The Role of Change

Management in
Successful Information
Management Solutions
Dr. Rod Dilnutt
 The Role of Change Management in Successful Information Management Solutions

Implementation of Information Management solutions necessarily brings change to any

organization. Business practices, role and relationships all affect the way in which people work and
interact on a day-to-day basis. Whether the driver for implementation is for productivity, compliance
or risk reduction there is always the need to consider what impact there will be on user communities.
Document and records management practices in organizations are not often front-of-mind for most
managers and employees and asking them to think about information in a different way or even at
all, as a corporate asset requires a fundamental mindset change. This will take many employees out
of their comfort zone, impact on their confidence and competence to perform the work and creates
a situation where individuals can sense a loss of control in their work context.
It is natural that most people initially react with caution with concerns about their future, security
and where they will fit in to a new order of things. In any group there will be 10% who are excited by
the prospect of change and at the other end 10% who will resist change regardless. This means that
there are 80% who can be influenced one way or the other.
The successful implementation of an information management system extends far beyond the
design and implementation. It extends beyond the support and operation. Effective information
management requires a fundamental mind-shift by stakeholders and everyone in the organization
that relies on information in their work activities. This shift needs to be carefully executed to create
a requisite culture in which information is appropriately and thoroughly managed as a key
organizational asset.

What is Change Management?

Change management is the art of influencing the majority to positively accept and commit
emotionally to the change. Many of the issues arising as a response to change can be real or
perceived and are closely related in a cause and effect network. Either way, they need to be
addressed to avoid resistance or rejection of the change. This requires a combination of
communication, understanding, mentoring, coaching and general support with the aim of building
trust. It is from this position of trust that the task of building the work culture required for successful
information management begins. The '4 Cs' of change management help us think about the change
from an effected user point of view.
Comfort
People are creatures of habit and develop patterns of working within a comfort zone of daily
activities.
Control
Changed practices may cause a loss of control over daily routines and activities. This may come
through changed reporting lines or responsibilities which can evoke a level of discomfort.
Confidence
The introduction of new practices may undermine employee confidence in their ability to perform.
Some may see this as challenge, for others it can be stressful. Often the introduction of computer
equipment is something that can be discomforting. Some people, particularly older workers may
have no experience with computers and can cause self doubt over their abilities to learn the new
skills required.
Competence
To be able to operate in a changed work environment there is always an element of re-skilling
required. This necessarily means that current skills, often developed over an extended period of time
 The Role of Change Management in Successful Information Management Solutions

will need updating or may become redundant. This uncertainty can impact on an employee's
competence and ability to perform.
The management of the complex web of responses, issues and perceptions requires focused
attention. The skills of a change manager are built on an understanding of human behavior and the
change manager's role is to assist people to understand the change and what it means in personal
terms and has been proven to be a significant success factor in building Information Management
capability.

Why is Change Management important?

As volumes of information inevitably grow and our regulatory obligations increase amid the ongoing
business pursuit of productivity, we cannot afford to waste the opportunity to exploit the benefits of
information management solutions.
Studies repeatedly show that a key risk in the success or failure of information management
solutions is stakeholder resistance to change. Through an investment of time and effort in preparing
the user community for the coming change the chances of resistance are lowered. In short without
a disciplined approach to managing stakeholders through the change then realization of anticipated
benefits is put at risk. This has impact on business productivity, staff moral and the bottom-line. So
it would seem logical for us to deploy our information management solutions in the most effective
manner.

Some common Change Management pitfalls of an IM

solution implementation

We are seeing an ongoing consolidation of the information management vendor community and a
subsequent convergence of the underlying technology. There is a growing recognition by
organizations that an information management capability is needed. Further, audit activity frequently
highlights any shortfalls in performance and organizations react accordingly.
The selection of an information management solution is an important corporate investment and
common pitfalls addressed by change management include:

Focus on Technology
Ignoring the emotional needs of users in the rush to get the technology in place can create a real
project risk. Many organizations with an information management solution already in place
experience a negativity of opinion towards the system. Often the cause of this perception can be
traced to an initial technical implementation focus that neglected the needs of those who
consequently struggled to apply new functionality in their work activities. An effective change
management approach including awareness building and communication can turn this perception
around.

Recognition of the Business importance of Information

The low profile that information management has in most employees' minds can be an issue. We
are all busy and in the scheme of things 'filing' is not front-of-mind for the majority of employee's
striving to keep pace with everyday work pressures. Document management and filing, can fall down
 The Role of Change Management in Successful Information Management Solutions

the priority list partly because of work pressures and partly because of limited awareness and can
be seen one of the things that 'should' be done' rather than something that 'must' be done.
Organizations recognizing the business value of information as an asset can then raise awareness
of its importance and manage it accordingly. An increased awareness of this importance should
also influence the planning of information management system deployments.

