Ramp up your Records Management Program with GARP

A while back I had a discussion with an Eastside ARMA member about the challenges of making recommendations for ERM systems and that I was looking for a standard to help drive the importance of good recordkeeping and governance.  She suggested I look at the Generally Accepted Recordkeeping Principals (GARP) standards to use as part of the analysis.  The GARP principals fit perfectly with my established process and added an industry standard component that gives creditability to the ERM analysis.  Now, for the first time it was not just me saying that Enterprise Records Management needed standard taxonomy, better organization, and executive oversight of the records program.  There was a standard that could be referenced and provide meaningful advice from the non-profit RIM Professional Organization – ARMA International.

The purpose of GARP is to give organizations a baseline for current Records Management practices that can be compare against other organizations and used to help develop a roadmap for the future.  The eight GARP principles address the primary components needed to develop an information governance best practices plan for the organization’s Records Management Program.

The following eight principals can be used to determine the level of development of a records management program and to analyze how the organization is positioned to take on new projects and benchmark against other organizations.

The goal of the GARP analysis is to overcome the functional, technological, and business issues associated with developing a Records Management Program and introduce a structure for guidance when implementing or maintaining ECM systems overall.  Managing records and information according to the GARP principles will increase the effectiveness of information governance and aid in compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.

When getting started in ERM or looking at process improvement it is important to review the GARP principals along with the records policies and procedures that are critical components for information governance.  I have found that the GARP analysis helps as an ERM Professional to define the challenges in the as-is state of records management and quickly identify areas that require recommendations to achieve better governance.  My next Blog will cover how to perform the GARP analysis.

Leigh Woody ERM^M
Program Manager
ImageSource 

Ready – Set – GO! with ERM

If you are in the process of reviewing your companies Enterprise Records Management (ERM) strategies and are not sure how to get started, here are some helpful hints to get you going. 

When starting out with ERM it will be useful to first take a look at what kind of an organization you are. Are you a global leader with industry-specific requirements such as Sarbanes Oxley (SOX)? Or are you a small to large size establishment with moderate needs? Do you have an existing ECM system with a RM Module that can be added on, or is this new to your organization? The answer to this question will determine what level of compliance and continuity to start your research and develop a business case and program assessment for a new ERM system.  

An ERM implementation for a global bank will be significantly different than a local county or small law firm. It is important understand the business needs and records management requirements of your organization. Smaller organizations in low-risk (non-litigious) environments may be able to design an ERM system with just a few basic retention categories. However, larger organizations with high risk and in an industry with more litigation and legal requirements will want to look at more robust software with industry regulatory compliance certifications.

The new ERM system will have a big impact on everyone in the organization and it will be worth the time to take a good look at the current Records Management policies and procedures, or lack of them. Additionally, there are many common records and information management polies that are related to ERM, such as email, file naming conventions, version control, file system and network sharing organization just to name a few. Taking the time to read, catalog, and understand how information is used will make it easier to identify gaps and challenges when developing the ERM program.  

Understanding your organization’s internal policies and standards is a good start and the next step is to perform an inventory. An inventory will locate, identify and describe all agency records series, regardless of physical form. The process will describe the general function and overall content of the record types and include physical format, growth rate, location, volumes, frequency of use, and identify duplicate copies. This can be performed with the help of a vendor or consultant to ensure you are getting all the metadata to help build out the ERM system. A data scrubbing project will often be needed after the inventory to eliminate duplication, provide missing metadata, and identify documents that need to be declared as records.

All of these policies, standards, and processes will change from the way you name a word document to where you place the final version. Keep in mind that the ERM system is a function of business process, governance, operational controls, change management and training. We have a saying here –“The technology will always work itself out – it is the people part of ERM systems that is the most difficult.” The ERM program and implementation is a change management project that happens to involve technology. Gathering and reviewing policies and procedures, communicating, locating documents and getting organized before designing the ERM system is critical for success. The first goal is to capture the needs of the organization in a manner which enables a successful program and that can only be accomplished with a good foundation.

Leigh Woody
Program Manager
ImageSource, Inc.

Change Management and User Adoption

Here is a follow up on my post of June 29, 2009.  This follow up focuses on the section referenced by  “Change Management (People)”  where ECM projects sometimes include significant business process changes that require the user community to change the way they work.  In this case, the success of the project will be dependent upon user acceptance of the new system and their adoption of new processes, challenges to the way they work, and their feeling for their  job security. 

