AIIM Knowledge Center Blog

Finding Commonality

This week I have the good fortune to be in Utrecth, Netherlands discussing ECM with a very interesting group of individuals who come from several European countries. One of the topics that we discussed to some length is the concept of consensus when it comes to terms or metadata to be used in an organization. The challenge is not only one of language but also one of reference. When I used the word tank as an example, some identified this with the military, others with fuel tanks for a car, and still others in terms of pets as in fish tanks.

In ECM along with ERM and other environments where tighter governance, consistency  and standardization are the goal, we must address the challenges of terminology and definition across the organization.

 

How have you addresses this challenge? I would like to hear from you.

Have you visited www.aiimcommunities.com you should.

Bob Larrivee – AIIM

blarrivee@aiim.org

Twitter: BobLarrivee

Would your records keeping practices pass the test?

 

Submitted by Bob Larrivee, AIIM Director/Industry Advisor

 

 

 

 

This is a question every organization should ask and be prepared to defend. A recent article presented by the Associated Press titled “SF drug cases at risk amid crime lab questions”, cites that one of the elements in question as a result of an audit by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors is the lack detailed record-keeping for cases. While this is not the only element placing these cases at risk, it is significant enough to be cited which in my view is severe.

 

One of the things I have stressed regularly over the years with clients, at seminars, and in my classes is that you have to have a sound governance framework in place that addresses not only records but information as a whole for without it, how do you know the information and records you manage is safe, managed properly and not placing your organization at risk? So what is a good information governance framework? I look at it this way, you need to establish a policy and whenever possible, leverage standards in your policy. Look at ISO 15489, MoREQ2, Dublin Core and DoD 5015.2 for guidance.

 

You have to establish processes that support use of the policies. If you state that all content with a business value must be placed into the corporate repository, how does the use get it there? Where does it fit in your taxonomic structure and what metadata will be used? When you have the policies and processes in place, you then need to provide your user community with the right tools and technology to adhere to the policy and carryout the processes but most importantly, give them appropriate training on how it all works and why. Finally, you need to establish a regular audit mechanism through which you can assess compliance and take corrective actions when needed.

 

In my view, a strong information governance framework is essential in managing risk and maintaining compliance. Policy, process, standards, people, tools and audit cycles are all vital elements in being able to present and defend our information assets and practices. This must become a standard operating procedure unto itself and the importance understood by the user community at large. Since I do not know the case presented in the article firsthand, the only conclusion I can draw from what was reported is that there is a weakness in their framework that needs to be tightened. So, how about your organization? Would your records keeping practices pass the test?

 

 What say you? How are you addressing record keeping policies? Do you have a story to tell? I want to hear from you.

  

Looking to learn more about intelligent information and process management?

 

Join us for the BPM Certificate course in:

San Francisco 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

 

Join us for the ECM Certificate course in:

Toronto 03/23/10 - 03/26/10

Kirkland 04/13/10 - 04/16/10

Dallas 04/27/10 - 04/30/10

San Diego 05/04/10 - 05/07/10

Denver 05/18/10 - 05/21/10

Calgary 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

Silver Spring 06/08/10 - 06/11/10

Houston 06/15/10 - 06/18/10

 

We look forward to seeing you there. Do you have several individuals who need training? Contact us to find out how a private class can save you on registration costs.

 

Bob Larrivee – AIIM blarrivee@aiim.org

Follow me on twitter – BobLarrivee and remember to visit www.aiim.org/training and www.informationzen.org, AIIM’s free social network created just for you.

Business Intelligence: Oxymoron?

 

Submitted by Bob Larrivee, AIIM Director/Industry Advisor

 

 

I recently had a person ask me, with current economic times, how the two words business and intelligence could possibly be combined in a meaningful way. It just did not make sense to this individual who eloquently presented the combination as being as much of an oxymoron, a phrase in which the words are of contradictory meaning, as jumbo shrimp or a wise fool. I suppose to a degree one might be able to take and defend this position but I for purposes of this article, I will stray from that direction and focus on how Business Intelligence (BI) can be expanded or enhanced.

