City of Ottawa Case Study: Part 4 of 4
A classic reason for resistance to change is people’s general discomfort with adapting to something new. We usually prefer the devil we know to the devil we don’t. It is no different with staff at the City of Ottawa when presented with the opportunity to contemplate adopting Web 2.0 applications. After years of imposed change, from SAP updates to restructuring and staff cuts, many employees at the City of Ottawa view new initiatives with a high degree of scepticism. Chris Wightman, manager of the e-Media team says that his number one obstacle to implementing web 2.0 technologies/social media at the city is “getting people to change”. He shared five strategies he used to overcome resistance.
1. Generate Bottom up Guerrilla Change:
The e-Media team engaged with staff at the city who were interested in learning about web 2.0 applications. Seminars and fact sheets were used to spread the word – then the e-Media team followed up with those who wanted to learn more. Where possible, small initiatives were started as pilots. A sandbox area was set up by the IT department so that staff could experiment with open source and free technologies.
2. Ensure Management Buy-In:
“It was essential to have some champions in upper management ”, says Chris. This paved the way for others to accept and to try out the new technologies. Another important ally was the IT department. This cooperative relationship allowed for roadblocks to be removed and new technologies to be accessed.
3. Nurture Relationships:
“We treated those willing to take a risk and work with us like gold”, Chris said. “Our aim was to have those people experience total service and no pain.” This philosophy went for relationships external to the organization as well as relationships within the organization. For example, in the spring an “un-conference” was held, hosted by the City of Ottawa. People from the e-Media team contributed to the design of the conference (Change Camp) , hosted design meetings and helped set up and organize the online design environment. They also lead the way in volunteering to carry out many of the little tasks that needed to get accomplished. As someone who got involved with this conference, I can testify that I was impressed with the extent to which the e-Media team facilitated progress.
4. Develop Evidence:
Early on in the process of contemplating bringing web 2.0 technology to the City of Ottawa, a business case was developed. As the e-Media team proceeded to introduce the concept more broadly and to experiment with ways of using it internally at the city, they justified anything they proposed by identifying the business benefits and considering economic, social and environmental impacts. Additionally:
- A “how-to framework” was developed for each suggestion and proposal along with an assessment of the rationale, the risks and the expected return on investment.
- A proof of concept project was considered and is now being initiated. (Please see Introducing Web 2.0 to Your Organization: Create Opportunities).
Next post: See how the City of Ottawa’s experience correlates with other studies about making web 2.0 work in organizational settings.
