Martin Pagé

Have you ever been in a project in which all the information was shared by everyone ? Any information request was well considered ? If you did this kind of project, you surely noticed that it was easier to work with everyone involved, and accomplishing tasks was straightforward as well. Furthermore, this information sharing increases the very value of the information ; one could add its point of view to expand the meaning of this information.

As you have completed such projects, you surely have noticed some difficulties with transparency :

- the need to keep everyone informed,
- the importance of crafting the message (what you say, how to say it, when),
- and the temptation of interfering in everyone's business... This last behavior is a real difficulty :  how to encourage transparency and be sure that everyone minds their own business ? Is there too much transparency ?

First, bringing and sustaining transparency is a full-time job. But the advantages of transparency are obvious :

- it plays a part in motivation : you know what you have to do
- it plays a part in a better understanding between each individual
- it contributes to increase trust

So, how do we manage it ? From my viewpoint, a few managerial steps must be taken :

- define clearly everyone's tasks and responsibilities
- identify how, when and by whom the information is to be communicated : website, wiki, mail, intranet, documents (requirements, specifications)
- formalize the evaluation process of works done

And, needless to say, project management best practices should be adopted by all the members involved.

Having said that, let's see how it works in real life...


1. How to take the managerial steps ?

Well, it depends ! Can you encourage, promote clear definitions of everyone's tasks and responsibilities ? Identify how, when and by whom the information is communicated ? If not, better not try to promote full transparency, but a small step in this direction... One can not change an organizational culture overnight.


2. How to choose the appropriate level of transparency ?

To me, 2 questions must be answered :

a) Will your team work differently if it has the new information ?

b) Is there any risk if you disclose the information ? For instance, a competitor, outside your organization, could gain from it  ?

But sometimes, I do not communicate some information... Why ? Because just doing so will do more harm than good. Simply said, if information is good to tell, any communication must be adapted to people, context, and job. For instance, if I know that one person in my team is having a difficult relation with a customer, it makes more sense to think about reasons, context, difficulties in order to find out solutions. And, needless to say, any chosen solution must be from this person, not from me...


3. What to do with office politics...

Transparency generates more information : information is power ; it leverages people. So, sometimes, problems -- of every kind -- can arise because people use information which was, not to long ago, not available. So, maybe you'd argue that, after all, it's better to control information. I don't think so. Sure, you can restrain access to information, but a) human nature is keen on finding out information and b) we're living in 2010, with Twitter, mail, browser, cell phones, SMS, ... I believe it's better to consider office politics as another problem to resolve, and transparency a tool which will help you clarify what you need, from who, when.

Transparency is great, but it must be used wisely, depending on the context, on who participate.