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When establishing an ECM environment, one of the key considerations is organizational behaviours. How the organization will function. This should be based on a core set of ECM principles and the vision to drive the development of new organisational behaviours after the project has been implemented.  Here are a few examples.

ECM Principles may include statements of direction like:

• Information is a corporate resource and must be shared across the enterprise
• Collaborative workspaces will be made available and utilized

The principles are then embedded in a set of rules like:

• Information must be stored in the appropriate places
• Information of corporate value must be stored in the corporate ECM or ERM repositories

The principles help drive organizational best practices like:

• Repurposing of information and content not reinvention
• Information will be shared and cross functional teams will be the normal operating mode

The rules then drive procedures and which the best practices support like:

• How to declare records
• Requesting a project team site

Basically, what I am saying is that well established ECM environments provide a set of guiding principles for the organization which become embedded in the rules of operation. As such, there must be procedural guidelines and you should identify best practices that emerge and can be leveraged throughout the organization.

In my view, the best implementations are those where all aspects of the organization, not just a focus on technology. When new technology is introduced it inherently changes the way an organization will function and the way operational tasks are carried out. This means you must address the whole organization which includes process and most importantly, people. Many implementations fall short of the expectation due to the lack of focus in this area. Use the technology but include setting guidelines and training the user community in those guidelines as part of your project.

If you are not sure how to go about moving in that direction, seek professional assistance and/or training to get you started.

What say you? Do you have a story to tell? What are your thoughts on this topic? What is on your mind? Do you have a topic of interest you would like discussed in this forum? Let me know.

Bob Larrivee, Director and Industry Advisor – AIIM

Email me: blarrivee@aiim.org   

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