Putting Together an ECM Project Team

Part 3 – The Project Team

In previous blogs on this same subject, we have discussed the role of Executive Management in the overall Project Team effort.  And what elements from the  internal organization would likely comprise an effective team.   In summary, vibrant and effective executive leadership is likely to be critical in solidifying the vision for the project.  The target of effort to achieve project acceptance and enthusiasm is cascading in that the focus of executive leadership is middle management.  The components of a project team may be different for each organization or type of organization – whatever best suites the particular organizational structure, and what special considerations there might be in the project (i.e. does it involve web content, collaboration, integration with ERP or SharePoint environments, etc.).

The Role of Line of Business Managers in the Project Team

As your project will likely either be addressing a limited requirement of a single department or two, or will be the start of an enterprise wide implementation of ECM, it is always recommended that it focus on a manageable quantity of work – normally one or two Departmental or workgroup solutions.  Enterprise wide ECM, ERM, and Business Process Management implementations usually start with one or two departments.   The Department(s) chosen for the Project are normally those where enthusiasm for improvements is high, cooperation is supportive, and where the business entity will benefit highly from the application of ECM technologies.

Starting with one or two areas that have been carefully selected based on their high potential for success and strong need for improvement, permits the rapid and clear demonstration of  ECM technology benefits – and that strong example can assist in the acceptance of the larger project to come across the enterprise.

Departmental management and supervisory involvement and strong support is crucial.  The organization’s line-of-business (LOB) managers understand the routine and cyclical “problems and challenges” of business operations.  They are operational experts within their areas of responsbilbity, know the character of the staff resources they have to work with, entity strengths and weaknesses, the potential to accept change, and what “change management” efforts should be implemented.   These LOB Managers and supervisors routinely “concentrate on organizational effectiveness through current processes” they will become the bridges that will carry the success of the ECM project forward into routine of daily work production.

The LOB Managers and other key supervisory or lead personnel need to be considered for the Project Team for either full involvement, or participation in the development of specific new process or workflow designs.

• They are most cognizent of what is done in their departments and why, what documents are received and how they are processed, the various sources of data (paper from internal and mail sources, voice mails, emails, internet provided input, etc.).
• They understand the decision criteria in the flow of work, the point where specific processes are needed, risks to successful processing, exception processing, and all the rest of the challenges that will need to be considered in a process design.
• They also know which other business areas need access to their documents and data.
• They usually have the only available insight into key details regarding operational systems, processes, and policies that support their organization’s mission.

When you apply ECM and BPM technology to an organization’s routine processes, you must have input and significant levels of planning participation from the managers and key personnel who are most familiar with operations so they can ensure that the new system will be successful in meeting objectives at all meaningful levels.  These people are needed to allow the project team to reach all objectives through consistent operational production.

From time to time this blog will continue with the subject of project team challenges, some considerations to remember, use of supporting vendor resources, and some recommended methods for implementation.

Neil W. Lindsey, ECMm, CDIA+

Project Manager / Senior Business Analyst
ImageSource, Inc.

PUTTING TOGETHER AN ECM PROJECT TEAM

Part 2 – The Project Team

I discussed in the last blog on this general topic that the strong support of the intended Project by executive management is a critical factor for success – they need to support the projects sponsor, and smooth the path of challenges that sometimes occur when change is contemplated.  Vibrant and effective executive leadership is likely to be critical in solidifying the vision for the project.  The target of effort to achieve project acceptance and enthusiasm is cascading in that the focus of executive leadership is middle management, and then it effort fans out to focus on users and supervisors. 

What Will be the Right Team
The right team of players, working together to hone the vision, is required to construct the concepts to be considered, refine the concepts, and to develop strategies to support the selected conceptual structure to fruition.  The people on the team are as integral to your project’s success as the solution, the project plan, the software tools, and infrastructure that is chosen.

Forming the right team is not easy – as not all leaders and users welcome new ideas and changes to the routine process.  But the executive support and the right team members are just as important for for standard ECM projects success as these factors are vital for business process management (BPM) and integrated implementations.

