Knowledge workers bring far more than just their intellectual skills to a project. They bring their fears, their prejudices, their motivations, their emotional history, and their personalities to the table too. At kick-off meetings we openly discuss our roles and skill sets, but these other intangible things are never exposed. Yet the way that stakeholders and team members interact with one another is almost certain to have a greater impact on the success of your project than which CMS you choose or what goes into your style guide. Of course content strategists don’t have the monopoly on people skills, but because of the highly cross-departmental nature of our work, we really do need to put in a little extra effort. Whether you’re working in-house or as a consultant, you need to learn to read people’s motivations, understand when and why they might be operating out of fear, make sure they feel heard, and keep your team connected. Presented at Content Strategy Forum 2014 in Frankfurt on 3 July 2014 - http://www.csforum2014.com/events/people-puzzle/

1. The People Puzzle:
Making the Pieces Fit
Kerry-Anne Gilowey
Content Strategy Forum Conference
Frankfurt, 3 July 2014
@kerry_anne

2. I’m an
independent
content strategy
consultantHealthcare
Government
Online retail
Financial services
Technology Startups
Volunteer-run
associations
Advertising
Web design

3. I’m an
independent
content strategy
consultantHealthcare
Government
Online retail
Financial services
Technology Startups
Volunteer-run
associations
Advertising
Web design
PEOPLE

4. PEOPLE
Needs
Fears
Vulnerabilities
Passions
Struggles
Past experiences
Agendas
Motivations
Prejudices
Personality quirks
History

6. We talk about
Our hard skills
Our knowledge
Our experience
Our objectives

7. We don’t talk about
Our weaknesses
Our hangups
Our emotional history
Our hidden agendas

8. Practical things first

9. Keep track of people
Image credit: Flickr user tjblackwell

11. What should you track?
Simple facts? Sure. But also:
Your impressions
Personality traits
Sticking points, agendas
Particular interests, concerns

13. For your eyes only.

14. Do one-on-one sessions
Image credit: Flickr user levendis

15. Ask questions like these...
What are your processes and tools?
What’s working, and what’s not?
What does your team look like?
What other teams and departments do you
work with?
Where are the bottlenecks?
What are your challenges?

16. ...not these
What are your business requirements?
What functionality do you need?
What buttons do you want on the admin
panel?

17. The magic sentence
(I have no idea how Kristina
can hear anything over that
loud party hat.)
ImagecourtesyofSeanTubridy!
“Tell me more
about that.”

18. Puzzle time!

19. Tory
Marketing Manager
Brought you onto the project
Over-communicator
Goes back on decisions
Keeps you away from her boss
THE SITUATION

20. Tory
Marketing Manager
Her boss doesn’t respect her
She doesn’t know how to defend
her ideas
Afraid of losing her job
Feels she’s on shaky ground with
the advent of digital
WHAT’S GOING ON?

21. Tory
Marketing Manager
Give her digital resources
Discuss ways to defend your ideas
together in advance
Give her YOUR respect
WHAT CAN YOU DO?

22. Felix
Business Analyst
Is inflexible
Asks for inappropriate deliverables
Values deadlines over progress
Hides behind process, project
plans
THE SITUATION

23. Felix
Business Analyst
He doesn’t really understand the
domain of the project
He’s afraid that if he deviates he’ll
be shown up
THE SITUATION
WHAT’S GOING ON?

24. Felix
Business Analyst
Communicate frequently
Set up additional sessions to work
through subject matter
THE SITUATION
WHAT CAN YOU DO?

25. Sharon
Head of Customer Care
Frequently says, “I’ve been saying
that for four years...”
Sighs and rolls eyes during
meetings when recommendations
are made
THE SITUATION

26. Sharon
Head of Customer Care
Feels she hasn’t been heard in the
past and isn’t going to get the
credit she deserves
Feels sidelined by the new project,
which she doesn’t own
THE SITUATION
WHAT’S GOING ON?

27. Sharon
Head of Customer Care
Turn her into an ally
Get her on board
Give her credit for her ideas in
front of other team members
THE SITUATION
WHAT CAN YOU DO?

28. Karl
Digital Editor
Has worked here for a long time
Helped build current version of
website
Seems uncooperative
Takes a long time to submit work
THE SITUATION

29. Karl
Digital Editor
Feels threatened by negative
attention on current site
He’s struggling with perfectionism
Doesn’t like to show his work
THE SITUATION
WHAT’S GOING ON?

30. Karl
Digital Editor
Take time to understand past
challenges and history
Make sure he feels heard
Treat his deliverables as works in
progress, collaborate
THE SITUATION
WHAT CAN YOU DO?

31. Laura
Compliance Officer
Keeps changing copy in ways that
are not customer-friendly
Sees everything in black and white
terms
THE SITUATION

32. Laura
Compliance Officer
Afraid of being sued
Motivated by doing her job well
Sees herself as a champion for
compliance
THE SITUATION
WHAT’S GOING ON?

33. Laura
Compliance Officer
Ask for feedback, not revisions
Make a visible effort to understand
the regulatory environment
THE SITUATION
WHAT CAN YOU DO?

34. Lee
Technical Architect
Doesn’t seem to trust you
Doesn’t get involved at workshops
Seems condescending
Doesn’t answer your questions in
detail
THE SITUATION

35. Lee
Technical Architect
Has had bad experiences with non-
technical people in the past
Developed prejudices
THE SITUATION
WHAT’S GOING ON?

36. Lee
Technical Architect
Demonstrate your technical
understanding early
Create clear, useful deliverables
Avoid marketing jargon and
buzzwords
THE SITUATION
WHAT CAN YOU DO?

37. Saul
Stakeholder from HR
Difficult to get hold of
Uncooperative during interviews,
doesn’t open up at all
Gives one-word answers or says he
doesn’t know
Extremely defensive
THE SITUATION

38. Saul
Stakeholder from HR
He’s suspicious of the project and
your motives
Afraid that he doesn’t know the
answers
THE SITUATION
WHAT’S GOING ON?

39. Saul
Stakeholder from HR
Become his friend
Be open about the project objectives
and your motives
Reassure him
Ask about things that he knows well
to get him comfortable
THE SITUATION
WHAT CAN YOU DO?

40. Things to look out for

41. Non-verbal cues

42. An ongoing conflict
Image credit: Flickr user etolane

43. Passions and agendas

44. The silent ones

45. History

46. Putting the pieces together

47. Everyone
has their
reasons.

48. Everyone has their reasons.
He’s scared of
taking
responsibility.
She’s
struggling
with
perfectionism.
He’s worried
about
looking
stupid.
She’s afraid
that she’ll
be blamed.

49. Solving the people puzzle
90%$
Asking why
The rest

50. Be just as empathic with
your team members and
stakeholders
as you are with
your users and readers.

51. Thanks for listening!
Kerry-Anne Gilowey
kerryanne@augustsun.co.za
@kerry_anne