Kate Forbes-Pitt Systems Manager London School of Economics

1. Document management the untold story: Readiness, risks and resistance Kate Forbes-Pitt Systems Manager London School of Economics

2. Document Management the untold story: Readiness, risks and resistance

3. Purpose • Not to scare you • What lies beneath • Share experience • First worked with DM in 1991 • Worked on system 2000 – 2004 • Studied DM and its implications: • For workers • In organisations

4. Themes • Readiness • Do you understand your organisation and it’s documents? • Resistance • Many types • Can be fatal • Risk • You don’t end up with a working system

5. EDM systems • Failures are not uncommon • Why do systems like this fail? • Two questions • What constitutes a system? • What is a document and what is its purpose?

6. IT systems • Common myths • Its all about computers • Tell people to use it and they will • Computer people can talk to normal people • Implementing computer systems is hard • Reality • Human beings are an integral part of any system • A system out of use is not a system • The hard part is changing work practice • Computer people sometimes need translators

7. Documents • What do we think a document is? • A piece of paper with writing on it? • A way of capturing / imparting information?

8. The letter • How do we know this is a letter? • It doesn’t contain words • It isn’t a piece of paper • Does it contain information? • It contains the information that it is a letter • Documents contain more than their words • ?Creation of identity?

9. Readiness • Is your organisation ready? • Do you know what documents you have? • Do you know what categories of document you have? • Do you know who accesses them? • Do you know how they search for them? • Have you asked them or watched them? • Do you have ‘information poor’ staff? • Are they to be deprived of information?

10. Readiness A computerised mess is still a mess • EDRMS does not sort this out • Searching does make life easier • Concept of a ‘file’ has to change • How many duplicates of documents are in your filing system?

11. Resistance • Non-use • You are potentially attacking • Importance – people’s jobs make them • Gateways to information • Knowledge silos • Direct contact with work • Reflected importance • History • Laziness All of these factors can lead to rejection of the system

12. Resistance • Political checkout • “No-one’s altering my document” • Checked-out documents can’t be altered • “No-one is seeing my draft” The value of version control can be seen as a way to undermine authority

13. Resistance • IT Services / web teams • enablers • Who will own this system • ‘Intimidation’ • Forced into systems you don’t want • Work with ITS early • Get a translator

14. Risk • EDRMS systems reduce risk Picture from 9/11

15. Risk • Risks of implementation • You will end up with a failed system(rejection) • You will end up with both a paper and an EDRMS (rejection) • The system will be too costly to roll out • Additional risks • Legal • Legal admissibility

16. Overcoming the problems • Involve users at an early stage • Can counter resistance • Can enhance feelings of importance • Can increase perception of relevance • Observe processes don’t just survey • People will not tell you what they really do • Understand your enemy • Reasons for rejection are rational not personal • Think about profiling typical users • Find out how they might behave

17. Good luck! • Universities need these systems • Shiny new systems

18. Selecting an Electronic Records Management System A one-day event for Higher Education 10th May 2006 The Conference Centre, Lancaster University