The primary key role types that are required on any ECM project team are listed below.  The exact position titles and numbers of team members recommended for participation will differ depending on an organization’s size and individuals’ skill levels. It is important that the eight classifications of people resources below are part of the Project team.

1. Executives: provide the supporting vision and enthusiasm for the solution objective

2. Line-of-Business (LOB) Managers: provide important project support and key higher level objectives

3. Business Analyst: provide discovery and analytical resources, reporting, perspective and ideas

4. Records/Compliance Manager: assure objectives and solutions match mandates and requirements

5. IT/IS Manager: supporting infrastructure, including business & IT challenges into the plan

6. WorkGroup Manager/Supervisor staff:  provide working knowledge of operations being addressed and realistic possibilities on what will work and where the challenges will be

7. End users: discovering what will and won’t work and where the challenges for acceptance are

8. Project Manager:  This person is the organization’s operational leader of the project and the coordinator with outside resources – ECM industry experts, software vendors, conversion resources, Training, etc. 

From time to time this blog will continue with the subject of team challenges, some considerations to remember, use of supporting vendor resources, and some recommended methods for implementation.

Neil W. Lindsey, ECM^M, CDIA+
Project Manager / Senior Business Analyst
ImageSource, Inc.

Putting Together an ECM Project Team

Part 1 – Getting Started

From a user organization perspective, constructing an effective ECM Project Team needs to be on of the initial mandatory objectives and activities undertaken when implementing an ECM Project.  Achieving this objective in its totality directly links to the success of the implementation of any major ECM project within an organization – whether it be for a phased enterprise or a departmental initiative. 

Achieving this objective is a management challenge that must be supported at the top.  It requires Executive leadership that should initially lead to developing:

• an organizational vision
• clear and consistent motivation
• full mid-management support
• staff commitment at the user level that supports the executive sponsored vision developed by a qualified Project Team. 

With the above being understood, in an instance where the initiating champion of an ECM Project has a mid-level management role, that person needs to acquire an appropriate and committed executive level sponsor. 

In a typical scenario there initially needs to be a management level person(s) involved as project sponsor(s) who would likely be a department/division manager or line of business (LOB) manager.  As indicated, this person needs to acquire the active support and sponsorship of executive level management.  This could be a VP of Operations or the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the organization. 

The first sponsor tasks are to:

[1]   Develop and document the initial premise of the ECM initiative.

[2]   Select and organize an effective team of Project Team members who will work together with the sponsors to fully define and refine the project vision, and develop a strategies to plan the details and bring the project to fruition. 

The people selected for the Project Team, their planning and collaboration skills, their ability to understand the underlying concepts of both the change management and technologies necessary to implement ECM, and their ability to communicate effectively are going to be as important to the success of the ECM Project project’s success as the software, supporting expert resources, and project implementation team solution that is ultimately selected.

The successful ECM project will likely have new business processes implemented, improved workflows, integrations with existing systems, and will require changes in the way supervisors and users do their work.  The successful Project Team will be realistically creative, and individuals as Team members need to be open in their communication of ideas and the challenges to be faced.
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This blog will likely continue on this subject – with future installments discussing the recommended makeup of the Project Team members, the considerations that need to be covered, utilization of supporting partnership resources, and some recommended methods that should be considered to achieve implementation objectives.
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Neil W. Lindsey, ECMΜ, CDIA+
Project Manager / Senior Business Analyst
ImageSource, Inc.

 

  

ECM Best Practices – Green Support

Enterprise Content Management Solutions
– Remote and Mobile Employees

Many of today’s business discussions revolve around the fact that providing select employees with the ability to work from home, in a mobile environment, or otherwise more independently, is a positive factor towards fostering conservation and a “GREEN” initiative.  Considering the integrated component benefits of a well conceived and implemented Enterprise Content Management System (ECM), with the right employees selected for a remote work environment, this green initiative can also promote a highly efficient and productive business environment.