Business Case and Budget

The business case for information management is focused on risk, mitigation, and productivity.
However; many benefits are intangible and have an indirect impact on the bottom line. Unfortunately,
associated costs are very tangible and visible.
Consequently, there are challenges in the development of the business case as it can fail to excite
the financial fundamentalists who view the whole undertaking in terms of an unavoidable cost that
must be minimized. For the uninformed, change management activities can be seen as non-
essential and result in budgets being set to minimize cost adding to the risk of failure.
Although not unique to Information management implementations these above factors can create
significant project risk. Change Management techniques are designed to address the human
behavioral issues that can adversely impact on project success and as such, are a necessary
inclusion in any deployment activity.

What are some Change Management best practices for an

IM solution implementation?

When it is apparent users are not participating in Information Management practices an objective
assessment can identify a way forward that is usually cost effective and will meet organizational
needs within a much shorter timeframe. This assessment must take an independent and holistic
view of the situation from multiple perspectives.
This assessment must identify the root causes of any associated issues and develop a clear strategy
to build the information management capability required. There are a number of common elements
that have emerged as issues with information management implementations that have nothing to
do with the incumbent technological tool and the strategy developed must consider how these are
to be addressed.
The capability assessment framework enables organizations to holistically assess information
management practices and to identify improvement opportunities that will build capability. This is
achieved by benchmarking current organizational practice against best practice in each of the
dimensions. The best practice benchmark criteria have been identified through experience with
multiple organizations across industry sectors and geographies, and are augmented through
industry collaboration and global academic research outcomes.
The dimensions of information management identified are defined as follows.

Strategy
Best practice organizations should have a clear strategy relating to its management and use of
information The strategy clearly defines the content and structure of the information, how it is to be
governed and applied to support the primary business strategy.
 The Role of Change Management in Successful Information Management Solutions

Content
We can assume that most organizations have the information content that is required to manage
their business. If this is not the case then it is difficult to envisage the organization operating
successfully or at all. However, most organizations suffer from an ad-hoc approach to the
management of this important asset. Best practices relating to managing this content start by
having an inventory of the content, a consistent architecture governing naming conventions,
taxonomy, where content is held, how content is held, i.e. hard copy soft copy formats and who can
access what categories of information.

Process
Due process governing how information is created, stored, accessed and communicated is
fundamental to the governance of enterprise information.
Governance is the combination of processes and structures implemented at management level to
inform, direct, manage, and monitor the information management activities of the organization. This
consists of clear policy, procedure and business rules guiding information management practices.
These must be developed in context of the organization's business activity and be clearly
communicated to stakeholders.
Information management governance also includes the development of business classification
schemes, taxonomy, naming conventions and rules governing the creation, storage, protection,
communication, sensitivities, use and appropriate destruction of information.

Culture
The manner in which information is treated and perceived in an organization is reflective of
organizational culture. Best practice organizations have clear understandings and norms
recognizing the importance of information as an asset. This mindset needs to be pervasive across
the organizational culture and is fundamental to induction and staff development initiatives.
Change management during information systems implementations is a clear best practice aimed at
creating the cultural awareness and mindset required.

Relationships
Organizations operate within a network of relationships with stakeholders. These stakeholders
include customers, suppliers, regulators and industry bodies. Best practice organizations have clear
understanding and service level agreements with other stakeholders in order that corporate record
keeping obligations are met and to ensure information is shared appropriately and to the level
required to maximize efficiency.

Services
The application of Information as an asset is fundamental to the services or products offered to the
market place. Best practice organizations embed value-adding knowledge and information into
services to maximize attractiveness and utility. Corporate discipline ensuring the validity of
information shared is necessary to mitigate risk of non-compliance and avoid potential litigation.

Technology
Information technology is fundamental to the management of the information asset. Clear and
consistent architectures, data and information structures, security and operational tools indicate a
 The Role of Change Management in Successful Information Management Solutions

mature approach to information management. Best practice organizations have clearly defined
architectures.

Change Management Best Practice

The capability assessment framework facilitates benchmarking against specific best practice
indicators. The absence of any of these indicators provides an opportunity for the organization to
improve. Over and above these specific indicators the following themes have emerged as
overarching best practice in change management as information management capability is
developed.

Governance
As discussed above governance is the combination of processes and structures to inform, direct,
manage, and monitor information management activities. This includes effective record keeping
practices. It is important that organizations develop governance practices as early as possible in
implementation projects. This often means putting governance in place prior to specification,
selection and deployment of a technology solution. This has a double benefit. Firstly: stakeholder's
become familiar with information management expectations and the requisite culture begins to
develop; and secondly; the organization gains the opportunity to refine its governance structures
prior to full deployment.