 

BI plays a very important role in business, typically leveraging data mining of data warehouses to sift through and collect relevant information that helps guide an organization in relation to changes in their business and shifts in their markets. Notice that the emphasis is on data and structured data warehouses while the onslaught and expansive growth of information within an organization lies in the unstructured world of content. Organizations are creating and storing terabytes to zettabytes of information locked in word documents, spreadsheets, and other forms, housed in unstructured environments like network share drives and email boxes that could have a major impact on the decision making process. The problem is, we do not see it and cannot share it.

 

This is where ECM related technologies come into play to enhance and expand the capabilities of BI initiative through the extension of searchable information. Imagine having the ability to not only data mine your data warehouses but text mine your content and records repositories in  way that delivers significantly more relevant information to you that is also in presented a contextual way. Imagine you can find all of the information you need regardless of where it is stored and maintained. Imagine that you can see patterns evolve and form in a more focused way, as a result of seeing content in context rather than finite data points. Placing information in context provides the ability to see how, where, when and who is using it, in a sense, delivering a new level of knowledge to our findings. Does it mean we will make better decisions? I cannot answer that but I can say that increasing the amount of relevant information used to make the decision increased the chances.

 

What say you? How are you addressing Business Intelligence? Do you have a story to tell? I want to hear from you.

 

Looking to learn more about intelligent information and process management?

 

Join us for the BPM Certificate course in:

San Francisco 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

 

Join us for the ECM Certificate course in:

Toronto 03/23/10 - 03/26/10

Kirkland 04/13/10 - 04/16/10

Dallas 04/27/10 - 04/30/10

San Diego 05/04/10 - 05/07/10

Denver 05/18/10 - 05/21/10

Calgary 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

Silver Spring 06/08/10 - 06/11/10

Houston 06/15/10 - 06/18/10

 

We look forward to seeing you there. Do you have several individuals who need training? Contact us to find out how a private class can save you on registration costs.

 

Bob Larrivee – AIIM blarrivee@aiim.org

Follow me on twitter – BobLarrivee and remember to visit www.aiim.org/training and www.informationzen.org, AIIM’s free social network created just for you.

Concerned about "Meaningful Use"

 

Submitted by Bob Larrivee, AIIM Director/Industry Advisor

 

 

As part of the Federal Stimulus package, health care providers who can demonstrate “meaningful use” of Electronic Heath Records (EHR) technology qualify for federal incentive payments that will help offset their costs.   Imagine you are a health care provider whose primary role is to heal the sick. Imagine that the as a health care provider, or even someone closely associated with the health care industry, that you must now meet and be compliant with increased regulatory guidelines surrounding patient information. Now imagine that this is your reality.

 

Truth is this is a reality and one that according to a recent survey by Modern Healthcare, as reported in iHealthBeat, is a primary concern of healthcare providers nationwide. In fact the article sites that 58% of the respondents selected meaningful use as their top issue while 31% indicated they were unsure if they would meet the meaningful use criteria for the first round of funding in 2011. It further cites that 14% indicate they are unsure they will meet the requirements by either the second round of funding in 2013 or the third round in 2015. So I guess the question is what is meaningful use?

 

On December 30, 2009 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a press announcement regarding two initiatives put forth by the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). CMS is outlining proposed provisions governing the Electronic Health Records (EHR) incentive programs, which includes defining the central concept of “meaningful use” of EHR technology. This proposed regulation would define and specify how to demonstrate ‘meaningful use’ of EHR technology, in order to meet the prerequisite for receiving the Medicare incentive payments. ONC has developed what they term the Interim Final Rule (IFR) which proposes a set of standards addressing implementation specifications, and certification criteria to enhance the interoperability, functionality, utility, and security of health information technology. These standards are also intended to support the concept of meaningful use presented in the CMS proposal.

 

While doing additional research in this area, I found an interesting article by Chris Thorman on the Software Advice Blog that provides a table and summarizes what meaningful use measures in discussion and in place. I feel this is a good representation of the objectives and measures in a way that many should be able to understand in relation to EHR use and functionality that health care providers struggling with the definition can use as a reference point.