I was reviewing some other blogs sourced from the AIIM site the other day and came across the following blog attributable to AIIM’s “8 Things” guest blog series, and the guest blog author Lynn Fraas, a Director for Crown Partners, and the current Vice Chair and Chair Elect of the AIIM Board of Directors.  Because the following material from Lynn Fraas is related to my previous blog, I am providing this reference to her blog  post as an expansion on the Change Management subject.    See below ↓
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User Adoption of ECM and ERM systems
8 Ways to Increase User Adoption

A consistent topic in ECM circles is low user adoption.  We think of ECM as “mature” technology, however, most companies still struggle with broad user adoption.  In implementing ECM technology we fundamentally change the way an individual or group does their job.  Consequently, the business process and culture change associated with the technology is much more significant that the implementation of the technology itself.  Below are 8 things you can do to increase user adoption of ECM Applications:

1.  Get top-level support. 

This seems to be a “no brainer” but one that is consistently overlooked.  ECM implementations often require significant changes to the underlying business process.  A strong sponsor at the executive level can work to remove any organizational roadblocks the team may (or should I say will) encounter as you roll-out applications across the organization.

2.  Start small. 

We have all heard the phrase “take one bite of the elephant at a time”.   Trust me; it is harder to do than it sounds.  To start on the ECM journey, take a relatively straightforward business process and work with that first.  Select a group that has at least one or two individuals who are champions for the new system.  Get the first project over the finish line and in the winner’s circle before you embark on project #2.  Measure the results, celebrate the success and make sure the rest of the organization hears about the success.  This will create a level of excitement that will drive other groups to “want” the new technology.

3.  Be fanatical about internal PR and communication. 

User adoption is driven by system acceptance.  Become a PR and communication expert as they form the cornerstone of gaining organizational acceptance of the system.  You must evangelize and spread your messages to executives, managers, information workers and outside vendors and suppliers.  Build a PR/communication plan early in the project and incorporate different mediums to get the word out.  A simple grid with audience (executives, managers, workers etc) on one axis and form of communication on the other axis will suffice.  The key is identifying major stakeholders and messages then planning the communication campaign to ensure all messages are delivered multiple times.

4.  Use “personas” to understand how the new system will impact users.  

Create a persona for your key stakeholder roles and ensure your system addresses their needs.  The typical organization has multiple roles that will interact with any given business process and therefore the system.  Each role has its own unique requirements (at least from their perspective).  Understand who will interact with the system and what they need to be successful.  Make sure you have them covered with the solution – ultimately it is all about making their life easier.  Understand the WIFFIM (What’s In It For ME) for each persona.

5.  Focus on the business process.  

The business process that ECM technology will support should be the focus – not the underlying technology.  The business user wants to get their job done in the most straightforward manner.  To the extent technology provides tangible benefits to the user – adoption will follow.  If you implement technology for technology sake – you will probably struggle to get users to actually use the system.

6.  Get users and business owners involved. 

People love to be heard.  Leverage that core human trait and get the users/business owners involved at the very beginning of the project.  Other than the typical steering committee thy these avenues for involvement:

• Have a representative from each group on the implementation committee and make sure they communicate regularly with the group they represent.
• Organize an occasional brown-bag discussion or whiteboard session to make sure you understand the process and how ECM will improve the process and the lives of the users (well at least their working lives!).
• Drive hands-on involvement by establishing a “model office”.  Use the model office to engage with users, conduct process “what If’s” and to develop and test applications prior to their general release.  The model office is also useful for ongoing training as you add to or change staff.

7.  Leverage collaboration tools. 

In the world of Web 2.0 it is very easy to create a dialogue with the broad user community.  Check into leveraging an existing corporate intranet or wiki to engage the organization in the discussion around the new system.  If you don’t have a corporate standard there are many ways to generate conversation with free web based tools such as Twitter, Yammer, Facebook and MySpace

8.  Training is more than just a class.  

If I had a dime for every time I heard the words “companies did not plan for training” I would be on a sunny beach.  You hear that training is often overlooked and that is a key piece of the user adoption puzzle.   I also believe that in many cases training is conducted but it is ineffective.  To be effective, training must be more than one how- to class.  Here are some additional ways to ensure people make the jump to using the new system:

• Provide online or hardcopy step-by-step user guides with screen shots to help users the first few times they use the new system.
• Conduct a training session prior to use and then one week after implementation.
• Leverage the wiki or whatever collaboration tool you use to enable users to ask questions and get quick answers – that can be review and used by others as you add to staff or bring different groups onto the system
• Review the question and answer site to see if there are any trends indicating issues you need to resolve with the new system.

The broad adoption of technology is difficult but not unattainable.  I leave you with a great clip that my colleague  posted on the Information Zen site – a great clip to show users:  http://www.informationzen.org/video/2043787:Video:160

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Atle Skjekkeland, referenced in this blog, is a speaker at the NEXUS 2009 Conference later this year.

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