So you’ve decided to implement Matter Centricity at your firm. Whether you are using Autonomy iManage (formerly Interwoven), Open Text eDOCS (formerly Hummingbird), or another Document Management System (DMS), the basic idea behind Matter Centricity is the same — to present virtual Redwelds for each matter, with folders to categorize and classify documents within. Couldn’t be simplier!
But in order to design these virtual Redweld structures (iManage calls these “WorkSpaces”), input is needed from each Practice Area or department of the firm. Since many of the users have no idea what Matter Centricity is, and some may not have any idea what a DMS is to begin with, it can be difficult to obtain the information needed to design a structure.
Here are a few tips to get the message across:
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- Give a high-level 20-minute presentation prior to your WorkSpace design discussions with a user group. Provide some screen captures to display a sample structure. Briefly discuss how they would interact with the structure on their desktop environment. Even with this presentation, it is hard for some people to grasp the concepts and visualize the structure
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- Take notes during the presentation and the following design discussion. Try to identify those users who are having a more difficult time. Notes are also very helpful when following up with certain attorneys or administrative assistants. The user will appreciate that you remembered their comment from the discussion.
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- Create some sample structures in a lab environment, based on the initial input of the user groups. Invite some of the people who had a hard time understanding the concept and demonstrate how to save and access documents from the structure. Hopefully this will help them along and their ideas can be included as well.
Using these tips, the hope is not only that the users better understand the concept in general, but also have a better idea of how their input for the design will be translated into technology and their daily work process.
In future posts, I’ll discuss how to interpret all this input and combine it with iManage and Kraft Kennedy’s best practices.