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Lessons From the Knee of the Master: Battle-Tested Tips for ECM Success

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Not many people have heard of Duncan Stanners. Forget Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, Duncan was quietly plying his craft when the internet was but a twinkle in the DoD's eye. But make no mistake, Duncan Stanners has had the kind of success implementing knowledge management programs that most of us can only dream about. 

Duncan recently retired after 20+ years of service at Shell Canada  (which is now wholly owned by Royal Dutch Shell) and I recently had the privilege of joining him and several of our peers in the Calgary knowledge and information management community at a retirement luncheon in Duncan's honour.  In the true spirit of knowledge management, Duncan shared some of the lessons he learned from the successes and challenges he faced over the years. The summary below was shared in the context of implementing a knowledge management program but it applies equally to any RM, ECM or information management program as well. 

1. Go where the energy is. Duncan suggests that while there may be many opportunities to make a big impact with your initial implementation efforts, don't try to boil the ocean. When choosing where to focus, find the group with the most enthusiasm for your project, pick a problem and solve it. This not only builds goodwill with the folks whose problem you've solved, it also builds momentum and a positive reputation for your program team. 
    
2. If you can't find energy, create it.  This is easier said than done but by focusing on the value your program will bring their area of the business and to them as individuals you will gain their trust and enthusiasm.  Again, find a problem and solve it.
    
3. When talking to customers, don't talk about KM (or RM, IM or ECM), talk about their business.  This helps build trust and shows that you are there to help them solve business problems. It also has the handy side effect of helping your learn more about their slice of the organizational pie, which helps you apply your expertise in ways that are specific to their business context.
    
4. If you can't create a hard-dollar ROI, focus on real risks. There is seldom a conversation about information management that doesn't at some point come back to the question of value for money (and nor should there be).  But hard-dollar saving s from de-duplicating the shared drive and improving information access do not always offset the initial costs of your program. However, a risk-based approach that uses hard cost measures based on things that have actually happened will help make your case. Sell your program on the same basis that you sell a safety initiative; the benefits of working more safely are irrefutable , and once they understand the similarities between the two they will be supportive.
    
5. "You're already doing knowledge management. You're just doing it badly".  Duncan's point is that most groups within your organization are already doing knowledge management (or records, information or content management) but because they are using ineffective processes they are not managing their knowledge or information well.  Your job as an expert is to help guide them through the process to managing that knowledge or information better. Duncan suggests that you find cases where you have successful practices and repeat these until you succeed.
    
6. Tools won't sell the thing.  At best, tools and technology can facilitate adoption and at worst they can constrain it, but the best tool in the world will not help if you are not helping real-world business users solve real-world business problems.

Comments

Submitted by Daniel O'Leary July 22, 2010 - 10:18 AM

Greg you are lucky to know such a wise man. Duncan's advice is practical and very insightful. On one project I worked on, I would open meetings with a picture of an elephant, to remind my team that the only way to eat one is one bite at a time. Even in the E2.0 world, all of this advice is relevant.

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Submitted by Greg Clark July 22, 2010 - 6:17 PM

Hi Daniel,

That's an excellent idea. It is easy to get caught up in the excitement that comes in the early days of a deployment but as I try to remind my clients and colleagues, to realize the true value of an ECM (or RM or KM) implementation takes three to five years minimum. That's not to say there aren't wins along the way or that there's no payback from your investments before then, just that it takes a while for the true transformation to take hold.

Also, once the elephant is all finished off you need to move on to the hippo and then the wildebeest and then keep going. ECM is not something that is ever "done" in your organization. For it to be truly successful, your information governance program needs to evolve with the changing needs of your organization.

Thanks again for your comment.

G.

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Submitted by Duncan Stanners August 04, 2010 - 8:37 AM

Thanks for the kind words, Greg. I had no idea my knee was so articulate - lol

I think the one thing I'm most proud of in IM is using the Safety Risk Assessment Matrix to create the business case for IM. It resulted in a $4million/yr programme that was not in the budget! I presented this at the PNEC conference in Houston in 2007.

One point of clarification. It's a fact that we're all doing KM, IM and RM, the key is how well. Because there is always resistance to change and fear of additional work, I tried to stress that doing things properly do not take more time (particularly if you look full cycle and consider the people who need to find what they need). This barrier to good KM/IM/RM goes away when you show them the minimal incremental time it takes to do it right vs the way they do it now. Even better, I had success when I could convince a small team within the business to try it, and then have them tell the larger business how easy it is. They inevitably believe their own people over a consultant from the ivory tower. The words they fear are " Hi I'm from Head Office and I'm here to help" as this is most often associated with more red tape and procedure that competes for their valuable time.

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Submitted by Bryant Duhon July 22, 2010 - 12:15 PM

Everyone who sells, buys, implements or is in any way part of the IT industry, should recite number 6 like a mantra every morning. "I will use technology to solve a real business problem. I will use technology to solve a real business problem."

Great post, Greg.

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This post and comment(s) reflect the personal perspectives of community members, and not necessarily those of their employers or of AIIM International