by James Tharpe

Created on: December 06, 2007

Recently I posted the following question on LinkedIn:

I often come in to businesses or groups that are growing rapidly. In these situations it seems inevitable that there is someone who has been on the team a long time, has a monopoly on technical knowledge, and refuses to share his experience and knowledge with newer team members. Every bit of information sharing must be painfully argued, justified, and politicized; often taking days to get a simple 5 minute answer. Team members eventually begin avoiding this person whenever possible, spending hours tracking down simple answers, because the process of getting a simple answer is so difficult.

So how does one deal with this situation?

I received six answers (though no "magic bullet") for dealing with such a situation. Most answers were combative, though one answer (number 3) was especially empathetic.

Answer 1: Tell the CEO

The first answer, and probably most natural one, suggested that the best way to deal with an Information Hoarder through authority:

Have your CEO or President give the person a good talking to or document how time would have been saved or new sales could have been generated if you had obtained the necessary information from this person on time and present it to the person & CEO/President. By then they should get the message.

Of course, attempting to sway authority can be difficult - even self defeating - when you are an outsider. There's a good chance that the CEO knows and trusts the Information Hoarder, has successfully trusted him in the past, and has even had barbecues or family outings with him. To position yourself as a wedge between them seems counterproductive.

Answer 2: Force them

Information hoarders usually think it gives them power and if the company lets them get away with it, it does give them power. The best option is to deal with it directly and quickly. Force them to either become a team player or get marginalized as the team moves forward.

One option would be to require that person to document everything. Take him off other projects until the information is fully documented so someone else can pick it up and use it. Have other people review the documentation to make sure it is clear and complete. If information turns up later that was not documented and you need to go through the politics again, document the fact that the previous assignment was not completed satisfactorily in the person's review. This will take away his power real quickly and put him on the defensive for his behavior.

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