The Change Management Toolkit – your DIY kit

on January 18, 2016

Change management is core to every interaction by the RIM team with business units in a digital environment. You are changing behaviour from shared drive and personal drive use every day. Sometimes it’s a project, but most of the time it’s a less formal program, without budget for training and without a change manager. Change Factory, Linked Training’s change partner, have recognised that every records and information unit needs support, and developed a practical toolkit that transforms their experience and knowledge into a program of training, planning and implementing the right change actions for your needs. Linked Training have supported and contributed to the development of this toolkit, and we encourage you to invest a few minutes to review it. We know your training outcomes will be improved by following the practical advice and actions. The Change Management Toolkit is practical step-by-step guide for Project […]

Better Communication Skills – What do you mean?

on January 18, 2016

“This is the chance to ask your burning questions.” That was the invitation to the audience during Linked Training’s (almost) Australia wide Road Show in 2015. Of course that places the respondent (me) in the vulnerable position of providing a succinct answer whilst thinking on my feet. Sometimes the response is too short to be of real value. A longer opportunity to communicate is necessary to respond to the complex question. “What is the main skill you believe Records and Information Managers are most lacking in?” was such a question posed to me. My immediate response – “Communication!” In a few short minutes I extrapolated on the topic acutely aware that a full day was really required to fully explain why that was the response. The answer was too simplistic, and the response too superficial, to provide any launching point from which people could analyse […]

Employing staff: 10 times the experience or 1 experience 10 times?

on October 13, 2015

Are you about to employ a new staff member? Or bringing together a new project team? Are you sure the person or people who you’ve identified as your ‘ideal’ candidate is really going to be productive from day one? Are they actually competent in what is required in the role? Employment advertisements generally ask for experience, and employers place emphasis on this when selecting candidates. Experience is a poor indicator of an individual having the skill, knowledge or attitude to perform a role competently. Two individuals may have 10 years’ experience, but the breadth and depth of that experience will vary. A simple example that demonstrates this is recruiting for an archival role. Many people choose to live their archiving passion throughout their entire employment. An applicant who has worked competently across multiple organisations and a variety of archiving projects, will have greater ability to […]

Why SME’s fail as Teachers

on October 13, 2015

Recently I was reading a book on complex psychology in which the author thanked his co-author for enabling him to articulate his knowledge and share his practices so others could learn and implement them. He noted the ability to impart this in a book was something he had failed to achieve on his own, despite trying several different approaches, over a ten year period. Although the acknowledged subject matter expert the field, he lacked the particular skill to impart his learnings and benefit a wider society. It was only in collaboration with a writing partner he was able to impart his wisdom. Individuals, team members and employers generally have the belief that the best person to teach other people something is the subject matter expert (SME). This is the person who has the most experience in practicing what others need to learn. Many people will […]

Staying Sane – Tackling the Factors Causing Stress in Records Management

on September 07, 2015

The stress of fulfilling a records management role, in both senior management and administration, has increased over the past 5 years. The increase in the stressfulness of these roles is causing good people to feel like they are incapable of performing their roles, and for some people will cause temporary incapability to do so. Stressed team become dysfunctional, and stressed projects collapse. This is occurring on a regular basis across the industry. The increase in stress is directly related to the increase in digital recordkeeping within organisations, with its greater demands on time and skill the record and information management roles. It is approximately 15 years since the first organisations commenced digital recordkeeping, making it obvious that the industry are slow in learning how to manage themselves and their health in a new world. Suffering prolonged stress is harmful, both physically and psychologically. Being aware […]

The New Language of HP Records Manager

on September 07, 2015

For decades now records have been “TRIMmed” and in the world of EDRMS the word has been adopted as a verb for those organisations with the HP TRIM. With the release of version 8, and the retitling of the software by Hewlett Packard to Records Manager, a rethink on the use of our recordkeeping language is required. The natural abbreviation is RM, and around the traps records teams have adopted “RM8” as the diminutive title. In slang, we’re now RuMin8ing our records! Is that the label we really want for the system? It may appeal, and be amusing, for records staff, but it increases the opportunity for ridicule of the system by End Users. A simple reference of RM could be adopted, but as one of our clients discovered, the reputation of the EDRMS was being confused with that of another failed software rollout which […]

Avoid Performance Management; Focus on Information Management

on August 17, 2015

The list of skills asked of people working in records and information management is out of control. There is an expectation from the business that the records manager is an expert in change management, training design and management, IT hardware, software and even programming both specific to information management and peripheral, project management, plus … <insert your own list here>. The plethora of activities all records officers working in a digital environment now participate in does not end there. There is also the challenges of managing people. I’m not talking about managing subordinates or superiors within the records and information unit, which, as within all business units, makes each day interesting in its own right. I’m talking about the management of people within other business units over which records officers have no control and often little influence. Digital recordkeeping environments generate multiple contexts of managing […]

FAQ: How does the RM8.2 Ribbon impact upgrade decisions?

on August 17, 2015

The HP TRIM/RM community is now aware RM8.2 includes the introduction of a Ribbon, replacing menus and toolbars. Thanks to MS Office paving the way with the Ribbon style of interface back in 2007 the major design and functionality change will avoid the backlash from the user community MS Office 2007 received. In fact, the TRIM Toolbars and log Menus were looking very outdated in RM8, and the change of style is a positive move for improvement of first impressions. The 8.2 release comes only about 12 short months after the release of 8.1. Industry wide there are a high proportion of organisations currently immersed in 8.1 upgrade projects. Many people are pausing to ask, “Should the upgrade now be to RM8.2?” In making your decision the following three points regarding time and effort impacts of the Ribbon are worth reviewing: 1. Training Resource Development […]

5 Ways to Cut Costs this Financial Year

on July 21, 2015

The start of the new financial year is upon us, and it’s the time when operational budgets for the upcoming 12 months are finalised and allocated. Regardless of the size of your allocated budget you need to get the most out of it. Project budgets will have been calculated based on a recent analysis of the requirements. When was the last time you did the same analysis on your operational budget? It’s very easy to become caught in the trap of operational cost creep and find your allocated budget is inadequate. It is easy to find advice on cutting costs in personal and commercial business budgets. There is also advice on how to achieve holistic savings across the economy. But how do you cut costs within a business unit constrained by policies and processes of a government department? Here’s some simple, practical approaches that any […]

Making Friends with your EDRMS Enemy

on June 09, 2015

Information management digital transition projects ruffle the feathers of people across the organisation. There is general unease at the mere thought of using the required EDRMS software across the staff population. And then there is always a small group of people who become Challengers. Challengers become major obstruction points to forward movement in the project and can quickly degenerate into becoming the Enemy of EDRMS! Weekly and daily battles with Challengers consume valuable project team time, and frequently lead to high levels of stress. It’s common for groups involved in a digital transition project to be describing major battle scenes! How does the EDRMS Project Team make friends with, or better still prevent the existence of “the enemy”? Late Adopters vs. Challengers William Bridges Transition Model[i] identifies three change zones which people will transition through during the introduction of a new model of working and […]