Information Management 101— How to Wrap Your Head and Hands Around the Information You Have

How do you wrap your head and hands around the information that you have?

Information growth has outpaced our ability to manage it. If you – or your team or organization – are like most, you are faced with an information management problem in one form or another.

In my many years working with clients, I have seen information management problems disguise and manifest through different forms and symptoms.

Signs of Unmanaged Information

…Maybe your team spends an inordinate amount of time looking for information.

…Or you implemented a fancy document system but haven’t seen any results.

…Or you have lots of great ideas in notes, minutes, and documents, but they don’t go anywhere.

…Or your company is constantly chasing new “transformation” projects with lots of hype, flashy presentations, big meetings, and the same subpar results.

Whatever your information problem, solving it always comes back to the basics.

Information management is about using – or leveraging – the information that you, your team, and your organization has already. Small wins like organizing your files to see what you've got, finding old files that give your project history, or using your team’s data to analyze a problem have a ripple effect. You are learning to control (and command) the information in your orbit.

Use these practical tips to get a grip on your information, tackle your information problem, leverage the information you and your organization has already, and reach information management “Zen” if you will.

What Is Information Management?

Information Management sounds hard but it doesn’t have to be. It is the art of taking information (usually data or documents) and transforming it into something of value. In its simplest from, it could mean cleaning up your file folders. At a complex level, it could mean integrating disparate enterprise-wide systems.

Information Management is a broad professional discipline full of terms, lingo, and technologies to learn. It is also a growing professional field, and the terminology is changing every year.

While professional organizations such as ISO (International Organization for Standardization) or AIIM (Association for Intelligent Information Management) take a technical approach, in practice, these concepts grow a life of their own in organizations, professions, or teams.

Remember that your CEO doesn’t care whether you call a project “Enterprise Content Management” or “Document Management.” The concerns of a CEO are practical and immediate—that is, finding things when needed, legal protection for the company and themselves, maximizing ROI (return on Investment), and so on.

How Do We Begin—or Improve—Our Information Management?

Whether you are reviewing your personal information management systems or are coordinating with others, here are four principles that you can use to wrap your head and hands around the information you have and tackle your underlying problem.

1. Know where you are going first.

Maybe you have worked hard over the past decade to build a successful team or even department. Maybe you are a project manager or business analyst who has led a number of successful implementations. Or maybe you have built your own successful small business over the past twenty years.

Whatever your situation, the chances are that you probably have a heck of a lot of information, along with folders, databases, drives, repositories, and other detritus. You have probably been moderately successful with your messy files in the past.

But don’t channel all your (perhaps Type A) energy on organizing these relics—your files, systems, metadata, or processes—to perfection.

Rather, look at where you want to go, not at what you have. How can information support your sales goals? How can your information help you get a handle on the projects on your plate?

Information management is a force for change. But it can also be a colossal waste of time if you fail to connect with the why. “Implementing information governance” or “getting documented” are not good enough reasons. Connect with a higher purpose.

I have watched several clients scrap their information management projects because the problems they were trying to solve were too vague and entombed under requirements or technologies.

2. Understand your Big D and “Little d” documentation.

If you want to solve your information management problem, you have to understand the difference between what I call “Big D” and “Little d” documentation. (I supposed we could add a Big I and Little i information too, but let’s keep things simple.)

 “Big D” is the formal aspects of information – our records, systems, information management programs, policies, procedures, rules, and requirements.

Which brings me to Little d. If Big D is about how we traditionally see information management, Little d is about the everyday documentation practices that we need to be successful – your notes, to-dos, emails, and draft reports.

You might have heard that “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Well, I say that “Little d eats Big D for lunch.” You can implement the fanciest sales system in the world, but if your sales team doesn’t have the habit of recording who they talked to, your system won’t increase your sales by a dime.

If you want to get a grip on your information, you need to recognize that all information from formal to informal, and big to little, plays an important role in the information management picture.

3. Group your information to get line of sight.

Next order of business: group your information to get a “line of sight” of what you currently have. If you are staring at thousands of documents—perhaps across repositories, systems, and departments—you are probably wondering where to go next.

The good news is that no matter how many documents you have or how complex your cleanup job or problem is, or whether you are a solopreneur or work for Walmart, these basic concepts can be applied anywhere:

• Work-in-progress files. These are the files that should be at your fingertips. They should be ready to go and easily visible for your team.

• Archives and reference files. You wouldn’t put the manual for your furnace on your home office desk. Think of the same for your archived, old, or reference files. Put them somewhere (like your basement) where you can find them but where they aren’t in your way.

• ROT (Redundant Outdated Trivial – “AKA, trash”). Your ROT will drag you down. Delete ROT or, if you are too nervous about deleting (especially if you are doing a big cleanup), put it in a temporary repository. (And remember to channel your inner Marie Kondo – you need fewer documents than you think.)

4. Take stock of what you have. (Or conduct an “information audit.”)

You might be tempted to jump in and start solving the problem by buying a new system, writing your policies, scrapping your processes, cleaning out your folders, overhauling your metadata, building intricate workflows, hiring fancy consultants, and so on.

But stop and look at where you are and what you have first. An information audit is like “closet shopping.” That is, going through your closet before rushing out to buy new clothes.

Ask yourself and your team:

• What is your or your organization’s information? Is it supporting or hindering my problem

• What information does your team access the most? Where does it live?

• What information is ignored and never used?

• What information would the team need if your team members were to “win the lottery” and leave the organization for greener pastures?

• What information is out of date? What has lost its value over time?

• What are the key strengths of your information? What are its weaknesses?

• What is your process for finding information? Where does your team look?

• Do your systems and tools meet your needs? Are there newer, more robust methodologies that can or should be considered and adopted?

Voila! You have learned key principles to help you get a grip on your information. These are the first steps for building an information management practice and for making your information more organized, stronger, and more relevant over time.