 

In my view, this should be a concern for health care providers and the industry as a whole. While the objectives and measures are a good guideline in moving the industry toward becoming more digitally focused, there are still many areas I see that fall short. Where is the discussion of governance? Where is the discussion and guidelines on process and chain of custody for patient information? Where is the discussion on security and access control? Where is the discussion of interoperability? I realize this is a major undertaking and much like trying to turn a cruise ship as fast as a speed boat, but if there is going to be all of this investment, should we not make plans to do it right? Would it not make sense to look at the whole picture knowing that what we do from a technology aspect will impact process and other entities within the organization. I leave it to you to decide.

 

What say you? How are you addressing patient records? Do you have a story to tell? I want to hear from you.

 

Looking to learn more about intelligent information and process management?

 

Join us for the BPM Certificate course in:

San Francisco 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

 

Join us for the ECM Certificate course in:

Toronto 03/23/10 - 03/26/10

Kirkland 04/13/10 - 04/16/10

Dallas 04/27/10 - 04/30/10

San Diego 05/04/10 - 05/07/10

Denver 05/18/10 - 05/21/10

Calgary 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

Silver Spring 06/08/10 - 06/11/10

Houston 06/15/10 - 06/18/10

 

We look forward to seeing you there. Do you have several individuals who need training? Contact us to find out how a private class can save you on registration costs.

 

Bob Larrivee – AIIM blarrivee@aiim.org

Follow me on twitter – BobLarrivee and remember to visit www.aiim.org/training and www.informationzen.org, AIIM’s free social network created just for you.

How do you define BPM?

 

 

Submitted by Bob Larrivee, AIIM Director/Industry Advisor

 

 

 

I am often asked to define various acronyms for my students and the user community at large. One of the main reasons is that all too often the acronym is closely associated with technology or more specifically a vendor. While it may present some confusion in the user community, I commend the vendors on a job well done from a branding perspective. In this case, I am going to focus on BPM since last night as I was flying home, and I was explaining what I do for a living, I was asked to define BPM. So here goes.

Business Process Management, aka BPM, while being a compilation of technologies, is not merely technology alone. Stepping back and taking a holistic view, BPM as a practice is a way to map, analyze, change or improve and monitor business processes. It is a way that we can improve our operating efficiencies and aligns our business processes and activities toward a future state which often include the goal of process automation, enter technology. BPM must become a practice or way of life within the organization, to the degree that continuous improvement is the standard operating procedure. Identify the process, analyze the process, improve the process, automate the process, monitor the process and start all over again.

One of the things I also point to in these discussions, is a set of guiding principles to help achieve success in any BPM initiative. These are:

• Organize around outcomes not tasks

• What is the final goal and vision of the organization?  

• Improve existing processes, rather than build radically new or ‘perfect’ processes

• Processes are there and to a degree work, build upon that foundation

• Correct and improve processes before automating them

• Automation alone will likely not deliver the expected results

• Assign process ownership

• Who is responsible for the overall process in the organization and subsequently, process improvement and management?

• Standardize processes across the enterprise whenever and wherever possible

• Consistent practices help minimize risk and aid in compliance

• Enable continuous change throughout the organization

• Establish a culture open to suggestion and improvement

In my view, BPM is a great enabler and one that is just now gaining the type of momentum the industry expected a few years ago. Two of the great challenges an organization faces in relation to BPM is ownership and accountability for the processes and cultural resistance, the latter being the most difficult. I have never met anyone who gets up each day setting out to either be average or fail. Everyone I have met along my life path has been open and willing to be better, yet in business we find reluctance to change and I think that is based on a fear of failure and retribution. Given the chance, the tools and guidance, people will work to improve themselves and their organization. In these tough economic times, businesses must become more efficient in the way they conduct business and deliver their products and services to the consumer. BPM is more than technology it is a way to grow.

 What say you? How do you define BPM? Do you have a story to tell? I want to hear from you.

 

Looking to learn more about intelligent information and process management?