Employees that successfully work from home or on the road as much as they do in the office are likely characterized by desirable core competencies.  This is nothing new and these strong employee qualities have always been required of the person working independently from constant co-worker and management relationships and support. 

Successful remote employees are oriented towards achieving results, and as such, as a group they can be described as being self-motivated, self-disciplined, and as self-sufficient as their supporting infrastructure will allow them to be.   “Remote” employees very often maintain a strong client focus and spend a lot of time working at client sites, communicating with clients, and seeking new clients. 

In order to give the successful remote employee the best opportunity to be as productive as they can be, and promote an organization’s green initiative,  that organization can develop the information management and communications infrastructure that fosters collaboration and information self service.  This also prepares an organization to address the current business trend towards more remote employees.  This developed business structure can also support instances where employees are able to work, but have to do that work away from the office due to illness, convalescence, family emergency, transportation problems, etc.

In addition to the infrastructure, it is important to implement a training program so that these resources are known to the remote employees and they are well trained in making the most of them.

The following are among those driving guidelines that support effective mobile and remote employees:

• Digital information and content are increasingly pervasive and require well developed broadband technologies and services.  Remote employees must be provided with required independent information access and research needed for commercial, client, and business awareness.  ECM Benefits contributing towards a green initiative and remote employee support include:
  • ECM – Customer and business information access through web based document and image management
  • ECM – Research and document re-purposing through web based document management
  • ECM – Work and transaction processing continuation through web based workflow processing
• Group and teamwork oriented communications channels are instrumental to effective and collaboration between the remote employee, clients, co-workers, and management, and to providing effective remote presentation resources.  Integration of Collaboration Management and web based meeting services with compatible ECM systems provides a productive team environment contributing to a focused energy and natural resource conservation effort.
• Businesses (and individuals) must effectively communicate on the move and be supported by personal mobile communication technology and web services.  Personal mobile devices now provide a technology that not only communicates between people, but also communicates information to people using compatible web based Enterprise Content Management systems.
• Data submission and resolution tool resources allowing for information communication and independent problem solving must be provided to the remote employee dependent upon business type and objectives.  Digital Forms Processing and Management systems, a major component of many ECM systems, can provide effective solutions.

Neil W. Lindsey
Project Manager / Senior Business Analyst
ImageSource, Inc.

Attend the following GREEN oriented sessions at
NEXUS 2009, November 2nd, 3rd, 2009, Bellevue,
Washington

Finding the PR Value in your Green ECM Technology
Reducing Your Organization’s Cost and Carbon
Footprint Through Inter-Office Scanning
Economical & Environmental Benefits of eForms

Managing Project Teams – Guidelines for Giving and Receiving Feedback

Guidelines for Constructive Criticism/Feedback

In the course of managing our projects there comes a time in our personal interactions where the project manager will have to provide feedback and may even have to say something negative to the person they are dealing with. There may also be the case where they have to say something negative to say to you. I prefer to call it constructive criticism/feedback rather than negative but many people refer to it as negative. You may find that many people become embarrassed, distressed, and even angered by this criticism/feedback. Too often relationships can become strained and work can even be disrupted. However, there are some people who are able to transform these moments into opportunities for success. They are able to take this information and enhance their work skills, relationships and continue to advance, develop and grow professionally.

The Guidelines:

1.       Acknowledge the need for criticism/feedback

It is the main way to know what things need to improve. It is vital to the success of the project team and its members. Giving and receiving criticism/feedback should become the “culture” of the project team.

It is very important that the team should agree that giving and receiving feedback is an acceptable part of how you will work together and continuously improve as a team.

 2.       Provide both positive and negative criticism/feedback

“Catch” people doing things right as well as when something goes wrong. Reward and remember to tell people when they are doing things right. You want that to continue. People will be more receptive to your negative comments if they have also been accustomed to your positive comments. It shows that you are truly trying to work towards improvement.

 3.       Understand the context

Before proving feedback be sure you review the actions and decisions that led up to the event that you will be providing feedback on. Understand the circumstances completely.

 4.       Know when to give feedback

Determine when the moment is right. Are you ready to give the criticism? Is the person ready to hear it?

