3 Principles: 2 – Participation
Don't be afraid to let people in
NOTE: This short essay was conceived as part 3 of a full essay, (where I have copied this) which you can read here.
Every organization has stakeholders - including employees, volunteers, customers, constituents, members, investors, even vendors and business partners. By definition, stakeholders want the organization to be successful (whatever that means, based on the purpose of the organization). So often leaders take an adversarial stance against other stakeholders, seeing them as interfering and demanding. An attitude shift towards assuming good intentions can completely transform relationships and skyrocket success.
Often a company will hire consultants to tell them what to do – while ignoring all the experts connected to their organization who are clamoring to provide feedback and ideas.
Personally, I am more invested in organizations where I can share suggestions in a way that doesn't feel like screaming into the void. For example, there are a few software packages I use daily for my work such as SmartGit and ManicTime. Over the many years I've been a customer, there have been a few times I've encountered an issue or had a feature request. It was clear how to contact these companies via email, and when I did, I always received a personal and helpful response.
In the case of ManicTime, I once made a suggestion that it would be easier to use the software if the custom reports list was alphabetized. A few minor versions later, I noticed that improvement in the reports list. I also sent them a message recently expressing dismay at a radical redesign of the interface. They directed me to clear instructions on how to revert to the prior version and the old UI. Several weeks later, they followed up with me to let me know that they had made some adjustments to the new design based on my feedback (and that of some other vocal customers) and had released a new version I might want to try out. Not only is this excellent customer service, but this level of personal connection gives me the impression that this company cares about making a great product and is willing to listen to customers’ needs.
There are many ways other than personal emails which can allow participation from stakeholders. Often having a publicly accessible web-based system is one of the most effective ways to solicit great ideas. Platforms like UserVoice, which allow software companies to collect feature requests that customers can comment on and vote for, are a great tool. Even having an online forum is a good option – which also allows your stakeholders to interact with each other as well. The Umbraco CMS I use regularly encourages participation. They have active community members as part of official “Advisory Committees” for various products and initiatives, and the core CMS product often has public “Request For Comment” (RFCs) where new feature implementation strategies are hashed out in public with expert developers from around the world weighing in. These are examples of the best types of crowdsourcing – where more feedback from actual users leads to better outcomes for everyone. Of course, open source software in general offers the ultimate participation, of adding to and changing the product directly.
Thinking about your own organizations… What problems could benefit from some stakeholder input? Are there mechanisms you can put in place to give people channels for closer involvement?