Join us for the BPM Certificate course in:

San Francisco 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

Join us for the ECM Certificate course in:

Toronto 03/23/10 - 03/26/10

Kirkland 04/13/10 - 04/16/10

Dallas 04/27/10 - 04/30/10

San Diego 05/04/10 - 05/07/10

Denver 05/18/10 - 05/21/10

Calgary 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

Silver Spring 06/08/10 - 06/11/10

Houston 06/15/10 - 06/18/10

We look forward to seeing you there. Do you have several individuals who need training? Contact us to find out how a private class can save you on registration costs.

Bob Larrivee – AIIM blarrivee@aiim.org

Follow me on twitter – BobLarrivee and remember to visit www.aiim.org/training and www.informationzen.org, AIIM’s free social network created just for you.

Live from DC: Healthcare Debates

 

 Submitted by Bob Larrivee - AIIM

 

 

 

As I write this I cannot help but think about how cool this is that I can view/listen to this session with the President and members of the Senate and the Congress, live with options of access though TV or the internet. It certainly does align to the move for a more transparent government in that years ago you would not see or even be able to listen to such a session unless it was presented in bite sized pieces on the news. This also further confirms some of the data presented by University of California, San Diego’s Global Information Industry Center’s report titled “How Much Information?” about the availability and consumption of information of all types from all sources.

 

According to the study, without counting business information, Americans consumed approximately 1.3 trillion hours or roughly 12 hours of information daily. This would be equal to 3.6 zettabytes of information in total. Think about that for a minute, a zettabye is a million-million gigabytes and this is steadily growing. The question of course is one of what information is relevant to you and your interests. I have 1,100 channels with my cable service and more often than not, I find nothing of interest to watch which means I am filtering this information coming at me to determine what is relevant for me now.  This is something we must also do in life and in business.

 

What I am talking about is the value of information. What value does information bring or add to your business? Is it relevant to the decision making process? Does it bring value to your customers whether internal or external? What information do you capture and maintain as a result of its value? These are the challenges we face in our organizations and as such, should establish and publish information value guidelines for the user community. These guidelines would address areas like legal or regulatory requirements to retain the information and reasons for decision making and business continuity. What are the key bits of information?

 

In my view, we need to find ways and provide tools to help organizations sort through the zetta levels of information and capture that which has meaning and value. It is easy to say capture it all or capture none but reality is that we need to find a middle ground that makes sense and supports our business activity. While it is not an easy task, and can seem extremely daunting, with the right tools like metadata, taxonomic structure and technology it can be done effectively. In order to move forward you must assess what you have and what you need, plan on how you will determine value and capture valued information, implement your plan, and institute a continuous improvement effort to update and refine your practice regularly.

 

What say you? How do you assess the value of information? Do you have a story to tell? I want to hear from you.

 

Looking to learn more about intelligent information and process management?

 

Join us for the BPM Certificate course in:

San Francisco 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

 

Join us for the ECM Certificate course in:

Toronto 03/23/10 - 03/26/10

Kirkland 04/13/10 - 04/16/10

Dallas 04/27/10 - 04/30/10

San Diego 05/04/10 - 05/07/10

Denver 05/18/10 - 05/21/10

Calgary 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

Silver Spring 06/08/10 - 06/11/10

Houston 06/15/10 - 06/18/10

 

We look forward to seeing you there. Do you have several individuals who need training? Contact us to find out how a private class can save you on registration costs.

 

Bob Larrivee – AIIM blarrivee@aiim.org

Follow me on twitter – BobLarrivee and remember to visit www.aiim.org/training and www.informationzen.org, AIIM’s free social network created just for you.

 

 

Impact: Audits and eDiscovery

Many of you have heard the terms and even been exposed to either an audit or eDiscovery request. Whether an audit or eDiscovery, you know there can be substantial costs associated with finding, sorting and presenting the information associated with these efforts. According to findings by Doculabs the average discovery cost per incident is approximately $600k while Cohasset Associates places this estimate between $2M – $4M per $1B in revenue. No matter how you look at this, the cost factor is substantial but what about the impact on other areas that may not be as evident.

 

Think about the organization as a whole in a situation where you are in an audit or discovery process. Timelines need to be met, information sorted for relevance and metadata filtered so that only the right information is provided. The information could reside anywhere. It could be in repositories, shared drives, laptops, thumb drives, PDAs and cell phones. It could come in many forms and formats like word documents, spreadsheets, audio and video files.