Do not give feedback when:

• You don’t know a lot about the circumstances
• You don’t care about the person or will not be around long enough to follow up on the aftermath of your feedback
• The feedback, either positive or negative, is about something the person does not have the power to change
• Your purpose is not really improvement
• The time , place, or circumstances are inappropriate, i.e. you are angry or others are around

5.       Know how to give feedback

Use a tool like:

When you [do this], I feel [this way], because [of such]. What I would like you to consider is [doing X], because I think it will accomplish [Y]. What do you think?

Example:

When you are late for meetings, I get angry because I think it is wasting the time of other team members. I would like you to consider finding a way to better planning your schedule so you can get to meetings on time. This way our meetings can be more productive and we are not wasting the time of others. What do you think?

• Be descriptive - give specific examples
• Don’t use labels – avoid labels like unprofessional, irresponsible, and immature. Describe the specific behavior and drop the label.
• Don’t exaggerate - To say “You are always late for deadlines” may not entirely accurate.
• Don’t be judgmental - Don’t use words like “good”, “better”, “bad” or “should”. You don’t want to appear to be in the role of a parent.
• Speak for yourself – Don’t refer to absent or other people. Don’t use comments like “a lot of people here don’t like it when you….”
• Talk first about yourself, not the other person - People become defensive with that usage. Use phrases like “I feel annoyed when you are late for meetings” rather than “You are frequently late for meetings”.
• Phrase the issue as a statement not a question – Use statements like “I feel annoyed when you are late to meetings” rather than “when are you going to stop being late for meetings”. Most people become defensive and angry with a question. The use of an “I” statement implies “I think we have an issue we must resolve together.”
• Restrict your feedback to things you know for certain – Speak of what you have seen and heard not what you feel and want. Don’t present opinions as facts.
• Help people hear and accept your compliments when giving positive feedback – Some people tend to feel awkward about positive feedback. Reinforce positive feedback even when the person says “it was no big deal”.

 6.       Know how to receive feedback

There may be times when you will receive feedback from someone who does not know the guidelines. Help your critic provide the feedback by asking “What did I say or do to dissatisfy you?” then take it from there.

When reacting to feedback:

• Breathe – Taking full deep breaths forces you to relax and allows the brain to stay alert.
• Listen carefully – don’t interrupt. Don’t discourage the criticism.
• Ask questions for clarity – ask for specific examples if you don’t get them.
• Acknowledge the feedback – repeat back what you heard in your own words so the person knows you understood.
• Acknowledge valid points – agree with what is true and what is possible. That does not necessarily mean you agree to change the behavior.
• Sort out what you have heard – you may need to take some time to sort out what you have heard before responding. Check with others if needed. However, don’t use this as an excuse to avoid the feedback.
• Don’t be defensive – take the feedback for just what it is feedback. Do not try to defend or justify yourself on each point. Again, just listen.

Al Senzamici, PMP
Program Manager
ImageSource, Inc.

Quality Management Within the ECM Project Plan

For every major ECM project being defined and planned, a Quality Management Plan should be included within the Project Plan and consider that:

• Quality planning can be, and is usually closely related with aspects of the Risk Management Plan.
• Quality planning does define the aspects of the project to which quality standards apply and how to measure and report on compliance.  Benchmarking will be accomplished in accordance with realistic expectations and the customer/stakeholder’s requirement that benefit analysis or ongoing metric comparisons be provided outside of or within the purview of the Project.
• Quality assurance is included as an application of the Project Plan to assure that an analysis of where standards apply is actually accomplished according to the processes for Quality Assurance that are identified in the Project Plan. 
• Quality control is reflected in the process used in the monitoring of project results at key points within the project and/or at relevant points within each Deliverable as appropriate. 
• Some monitoring is constant and in compliance with professionally established practices.   The actual monitoring activity, along with reporting and meetings, is planned and critical activity junctions are considered for specified attention.   Monitoring processes are closely tied with the “Communications” Plan so that a the internal customer or external organization’s Project Manager and team is apprised of project status as pre-planned or as is prudent.

