Information Management touches every facet of an organization, from defining the format and approval loop of a Standard Operating Procedure to establishing a location to store accounting documents to locating documents that need placed on legal hold. Information Management is entwined in every aspect of the organization. While a successful program will be comprised of specific functional elements such as Document Control and Records Management, true success is achieved through company-wide acceptance of a program. The path to a fully integrated and accepted program is exceptional customer service.
Information Management (IM) should be a customer focused effort. The purpose of IM is to ensure that information is available, accurate, timely, and accessible throughout the organization. Learning how this applies to each functional group, your customer, is at the core of IM. Once you understand the needs of the customer, the IM team can make recommendations and implement tools that provide the customer with the confidence that their information is available, accurate, timely, and accessible.
Here are a few tips for developing a customer centric IM program:
When developing the taxonomy and metadata schemas speak with members of each department to understand the vocabulary used. Using the department’s vocabulary in the schemas makes the transition to a new Document Management System palatable.
When creating workflows, have the potential users participate in an exercise to create a process flow of the new process.
After a comprehensive IM system is in place and it is time to validate use of the system, take a collaborative approach to evaluating compliance to program requirements. When evaluating a department’s compliance also discuss the needs of the group, both functional needs and training needs.
Information Management is responsible for providing methods for managing an organization’s information assets. “How” the methods and tools are delivered to customers is critical for program success. Your organization’s culture dictates your approach to Change Management and Information Management.
Regardless of industry, the type of information, or the location of the information, IM Visibility is here to provide visibility to your organization’s greatest asset…. INFORMATION.
Need quick answers to IM questions? Click here to learn about the Information Now Program!
