Managing Information: Choosing the right pieces
One of the most valuable currencies we all have at any given moment in time is information. As managers and leaders, aggregating, vetting and distributing information is critical to fostering a collaborative culture and organized team.
At Meseekna, we study how individuals and teams manage information and in particular, how their management of information factors into their decision making. Through our years of research, we have identified a few common pitfalls teams make- and possible solutions.
Complete transparency
Every member of the team has equal access to all the information the manager of the team has. In an effort to keep the workplace democratic, there is a surface level effort made to share information. However, as a result, the information is frequently prioritized and managed differently at an individual level. What one individual finds meaningful or relevant, another dismisses. This can lead to conflicting views on the most critical tasks or information to use in making decisions.
Siloing
Each member of the team guards their information closely. This leads to decisions made with incomplete or missing information, and a general frustrating sense of discord.
Leader Access
Information is shared first and primarily with those closest to the leader, leading to a network of informal power politics.
In reality, information should be managed in a combination of these environments. Each method has its place, depending on the context of the information at hand. There are few options leaders have to ensure that information is managed appropriately among the team members.
Create an informal pipeline of information internally
Identify team members who excel at information vetting and analysis, and cultivate opportunities for them to present information. This will encourage transparency, but remove the chaos of individual information management.
Build opportunities for a team to come together and share information
Reward early information sharing clearly to reduce the urge to silo, and be wary of penalizing the sharing of early, incorrect information. Instead, frame it as a way to work together to vet information.
Clearly identify a system for information management
Create specific questions within a team that an individual can answer in order to know if information is necessary and helpful to be shared. For example, does this information directly impact how someone else on the team completes a task?
Taking the time to assess how a team is managing information and consciously work on improving the flow of accurate, timely and relevant information through the organization can lead to outsized gains in productivity and strategic achievement.
