[Originally published on the TeraThink blog]

Last week I spoke at the local National Capital Chapter of AIIM. I gave an updated version of the talk I’ve been giving the past year on Information Governance in the Age of Digital Transformation. While the talk was not new, it was the first time I had given it locally. The discussion was new and very much on point. As I sit here waiting for the 2017 InfoGovCon to start, I want to share some of the highlights.

All About the People

As you may have gathered from the title, there was a lot of conversation about how to engage the people for whom we are building these systems. It should go without saying that if people don’t use a system then all the cool features in the world won’t matter at all. As I have been pushing since my first talk at InfoGovCon four years ago:

Information that is not Captured cannot be Governed

That means putting people first. If Dropbox and Box have shown us anything it is that people will put content into a repository. We just need to make it easy for them. How do we do that?

We listen to them.

One attendee shared that sometimes it is as simple as creating a public place for them to post a complaint or issue. They then gave personal responses to every post and made sure that they felt heard and that their comments were addressed. In the end, the key to success was listening to people.

Looking Ahead

This week I am at InfoGovCon in Rhode Island again. While I am not keynoting this year, I have organized two sessions. The first is on diversity in the industry. While the information governance industry is far from the worst industry, it is still not devoid of issues. The diverse panel of leaders in the industry will be sharing their experiences and sharing what people can do to improve diversity in their workplace and industry.

The second is a little more light-hearted. The information governance industry can be a little boring at times. Several well-known speakers in the industry decided to add a little fun. We have created a session of Infogov Improv. The goal is to reveal some of the absurd situations that we face on a daily basis. In the end, simply knowing that none of us are alone in the efforts to move things forward should prove beneficial.

If you are at InfoGovCon, track me down at a session, send me a tweet, or contact us directly. I’ll be happy to trade war stories with you. The past year has been a busy one and full of new lessons and experiences that we can all take forward. Let’s help each other move this industry forward.

[Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on the blog of Dominion Consulting. On November 1, 2017, Dominion Consulting merged with TeraThink and are now operating jointly as TeraThink. All blog posts migrated from the Dominion Consulting website have been updated to refer to ourselves as TeraThink.]