Discussion on:

Designing for collaboration in an established culture

Apart from my initial surprise that 1500 employees is counted as an SMB and even a family firm (in the UK and EU, 1500 would be a large company; 10 is micro, 50 is small, 250 is medium), I found this article very interesting as a technique for getting people on board when trying to move tools forward. I could also see it as transferrable to the area of business process improvement. My role combines, business information tools, business intelligence and business process improvement so I can see the techniques you use being useful applied even wider.

After 30+ years in business, and 15+ as a consultant in various forms, I've discovered the hard way that unless you have a process "champion" on the C-level or in the company ownership, all the work you describe in your two articles so far is at risk. Your opening paragraph implies that you have a champion ("my husband's company" - though that may not mean he is an owner), but you don't actually say it. You might consider clarifying this in a future installment. As you do mention, internal politics plays a huge role for any objective with the words "change" and "IT" in the same sentence. Many of your more techie readers may be blissfully unaware of this linkage...

Going without email for a day in favor of face to face interactions sounds like a brilliant, and simple solution to getting communication rolling again. That would work for a variety of environments. I'm curious how much effort it's taken to either sustain that change or to build on it if you've tried it in other settings? I'm working on several communication changes at my organization, and it's proving to be more difficult than I realized. I've found Transforming Corporate Culture by Lisa Jackson and Gerry Schmidt has had several simple steps that my colleagues and I can take to get things moving, but I'm always looking for more suggestions on what's worked. Thanks for any tips!