A good content management process will not have long-term success without alignment to and integration in business processes and a governance that ensures accountability and adherence to processes and policies.
For over 2 decades, I have engaged with APQC’s members and clients to put in robust capabilities (there are 12 of them) to help people discover, apply, and share their content and expertise. Designing a KM strategy, creating a business case for action, embedding knowledge processes into the flow of work, and using KM approaches to help people collaborate and innovate have been some of my most enjoyable and memorable efforts. I was eager to share with our members and clients the proven methodologies, best practices, and lessons in implementing content management.
It wasn’t until the fall of 2019 that I really begin to understand what I didn’t know about content management. The saying “you don’t know what you don’t know” rang true as I excitedly accepted the executive role to champion APQC’s efforts to treat content management as a strategic initiative. When you are assigned to successfully implement and maintain a capability, you get serious and learn to be humble. It wasn’t about knowing; it was about doing.
Content management has many layers that often get blurred by the promise of good technology and automation. Vendors are needed to support the development and execution of the content management processes, and a group of dedicated resources are required to support content capture and access. These things may be needed to drive and/or enable a successful implementation, but when looking across successful content management implementations that have sustained and improved over time, they have one thing in common – a strong process management foundation.
Borrowing a favorite guiding principle from KM, APQC decided to look at content management processes through the lens of “above the flow of work and in the flow of work.” We outlined our processes (see image below) using this principle. “Above the flow activities” tend to move faster because you are designing and developing strategy, governance, taxonomies, rules, and infrastructure, and you are not disrupting the normal course of work. “In the flow activities” requires engaging those executing work so that content management activities, business rules, storage, access guidelines, and enabling tools are embedded in the business processes. You must use logic and not formula. The conversations are important and necessary if you want people to take responsibility for making it work…and last!
How To Start Content Management Right
To get started, APQC recommends adopting best practices and lessons learned. Someone has already figured this out, so you won’t need to repeat the same mistakes. Here’s a quick recap of things you can adopt based on our proven quick start efforts:
1) A good definition of content – what it is and what it is not.
2) A business case that you can point to that shows the impact to business outcomes.
3) A methodology and plan.
4) A business leader willing to provide time and resources for initial pilots.
5) A process mentality so content management gets embedded in workflow to become the norm.
Content management is a journey and APQC takes pride in championing that journey. I’ll continue sharing my “ah-ha” moments as they happen, and continue to embrace content management for what it is—a true strategic initiative.