesting to see how different traits correlate to the area individuals work in and the ITIL maturity of the organisation. Here is a breakdown by the ITIL Lifecycle core books:
With the variety of individuals involved in an ITIL implementation, it’s clear that there must be significant effort put into developing an IT communications plan and its execution. A well-executed communications plan can greatly contribute to the success of an ITIL programme.
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