Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Unequal Distribution of Information
Never assume that information, in any group, is distributed uniformly.
That is as hypothetical as the assumption in economics of perfect markets
on the presumption of perfect information. It is at times baffling to learn
that several project team members do not know important aspects of the
project, even up to the end. They sometimes do not know who the
customer is, or what the key deadlines (release or go-live dates) are.
Likewise, they may not be aware of important dependencies in the project.
Priorities are not understood or recognized. Applying the Law of Requisite
Variety (Chapter 2, Systems), the manager must ensure that each individual
or sub-group (depending on how much variety the manager assigns to
the team) understands certain key pieces of information.
Private Interests
The nondisclosure of information could be in some person's private
interests. It could be hidden or made difficult to access. Information flow
is closely related to the political dynamics in an organization or project.
Hierarchical Information Flows
Information is driven by having hierarchical structures in place. Most
organizations have hierarchical structures that mimic military hierarchies,
and more information flows up rather than comes down. The lack of
information flowing down gets justified in many ways. However, it some-
times prevents those at lower levels from getting information that they
could have used in making better decisions. Information flows should not
map strictly to organizational hierarchies.
Need to Know
It becomes a problem when necessary information is not shared because
of false assumptions about the “need to know,” or false mapping of
organizational hierarchies to information sharing hierarchies. The engineer
in the other department may need this information more than the vice-
president in one's department.
One objection to information sharing is that the information might be
misused. If the real delivery dates in the client's order were told to the
team, then the managers might lose their buffers. If financial information
about profitability or revenues is shared, the employees on the team may
make inappropriate demands. Such situations may very well occur. What
is not clear is whether they can be avoided by withholding information.