 

One risk you face is not providing all of the information while another is providing too much. As the clock ticks, your team moves on to ensure every search effort is exhausted and every possible location explored. What toll does this have on the organization and those who are part of the task force? What is the cost of this additional stress level? What is the cost of your personnel becoming frustrated and potentially leaving the organization as a result?

 

This is where a well established ECM environment with strong governance and consistent management practices comes into play. If your governance, taxonomic structure and metadata strategy have been well planned, implemented for consistency and tuned for enhanced findability, the effort and stress of finding the information can be lessened. Audit trails and documented processes help to substantiate and defend your position and practices. No the effort focuses on relevance and filtering of information that is not required.

 

I know I have simplified this and by no means imply that ECM is the total solution to all audit and eDiscovery challenges. What I am saying is that you need to be aware of it and take steps to aid in finding the right information at the right time. Take into consideration the toll and impact it has on an organization from a personnel and productivity standpoint as in time spent to support the audit and not your business at hand.

 

 What say you? How do you address the tasks and costs of audit and eDiscovery? Do you have a story to tell? I want to hear from you.

 

Looking to learn more about intelligent information and process management?

 

Join us for the BPM Certificate course in:

San Francisco 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

 

Join us for the ECM Certificate course in:

Tampa 02/23/10 - 02/26/10

Toronto 03/23/10 - 03/26/10

Kirkland 04/13/10 - 04/16/10

Dallas 04/27/10 - 04/30/10

San Diego 05/04/10 - 05/07/10

Denver 05/18/10 - 05/21/10

Calgary 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

Silver Spring 06/08/10 - 06/11/10

Houston 06/15/10 - 06/18/10

 

We look forward to seeing you there. Do you have several individuals who need training? Contact us to find out how a private class can save you on registration costs.

 

Bob Larrivee – AIIM blarrivee@aiim.org

Follow me on twitter – BobLarrivee and remember to visit www.aiim.org/training and www.informationzen.org, AIIM’s free social network created just for you.

 

Records Management in 2010 and Beyond

As usual, I found Alan Petz-Sharpe’s 2010 content Technology Predictions, at http://www.cmswatch.com/Trends/1760-2010-Technology-Predictions, to be very interesting.  Clearly, his 10^th prediction that: Records Managers face renewed resistance caught my attention. He states that: “Today, though, the RM profession is perceived as being behind the times and focused on paper documents, sadly there is some truth to this.  At a time when enterprises have fallen behind the curve in dealing with e-mail as a primary source of records, the potential for Cloud Computing and new vital collaborative technologies raise further questions about the RM profession’s ability to adapt and deal wth chaning times.” This is a very important topic for all of us in the records management profession!

 

In 1993, Peter Stamoolis and I had an article published in the Records Management Quarterly entitled: “ISO 9000: An Opportunity for Records Management Professionals”.  This article was not about how we could improve our records management programs by applying ISO 9000 (international quality assurance standards) to our activities.  It was about how records management professionals (with their principles and practices) should be necessary for organizations to achieve their ISO 9001, 9002 or 9003 status.  Records management professionals had an opportunity to play an invaluable role in ISO 9000 registration.

 

Over these many years, it does not appear to me as if we have had an impact on organizations achieving ISO 9000 certifications and are not even in the minds of the ISO registrars (auditors).  If you are aware of individual success stories, I would love to hear about them.  I bring this up because I think we may be missing another opportunity to serve our employers and enhance our profession.  I was excited for our profession as electronic records management solutions were designed and made available.  These solutions would require professionals to develop the RM instruments, classification scheme, retention schedules, security structure and disposition, to work.

 

At the same time, we read from Gartner, and other sources, that techology solutions are being procured to deal with e-mail active archiving, electronic content, and e-discovery. Industry observers, including CMS Watch, are talking about convergence in these technology solutions.  E-mail active archiving solutions are improving to incorporate records management functionality (i.e. these solutions should handle formats of content other than emails).  More records management functionality is being asked for in e-discovery solutions.  I can see these implementations being carried out by IT, with the former, and legal and IT, with the latter.  I have seen document management solutions implemented in organizations without records management involvement.  And, how about SharePoint?

