The Team Factor In Records Management Implementations

By Ganesh Vednere

The single most important decision that a records manager can take before the start of a records management implementation program is not which technology to deploy or which vendor package to choose or even which business units to implement, instead it is deciding what the composition of the implementation team will be. This decision involves figuring out the team structure – who will be part of what team; what skill sets are required; what roles and responsibilities need to be created; what hierarchies need to be established and most importantly determining who will own what deliverables.

Consider a typical records management program that consists of many different stakeholders from business, compliance, legal, IT and records management. With each of these groups come the departmental managers and their corresponding senior executives. Each stakeholder brings along their different agendas and understandings.

When the program gets kicked off, it does so with great enthusiasm and camaraderie between all of the parties involved. But, given the extended duration of records management programs - usually multiples of years, the inevitable strain starts to builds up. What was once a close knit community of individuals gradually begins to wane and spread apart, stress builds in and turf wars start to erupt. In extreme instances, senior management needs to be brought in to mediate and smooth out the path but in some cases the downward spiraling continues. The thriving program then becomes a drag on everyone involved and starts to takes its toll.