Information Management System

The selection of an enabling information management technology to meet performance and
functional requirements should follow a diligent approach. It is best practice for selection criteria to
consider wider information management architectural needs. The functional richness of available
solutions can allow the retirement of duplicative products providing islands of functionality.
Workflow or WebPages are common examples of these islands where products have been acquired
for a single one-off purpose and are unable to integrate with core applications. Once configured and
deployed the new infrastructure can provide the opportunity to create an integrated technology
architecture thereby reducing support cost.

Pilots
There are many examples of high cost, high-profile failures in the information technology industry.
Often this can be traced to over-ambition and a big-bang approach to deployment.
Implementation of Information Management capability within well defined scope delivered in
incremental steps provides many benefits. Primarily incremental implementation through a series
of pilot deployments allows adaptation of the solution based on real experience before attempting
to conquer the world. Many organizations are benefiting from the adoption of this approach.

User Focus
The inclusion of change management activities focused on preparing stakeholders to take on the
reformed work practices mitigate against risk of stakeholder resistance. This involves considering
the emotional needs of all stakeholders to ensure that they feel in control, are comfortable and have
the confidence and competence to execute new work practices. For many stakeholders the learning
of new skills and changed role and responsibility provides enhanced career opportunity.
 The Role of Change Management in Successful Information Management Solutions

Architecture
Most of the solutions available in the marketplace offer rich functionality to manage documents and
content in a web-based environment. Full use of the functionality on offer can simplify the technical
architecture and realize savings in license and administrative cost further justifying investment.

Change Management Roles and Responsibilities

The change manager works very closely with stakeholders and it is important that relationships
based on trust are established. The personal attributes of a successful change manager are
empathy and patience. The role and responsibility of the change manager is focused on
understanding stakeholder needs, building an awareness of the need for change and supporting
these stakeholders as they transition to new work practices.
Some key responsibilities for the change manager include communications, setting up reporting and
communication channels, participating in business process reform, workshop facilitation, staff
training, mentoring and awareness building. In short, any activity that interacts and prepares the user
community to participate in reformed work practices.
Regardless of the scale of undertaking information management projects require a change
management capability. In large scale projects there may be dedicated change management
resources. For smaller scale projects this role may be a part-time or shared responsibility. The
change management role can in many instances be a shared role across the development.
Sometimes this can be provided through a corporate change management function. Regardless of
how the role is resourced it is essential that it is included.
Many routinely conducted project activities such as workshops, interviews, training and
presentations are in fact change management opportunities as these events they are interactions
with stakeholders. They therefore present the ideal opportunity to develop the relationship of trust
between the project team members and stakeholders.
It is important to avoid the situation where contributing stakeholders feel as though they have been
sucked dry for information by technical people. This can be avoided through the development of
awareness of the importance of the project team/stakeholder relationship thereby maximizing the
value of this contact time.
Further, 'champions' can be identified from within the stakeholder community. This provides a
critical change management input. As these champions are representatives drawn from the
stakeholder community their roles can be a very influential and positive contributor to project
success.

Summary

Research shows proves that higher levels of user acceptance and greater use of installed solutions
are achieved when deliberate change management activities are included in the implementation
work plan and life cycle. Best practice in change management is focused on the early involvement
of stakeholders and on building a trusting relationship. Accordingly, leading organizations have
recognized its importance and routinely allocate resources as projects are planned
 The Role of Change Management in Successful Information Management Solutions

For most organizations there is the opportunity improve information management performance. A
place to start is through a benchmarking assessment of information management capability against
best practice to identify how to realize available benefits by learning from the success of others.
This paper has emphasized change management and the resultant outcomes and opportunities as
best practice. The selection of an information management solution is an important corporate
investment. For those organizations considering implementation and for those that have current
infrastructure in place, there is the real opportunity to maximize return on investment and to create
a work culture that displays the requisite information management behaviors.

About the Author

Dr. Rod Dilnutt is the Managing Director of William Bethwey & Associates and
a Senior Research Fellow of The University of Melbourne. He has wide
experience as a consultant in the private sector and at all levels of the public
sector gained in Australia, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. This experience
includes ten years in a 'Big Six' consultancy firm where he led the Knowledge
Based Business Service Line for Asia Pacific.
Rod applies his practical knowledge and expertise to his consulting
assignments and is retained in an advisory capacity by many leading
organizations. He is also a frequent presenter at industry and academic
conferences.

https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Rod_Dilnutt/580532
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