AIIM Conference Preview: Why Successful IIM Projects Are Not About You

We have a number of important sessions planned for the AIIM Conference coming to San Diego on March 26-28. I spoke with Carah Koch, the Director of Enterprise Content Management for the Metropolitan Council of the Twin Cities, about her session IIM Project Management and Self-Preservation: Why Successful Projects Are Not About You, and asked her to give us a short preview of what to expect.

You are speaking about IIM project management and self-preservation. What do you mean by that?

Implementing Intelligent Information Management projects can be a challenge in any organization. Traditional project management structures present project leaders with a defined process to move forward, but these processes can often create conflict and frustration. The change management elements inherent in IIM activities demand that leaders examine their own perspectives and approaches about how a project “should” proceed, and how it actually must proceed to be successful.

You work in the public sector. Does that influence how an IIM project should be designed and implemented?

IIM in the public sector comes with its own unique issues. Public organizations operate under continued public scrutiny and regulation, and these entities need to be accountable, transparent and fiscally responsible to the public at all times. This can make the implementation of new technologies and processes particularly daunting as failures have the potential to negatively impact the lives of individuals in the community in a direct way. However, shying away from an opportunity to improve the efficiency or effectiveness in which public employees conduct government business is also not an option.

You will base your session with the story of your recent IIM efforts at the Metropolitan Council. What can attendees expect?

At the Metropolitan Council, a regional government organization in the Minneapolis/St Paul area, this opportunity recently became available with the implementation of Microsoft OneDrive. As an organization we provide a diverse array of services to the region including transit, wastewater management, housing, planning, parks, and more. The implementation of OneDrive enables staff to more effectively collaborate on key issues and services in the office or in the field, and results in a more responsive organization for the community.

At the conclusion of the presentation the audience will leave with three takeaways:

• Understanding of the complicated relationship between IIM and traditional project management processes
• Three principles for IIM projects that will bring value and new perspectives to your approach
• Outcomes and lessons learned from the implementation of Microsoft OneDrive in a public organization

Join Carah on Wednesday March 27th at AIIM19 for her session “IIM Project Management and Self-Preservation: Why Successful Projects Are Not About You” to hear more about these challenges and the approach the Metropolitan Council is taking to successfully resolve them.