 

Whether it was with ISO 9000 compliance or the current implementation of information management solutions, we, as individuals, must step up to play a important roles in the management of information and records within our own organizations.  This has been discussed in several valuable articles encompassing the idea of moving out of the basement and into the board room.  If you have played a key role in the design and implementation of information management solutions in your organizaton, I would love to hear about it.

 

Alan presented some valuable points for our consideration.  Can we demonstrate that we are not only interested in managing paper records, but all records and content with our organizations.  Are we able to  learn, and not only adapt, but lead the automated management of our organizations’ content and records? AIIM offers courses in electronic records management and enterprise content management, along with other valuable topics.  From teaching over 80 classes, it is clear to me that if you are knowledgeable in records management, you should learn about enterprise content management and if you are an expert in enterprise content management, you should learn about electronic records management.  This education will help you to be successful in your own organization.

 

I suggest that you become a CRM (certified records manager)!  In addition, to demonstrate your growth and learning, gain the erm^M (electronic records management master) designation and/or the ecm^M (enterprise content management master) designation.  They present clear evidence of your efforts.  Students have told me that designations behind their names have enhanced their influence within their organizations – made it clear that they were not solely interested in managing paper.

 

Will the records management profession become irrelevant?  While the questions of what our associations are doing for us crops up from time to time over the years.  I think that the real answer lies with us and it will depend on all of us in the profession now and those who enter the occupation.

 

What do think about the challenges we face in 2010 and beyond?

 

Join us for an ERM Certificate course in:

• Miami 03/09/10 - 03/12/10
• Silver Spring 03/23/10 - 03/26/10
• Tampa 04/06/10 - 04/09/10
• Chicago 05/11/10 - 05/14/10
• London 06/22/10 - 06/25/10
• Toronto 06/22/10 - 06/25/10

 

Join us for an Email Management (EMM) Certificate course in:

• Chicago 03/16/10 - 03/19/10
• Silver Spring 05/04/10 - 05/07/10

 

We look forward to seeing you there!

 

Carl Weise – AIIM  cweise@aiim.org

Also, visit www.aiim.org/training and www.informationzen.org – AIIM’s free social network created just for you.

Let's put the "I" back into CIO

 I know this will likely stir a few folks, but recently I have witnessed a great amount of discussion as to the role of a Chief Information Officer (CIO). Most of these discussions have been focused on technology and the technical organization which is the support arm for all information management but let us not forget the “I” in CIO represents the word Information not technology as this would be a CTO (Chief Technology Officer) who would in my world, report to the CIO. I am not saying that technology and use of technology for the betterment and advancement of a company is wrong, in fact I am in full support of it. What I am saying is that the CIO is responsible for more than the technological infrastructure.

Through these discussions I have seen many positions taken regarding the role and responsibilities of a CIO from generating business to developing and maintaining a tightly run and highly focused technology department that leverages the latest technology to support the business. The latter being the most common. It is rare occurrence that any of these discussions focus on that one word that sticks in my mind, information. While the CIO owns responsibility to maintain the information stores, is this position not also responsible to identify the type of information an organization must keep whether in the form of record or content? Is it not the responsibility of the CIO to determine the value of a company’s information and institute appropriate governance over that information to ensure it is properly maintained as a corporate asset in a ways it can be shared but also secured? Is it not the responsibility of the CIO to establish proper disposal procedures of information when it no longer has value and additionally, proper hold procedures in times of audit or litigation?

In my view, the role of a CIO is all of the things I have heard in those many discussions. In a perfect world, the CIO would have an overarching role with a reporting structure that places technology and information on an equal level. The CTO would be responsible for the technology and technological infrastructure while a Chief Content Officer (CCO) would be responsible to identify the information, content, and records of value to the organization, establish and maintain governance policies over the information stores, and develop and implement best practices leveraging the technology as a tool in support of managing the information properly. This may seam simplistic and to some an obvious observation, but to many in the business community, it is something that needs to be addressed openly.  

