This is a presentation I gave at the Potomac Forum on strategic communication in IV&V

1. IV&V Communications with Senior Management Changing the Culture to Enable Sustainable Quality 1 Marc Genberg, PMP, PMI-RMP AEGIS.net Marc.Genberg@AEGIS.net

2. Agenda Communications Communications 101 Senior Management Communication Continuum of Communication Detail (Tactical v. Operational v. Strategic) Culture What is Culture? Aligning Culture IV&V Culture Past vs. Present Changes to IV&V Practices Linking Culture and Communication How IV&V Communicates with Senior Management “Do”s and “Don’t”s Call to action 2

3. 3

4. 4 Communications

5. 5 Sender -> Message -> Receiver Message Coded by the Sender Sent via Medium Interpreted/Decoded by Receiver Factors that Affect Message Interpretation Cultural Emotional State Word Choice (words with ambiguous meaning) Relationship Medium Others Communications 101

6. Effective vs. Ineffective Communications Winston Churchill Understood principal difference between management and leadership is effective communication “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” Churchill after the battle of El Alamein, Nov 10, 1942. BP and Deepwater Horizon Failed to relate Failed to understand Failed to respond in timely fashion Net result is PR fiasco and large fine 6

7. 7 Communicating with Senior Management = Strategic Communication (generally) Relate / align to “big picture” items Mission, Goals, Objectives Understand communication styles / preferences Forest vs. trees (right level of detail) Visual vs. data “Tell the story” vs. “get to the point” Strategic communication is about strategy (content) Senior Management Communications

9. Related activities which achieve objectives

11. Weeks to months

13. Specific incidents

14. Medium detail

15. Focus on capabilities

16. Low detail

18. Test Incidents

19. Resource assignments

20. Major releases

21. Interdependent releases (capabilities)

22. Process improvements

23. Budgets

24. Mission oriented capabilities (patch testing)

26. 10 “The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization, or group” IV&V may (does) have unique subculture Attitudes “Developers are too lazy to do it right” or “Can do!” Values Integrity Teamwork Ownership Goals “Report problems” or “get software quality right”? What is culture?

27. 11 Speak to commonality Integrity Getting quality software deployed on time Responsive to organizational mission Understand the differences Perceptual differences (self vs. others) Teamwork Adapt to differences Policy and process Organizational support (Government Managers) Open communication channels to minimize conflict Culture affects communication! Aligning Culture

28. 12 IV&V Culture – Previous vs. Current

29. 13 Streamlined deliverables to be more effective Changed culture from resistance to can-do Eliminated “three-strikes” rule Engaged development teams Understand pipeline Identify IV&V schedule early Assess impacts Addressing benefits to development activities not part of IV&V scope Providing “less than full” IV&V test efforts to address current limitations Infrastructure limitations Schedule constraints Changes to IV&V practices

30. 14 Linking Culture and Communication

31. 15 Tell / reinforce the message at every opportunity Monthly IPR with CIO Review priorities Highlight program risks Identify any issues “Spotlight” reviews as needed Explain to all stakeholders new processes or highlight existing processes Weekly / periodic managers meetings Raise issues to management (via GTM) Identify areas of concern Establish rapport with IV&V stakeholders Central CM (monthly meetings) Development teams (weekly meetings) Data Engineering and others (weekly meetings) Semi-Annual Customer Survey How IV&V Communicates with Senior Management

32. 16 Be late to meetings Say negative things about other groups Make excuses for problems or issues Fail to address management priorities Ignore style preference Have no clear agenda / purpose Fail to identify implied tasking Ignore the culture Some Communication “Don’t” Items

33. 17 Understand the audience Have a meaningful message Always be truthful (credibility) Be timely Have the message targeted at the strategic level Speak to the tactical Be consistent Adjust the message as needed Listen intently Some Communication “Do” Items

34. 18 Assess Current State Identify stakeholders for engagement Obtain objective (as possible) performance feedback Develop a Communication Plan How to engage stakeholders Incorporate goals Account for culture Develop messages and inform your team Start simple Execute Follow-up Assess effectiveness of communication Results trump Call to Action

35. 19 Parting Quotes “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” – Peter Drucker “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” - Winston Churchill