How Loyola Chicago Increased the User Adoption of Their ECM Projects

I had a great time at our Paperfree/Process Transformation seminar in Chicago yesterday. I especially enjoyed the presentation by Jim Sibenaller, IT Director at Loyola Chicago on “Why Are Change Management and Metrics Such Crucial Aspects to Your Overall Deployment Strategy.”

Jim used this infographic to describe Loyola Chicago’s content management journey:

On the change management front, Jim talked about the need to understand the ECM Maturity "readiness" of a department before beginning the discussion of project options.  Far too often, ECM projects are shoved down the throats of end-users by IT.  Successful projects are those that meet the user halfway -- pushing them to change their processes to take advantage of the technology, but not so hard that they lose them along the way.  Here are the six stages of ECM Maturity that Jim sees:

1. Basic Document Retrieval - Basic image retrieval using queries, simple search.
2. Basic Document Capture - Scanning documents with local scanner, manual indexing.
3. Intermediate Capture & Indexing - Indexing images using a business system screen scrapes/integration. Retrieving images through a “hot key.”
4. Intermediate Tools & Features - Bar code recognition. Using Send To/Print To to capture electronic files. Using basic workflows.
5. Advanced Tools & Features – Using Full-TextSearch, “Scan First,” Importers, eForms Processing, Mobile.
6. Advanced Processing – Advanced workflow processes, Records Management, Dashboard.

When it comes to metrics, Jim urged fellow end users to consider both hard and soft metrics, to use information already on hand, to keep it simple, and to focus on 3-5 key metrics. Loyola Chicago's overall results are impressive -- a 76% average process improvement on key metrics, 7800+ hours of annual saved effort (equal to 4.0 FTEs, who have been reassigned to more rewarding tasks), and $47,000 in direct annual cost reductions through consolidating operating costs.

Jim's takeaways:

Customer Readiness and Change:

• Engage and build trust
• Go at the user's pace
• Give them what they can easily consume
• Define clear objectives

Metrics and Results:

• Measure "simple"
• Soft measurements are OK
• Be constantly willing to adjust

Failure:

• It's OK to make mistakes
• Be humble -- learn from them

Communication:

• Be relentless
• Communicate often