Neil W. Lindsey
Project Manager / Business Analyst
ImageSource, Inc.
See me at Nexus 2009

  

Basics of Consulting for the ECM Project

Many organizations look for expert assistance in a quest to justify, plan, and develop the concepts for an Enterprise Content Management system (ECM) or smaller departmental system using this technology.  A provider of these services needs to have demonstrated expertise regarding consulting services focused on the application of the entire breadth of the disciplines associated with Enterprise Content Management.  General business process or management consultants seldom have the experience necessary to provide the requisite resources.  The solutions addressed by the consultation project need to focus each client’s objectives and how they may have to be addressed by the professional application of a combination of:

• Document Management
• Document Imaging / Image Management
• Digital and Physical Records Management
• Digital Asset Management
• Business Process Management and Workflow
• Reports Management (ERM / COLD)
• Content Addressable Storage
• eForms Design, Library management & business processes
• Legacy system and database integration for data sharing (i.e. SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft)
• Legacy system integration for image enablement of third party applications
• Digital signatures and data encryption
• Large Document Viewing Enhancements
• Data capture technologies & custom document and data capture management
• OCR/ICR/OMR & bar code reading
• Data capture from Digital forms and Web forms
• Web Publishing & Content Management
• Web based information delivery systems
• Network Fax Systems and capture
• Collaborative Portals and resources
• File conversion, document migration, and scanning services
• Application Development and Programming Services for Custom Requirements

Consultants need to be able to actively provide expert participation and guidance in analysis to determine requirements/objectives, develop and validate goals and expectations, and apply capabilities of technology for application concepts, business processes, and design at the workgroup, departmental, and enterprise requirement levels per objectives. 

Consultants need to provide resources to advise and direct on project aspects such as technical design specification for hardware, ECM software platforms and components, the network infrastructure, conversion and migration of document information, the training program and facilities to be utilized. 

A consultant’s roll can consider numerous other ECM specific factors such as performance standards, operational and functional objectives, ROI analysis, Change Management considerations, and others which frequently need to be addressed, researched, analyzed, documented, and presented to the client when . 

ECM Consulting Services should also be able to address and provide guidance on the following when generating documentation to the client in the form of a Consultant Report, a Project Charter, and/or a subsequent full Project Plan with design detail:

• Current process documents and flows of work
• Project Scope Planning, Definition, and Management
• Definitions – Process Re-engineering to Technical Opportunities
• Project Deliverables Definition
• Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) at the Project Plan level
• Conversion and Migration Services Requirements – Deliverables
• Standard and Advanced Training Curriculum Planning and Management
• Quality Control Strategies and Planning
• Project Cost Estimating Costing

Application Design for Project Standard Deliverables as well as Architecture Engineering Analysis and recommendations.  These can include conceptual to detailed Design for standard and custom system components and design details for:

• system configuration, and all standard software modules
• document/image capture including information capture considerations for workflows and business processes
• planning, design, and development for web-based resources
• interfaces and integrations with legacy systems as required by objectives
• Activity Definition, Sequencing, and Predication Planning
• Risk Identification and Management Planning
• Duration Estimation with Project Schedule Development and Control (Microsoft Project) when developing Project Plan level strategies plans.
• Project Team Development and Management with Resource Planning
• Communications, Information Distribution, and Performance Report Planning

The consulting organization may bring multiple experts to guide and participate with the client in the discovery and analysis process. Consultants, no matter what their expertise in a particular vertical application, should remain open to a client’s specific goals and interests and not automatically apply past experiences to the specifics of what solution a new client will need.  There should be an initial concentration on specifically defining business challenges, phased implementation priorities, and evaluations of the best opportunities for initial success. This process leads to business solutions that integrate with a client’s standing technology investment and unique business culture, and result in real returns if managed professionally.

Find out more about ECM Strategies and Project Planning at NEXUS 2009

Neil W. Lindsey, Project Manager
ImageSource, Inc.
www.imagesourceinc.com