For his October 28, 2010 article, 'ECM implementation efforts need focus on interoperability, end users,' News Editor, Mark Brunelli, quotes Sara Roberts on ways to effectively navigate change for enterprise content management initiatives.

To read the full article, click here http://searchdatamanagement.techtarget.com/news/2240024133/ECM-implementation-efforts-need-focus-on-interoperability-end-users

Excerpt:

....to ensure end-user adoption of new ECM technology, analysts say organizations need to keep a cross-section of rank-and-file business users involved in the decision-making process from start to finish. But getting high-level executives on board can present a major challenge, even if they’re the ones who approved the project in the first place, said Sara Roberts, founder and CEO of San Francisco-based Roberts Golden Consulting, which focuses on change management issues.

Immersing business users in an ECM implementation
“When you talk about change management for ECM, you absolutely have to focus a lot of your efforts on the management and leadership layer,” Roberts said. ”Because let’s face it, managers are really the most influential people in an employee’s day-to-day working life.”

One way to get both business users and executive leadership invested in a new ECM implementation is to conduct technology “immersion sessions,” Roberts said, describing them as similar to training sessions but longer and much more interactive.

“You would bring those [users] into the room and let them play with the technology,” she said. “It’s kind of fun because it gives them a non-threatening environment where they can learn to really understand [the technology] and be able to see the business applications and the use cases right then and there.”

A final method of ensuring ECM uptake is to work closely with end users and executives to help them understand that the new functionality has the potential to make their jobs much easier.