Last week, we made the case for becoming metrics-driven in information management. Not just for the sake of measurement, but to bring clarity to complexity.
Like what you see? Want to see more? I invite you to chat with my team at Shinydocs.
Here’s a quick recap of what we found: there are ~ 16 key metrics worth paying attention to.
That’s...A LOT! But, it's not about chasing them all.
These metrics exist so you can benchmark where you stand against best practices.
A score enables you to speak the language of your stakeholders.
Aligning Content with Business Need FIRST
This week, let’s explore the first two measurables on our list:
- Content should be aligned with business need first — not IT convenience
- Users access content the same way, no matter where it lives — on-prem, cloud, desktop, mobile
Focusing on business need and user access first is dramatically more cost-effective than IT convenience... Here's why.
Example: FOI Requests (Freedom of Information)
Let’s look at an example I see a lot of information and records professionals struggling with: FOI requests.
When a request comes in, how QUICKLY AND COMPLETELY can you respond?
If your content is scattered across systems and difficult to surface, your process might look something like this:
- FOI request comes in
- Staff reach out to people they think can help identify where the information is for a "quick chat", teams call, or asking them to respond via email (sometimes this can be dozens of people)
- The "quick chat" may be 20 mins and totally hit or miss on whether it's actually helpful in fulfilling the request
- Then, staff pulls together what they can, usually a patchwork of documents for the request
This is an example of a 1/10 score (i.e. you're failing).
The time and cost of this inefficient process add up quickly. Especially when it's repeated every time a FOI request comes in.
Plus, it's not a great experience for the end user - something that should be a key focus in Government.
Time has a value.
Cost has a value.
Accuracy of service has a value.
When you add it all up, you’re fighting against poor data and it's costing you more - in time and reputation - than the few dollars it would take to make it better.
When you give yourself a score (1/10 in our FOI example), you now have a clear story to tell stakeholders to gather budget to improve:
- When you focus on the ability to know what you have and FIND information... it AUTOMATICLLY makes FOI easier and more complete.
- If you can do a simple search across all document systems (e-mail, file shares, teams, SharePoint, others) then you can find the FOI information without bugging anyone.
That's what a 10/10 looks like. So why don't you do it?
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