Over the years, I have spoken with many individuals at all levels of various organizations who feel that the attention of the CIO is turning more toward technology and less on the actual information. As a result, the general feeling is that we now have to deal with information glut while our shared drives and inboxes rapidly turn into huge digital landfills where it is cumbersome to find the right information when it is needed. While technology is a wonderful tool for managing information, it is the information itself that has the value and presents the highest levels of risk. A sound practice is one that addresses policy, process and technology combined and it is the best and most effective CIO who finds that balance. Let’s put the “I” back in CIO and look at the whole information management requirement of an organization rather than just the sizzle of technology.

What say you? How focused is your organization on striking a balance between the use technology and what information practices will be used? Do you have a story to tell? I want to hear from you.

 

Looking to learn more about intelligent information and process management?

Join us for the BPM Certificate course in:

San Francisco 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

Join us for the ECM Certificate course in:

Phoenix 02/09/10 - 02/12/10

Utrecht 02/09/10 - 02/12/10

London 02/23/10 - 02/26/10

Tampa 02/23/10 - 02/26/10

Toronto 03/23/10 - 03/26/10

Kirkland 04/13/10 - 04/16/10

Dallas 04/27/10 - 04/30/10

San Diego 05/04/10 - 05/07/10

Denver 05/18/10 - 05/21/10

Calgary 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

London 06/01/10 - 06/04/10

Silver Spring 06/08/10 - 06/11/10

Houston 06/15/10 - 06/18/10

We look forward to seeing you there.

Bob Larrivee – AIIM blarrivee@aiim.org

Follow me on twitter – BobLarrivee and remember to visit www.aiim.org/training and www.informationzen.org, AIIM’s free social network created just for you.

Social Networks: Who cares?

The question may not be one of who cares but perhaps more who should care? It is interesting how when I talk to folks around the world on this topic, the general sense is that Facebook, MySpace, (fill in your preference), “is my account and my personal life. The only one who should care about what I say and place out there is me.” Yet, companies are becoming more aware of it all and concerned that their brand may not be represented is as professional a manner they would like. According to the third annual Deloitte LLP Ethics and Workplace survey, 60 percent of business executives who responded say they believe it is their right to know how their companies and employees are being portrayed on social networks. Of course employees disagree and while in general 53% disagree, in the 18-34 year old segment 63% say their employer should not be monitoring these social networks. As interesting and perhaps understandable as this may seem, 74% of employees recognize the fact that social networks make it much easier to damage a company.

 

This leads to another interesting discussion regarding governance of social network use. Should companies try to govern social network use? Do they have a right to monitor and act upon their findings? According to the Deloitte LLP report, 17% of the executives who responded indicate they have policies and programs in place to monitor and act in response to reputational risks as a result of social network use. At the same time, 49% of the employees who responded say that even if their company has defined guidelines, it would not change their online behaviour. So, what is a company to do?

 

In my view, social networks have become and are now a vital part of a company’s communication program. The use of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and more, are viewed as essential to establishing and maintaining a global presence and forum to get the corporate message out to the masses. At the same time, these are also great personal venues for networking, job search and keeping in touch with family, friends and colleagues. The challenge is one of finding balance. At what point does a statement from an employee about their job or company become damaging and need to be dealt with? On the other hand, at what point does corporate monitoring constitute invasion of privacy? In some countries, it may be immediate like opening a person’s email.

 

As an executive, you really need to get good counsel on what can and cannot be done from a legal perspective and also consider the impact governance may have in the workplace. As an employee, you need to understand that you represent your employer at all times and your actions in the social network space may lead to actions by your employer that you never anticipated or planned for at the time of your writing. A basic rule of thumb I was taught is that if you would not say it directly to the boss or an executive in the company, you may not want to write put it out on the internet. If you think your space is private and limited to only those who you have invited to join you, think again. If you share and they share and the ones they shared with share, it is now everywhere.

  

What say you? What are your views on social network use as an executive or employees? Do you have a story to tell? I want to hear from you.

 

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Bob Larrivee – AIIM blarrivee@aiim.org

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