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Businesses want return on their web investment. To do that, user experience professionals need to step out from behind the screen, take a seat at the table, balance user and business needs, and create a positive environment for change. Armed with an approach I sometimes call “strategic nagging,” this is the story of how I became a change agent using IA and content strategy to transform the 160-year-old American Society of Civil Engineers for a digital-first world. Let’s talk about honing the empathic, organisational, and analytical skills we already have to diffuse disruption and work with people and processes, as well as information. Patience and persistence makes our message pervasive so we can motivate decision-makers, find allies, persuade detractors, and provide direction to practitioners. When I became ASCE’s Web Director in January 2013, I thought I’d tinker with some content management issues, help rewrite some content, and provide governance guidance. Little did I know that I would use change management tactics disguised as web strategy, design, and development to get them to adopt an overarching digital strategy to better reach its members, grow revenue, and start to make stuff that really matters. We’re reaching a pivotal moment, and this is the story so far.
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Becoming a Change Agent
Carrie Hane Dennison
@carriehd
#edui_change
done it that way.
Well, the way we do it now
We should put this up because
someone might want it.
True
But
Useless
1989 1995
250+ staff, 9 on web & social media team
> 145,000 members - 40% over 50 & male
Founded 1852
Hired Web Director January 2013
Rewriting content
strategically
Updating CMS
Revise website section by
section
Implementing governance
Building on established
user experience practice
What I am doing
Redesigning website
Introducing the concept of
strategy & UX
Pushing change
/disrupting everything
Creating a UX practice
Pushing for digital strategy
CHANGE MANAGEMENT LEADERSHIP
What this really is
Address emotional and rational sides of people
Elephant & Rider
Elephant Emotional Side
Lazy and skittish
Looks for instant gratification
Just wants to get things done
Rider Rational Side
Holds the reins & seems to be the leader
Spins wheels
Directing the rider
Motivate the elephant
Analyze-Think-Change
See-Feel-Change
GETTING PEOPLE TO CHANGE
Strategic Nagging
Patient but persistent repetition of a message
Vulnerability
Communication
Leadership
Patience
Vulnerability
Communication
Leadership
Patience
Vulnerability
Communication
Leadership
Patience
Vulnerability
Communication
Leadership
Patience
Portrait of a change agent
Thick skinned
Open minded
Willing to listen
Passionate
Believes in expertise
Willing to take a seat at the
table and speak up
WHY UX, IA, & CONTENT STRATEGY?
We have the skills
Listening
Empathy
Organizational skills
Analysis
Translation
Diplomacy
Governance
We ask the hard questions
What are your priorities?
What are your business objectives?
What do our customers want?
It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission.
Grace Hopper
Only digital workers fully understand the problem and can see a solution.
Paul Boag
Digital Adaptation
PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE Strategic Nagging
© Carsten ten Brink http://www.flickr.com/photos/77334245@N00/285048313
Us + Them Not Us vs. Them
Educate
Communicate
Evangelize
Define the vision
https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/8630761583
Share your vision
Practitioners
Architects
Orchestrators
Enablers Executives
Senior
Manager
Middle
Manager
Worker
Worker
Worker
Middle
Manager
Worker
Worker
Worker
Senior
Manager
Middle
Manager
Worker
Worker
Worker
Middle
Manager
Worker
Worker
Worker
Celebrate short-term wins
Progress is more important than perfection.
DEALING WITH DETRACTORS
The best defense is a good offense.
http://bit.ly/badproblems
Empathize
Invite them in
Reframe
Let others speak
TAKE A SEAT AT THE TABLE
Be vulnerable
Lead the way
Recruit others
Work together
Be the man behind the curtain
Be a change leader
Where things are today
Think user first
Think strategically
Building digital team
Governance
Redesign
For the first time, I feel like
have a good website.
Can I come up and talk
to you
Can we triage [this problem]?
What can you do tomorrow?
Invite yourself to a meeting or speak up
Talk to someone who you have never talked to before
Ask more questions
Think about where someone else is coming from
Thank you! (and Good Luck!)
Carrie Hane Dennison @carriehd http://www.slideshare.net/carriedennison
