People-Process-Policy

For anyone working in IT you have doubtless encountered the non-technology forces that impact your IT implementations and deployments.  In my experience those forces are comprised of three main entities People, Process, and Policy.

At the center of our concentric circles, which are both collaborating and competing forces, are your information systems.  The realizations of the business processes, policies and people are provided by the abstractions of the systems that comprise the overall technical architecture.  These systems are constantly being pushed, pulled, and shaped by the interactions of our three forces.

People

Business are made up of people, each of whom are there for different reasons.  Some people want a paycheck, others like the work, and others are so aligned with the organization that is hard to see where the separation is.  People work to implement and execute the processes of the business within the guidelines of the policies to fulfill the companies mission.

Process

Processes represent the series of business events which are accounted for, ordered, and reacted to in order to execute the businesses function.  An order is received by the order system, inventory is checked, products are packaged and shipped to the customer.  The process can be viewed through the lens of ordered steps or events, depending on how you want to model it.  Either way, process is the stuff of business.  It’s how things happen and what gets done when something unexpected happens.

Policy

Policy governs what is allowed to happen, what the acceptable responses are in a given situation and the general rules an IT system will implement.  Rules as simple as “customer first and last name are required on orders” or decision structures as complicated as “if the customer is a preferred customer and they cancel their order then no re-stock fee is charged, unless the item was custom ordered.  But if the order was over $2000 then a 10% restock fee is always applied.”  Policy can often be the biggest pain point because people forget policies, do not understand them, or misinterpret them.

Competing Forces

At times, each of these elements will act as a hero or villain.  The friction this causes can impact IT at all levels.  People change, someone quits or gets promoted, processes might change or policies may be altered or dropped all together. 

Collaborating Forces

Then sometimes, all three elements began to work in harmony.  People are able to change policies and processes in a way that opens up new opportunities for IT solutions.  People are able to embrace change for the promise it holds – optimizing processes, minimizing policies and driving business value through an optimized fulfilling of the businesses mission.

Which leads to the last element, not accounted for by this simple illustration.

Change

Change is that external force which pushes and pulls each of the three elements and causes them to collide or work together.  Change is the constant in our equation; the market changes, technology changes, perspectives change.  People, process, and policy – all change.  Sometimes with each other, sometimes not.

This is where IT is and where we must be.  Our job is to learn to roll with the changes and provide an architecture that meets the one constant – change.  Our systems must be able to change and evolve as the people, process, and policies all change.  Within those concentric circles lies that sweet spot and when we get even a glimpse of it, we know that we are right where we need to be.

Navigating the Map

What can you do now that you understand you are stuck in the middle?  The answer is what separates the IT Pros from the rest.  IT is not the solution to every problem because it is not sustainable for IT to be in the middle of everything.  IT won’t always solve people problems, can’t always fix process problems, and often IT cannot change policies. 

The key to be an effective member of an IT organization is to talk to the business about their problems, in their language.  Leave the techno-babble at the door.  Unless you are meeting with other IT teams, tone the language to your audience.  The three forces of People, Process, and Policy are already affecting the business and introducing IT jargon in the middle isn’t going to solve those problems.

Listen.  Talk to the business in their language.  Suggest IT solutions when appropriate.  Keep in mind that IT is not a hammer and there are some problems IT cannot solve alone.