SWOT Meetings Round Two

TNS has been participating in the ITS strategic planning initiative. We have four groups that are meeting periodically to brainstorm some problems and hopefully solutions. The process that we started out using was SWOT Analysis which provides a format to the discussion. We spent two hours in a room today trying to figure out today what is wrong with our workplace. It was interesting to hear seventeen people in a room all agreeing about what is broken. The subject that we didn't really dig into today is how to go about actually making the changes that would fix these problems. I wonder if all seventeen people will still agree during that discussion.

The two main topics for today related to the barriers that exist within our group. For purposes of this post, these barriers are presented as they pertain to TNS. All the people included in the discussion are my coworkers within TNS.

So in no particular order, here is a list of of some of the barriers to good, effective communication that we thought of during our meeting.

• Some people don't want to talk to other people due to personality clashes, lack of responsivenes, or any number of other reasons.
• Internal groups sometimes make unilateral changes within that make it more difficult on peers.
• There is a lack of a standardized project management system, so that sometimes from the outside it appears that the left hand of TNS doesn't know that there even is a right hand.
• We meet and talk, but there is not a guarantee of understanding that leads us to a lack of follow-through.
• There is a perception of a rigid bureaucracy that resists changes and steps on attempts to work outside the box.
• There is a lot of talk about collaboration, but has it become more than just lip service?
• People don't always get out of their chairs and go get to know other people.

What do you think we need to do? Did we miss the mark with these thoughts? What other things do you think we should be considering?

The other topic for which we listed barriers was for TNS offered services. How many times has someone tried to buy service or get a usable service from TNS, and they have been told that it won't be done? Notice the choice of "won't" versus "can't". Again in no particular order, here were some of our thoughts.

• If someone (inside or outside TNS) wants to either make a new service or change an existing service today, there is a 17 step procedure that must be followed to do so. This requirement is often extreme for small changes that would introduce conveniences for our customers.
• There is a fear of making the concession once. "If help out this department, then everyone else will want their own customizations."
• Who is the group or person that can actually answer the question that is being asked?
• Why is the answer no? "Because I said so" is only usable at home with your kids.
• The TNS website is confusing. There is no one stop shopping option for questions.
• The design teams seem unwilling to entertain suggestions.
• There is not enough customer advocacy in the process. Who chases down the answers from the inside?
• There is a lack of definite time frames given for acting on questions and suggestions for changes.
• Over the years, people have developed an entrenched expectation that the answer will always be "no".

Help us out. Consider this post an open invitation to tell me what i should take to the next meeting. If you have problems please try to offer suggestions for fixes. If you have already fixed similar problems in your group, tell me what you did. Have at it.