Moving from Imposition to Improvement
Companies wrestle with finding successful strategies to manage the large volumes of electronic content and the processes that interact with this content. Good governance requires that all content be accounted for, properly secured and appropriately retained. So organizations impose processes and requirements to ensure good governance. However, these requirements are often treated as secondary by users who just want to get on with their work. From their perspective, the organizations penchant for governance usually comes in the form of time-consuming, mind-numbing processes built on inefficient, disconnected systems. They want to feel like they are getting things done quickly, without pain and preferably in a way that is experientially stimulating. The needs of the user and the company are not mutually exclusive and neither should be allowed to negatively impact the other. In fact, if done right, the focus on user experience through a better integration of content and process can lead to a better realization of the organization’s goals.
Consider the onboarding process in a firm that is taking on new clients or matters. Another example might be a company that has acquired a large number of new employees. Maybe the challenge is related to the processing of applications. Regardless of the scenario, there are bound to be activities requiring interactions with content and with other people or teams. There are going to be questions around security or conflicts. And there will definitely be the inevitable waiting for “that person” to get back to us with much needed input on some element of the process.
As stated before, the challenges exist because interactions with processes like these occur using disconnected systems, each of which have their own validation steps, required inputs and no ability to share data. The problem gets bigger when the information or the overall task is shared by disparate groups whose only way of sharing information is via interoffice mail, the ‘hand off’ or e-mail. It’s just too easy for the ball to be dropped. Your company is not the only one that has multiple repositories and systems with redundant data. There are many others out there, each with their own requirements imposed on employees to ensure some level of conformity of output. Poorly integrated systems and processes are a symptom experienced by a significant number of organizations struggling to improve their bottom line. And yet there are other others which have recognized symptoms and have worked to build the necessary bridges between content and process. They’ve done the work to identify redundancies and to establish better channels for interaction between teams and the solutions they use. Often, the needed dialogue has rendered a new sense of clarity revealing that some systems, long held and valued, were actually in the way. These systems were, in fact, barriers to integration. With this clarity also came the recognition that it could be less expensive to replace some legacy systems than it is to attempt to save money by stoically carrying on.
Are you trying to get people to move faster and slip up less as you try to manage low motivation levels? Are your people cutting corners in an effort to avoid tedium? Consider taking a closer look at how you are doing things. Implement a content management strategy that consolidates unstructured content. Build bridges that eliminate redundant activity, increase efficiency, reduce risk and allow your people to focus their efforts on more meaningful tasks. You’ll save money, make money and motivate your team. Big improvement!
Our solutions enable both the governance team and the individual to see improvements. We ensure that governance is baked into our solutions in a way that ensures the company’s responsibilities are met while increasing positive adoption by end users.