At a recent workshop I got asked the following question:  “If one of our senior managers has had a bad experience with EDRMS at another organisation how can I write a business case that convinces him it is a good idea for our organisation”.

My somewhat unsatisfactory response (in the eyes of the questionner) was simply “you can’t”.  If someone has a strong predisposition in a particular direction, with emotion and past history attached, it’s going to be tricky - if not impossible - to change their minds with a 40 page business case stuffed with statistics and good reasons. 

Their response to the business case will be based on emotion not logic. 

So, if that is the situation….what are the options…

1) You can wait until their friends go there first.  This seems a little wimpy but already in New Zealand we are seeing public sector organisations talking much more positively about EDRMS as organisations go to tender willy nilly.  My pick is that the pressure on public sector CEOs to have EDRMS in place will be massive over the next two years driven firstly by the Public Records Act and secondly by the response of their peers to the legislation.   So, if your CEO or senior leaders are currently resistant, for reasons like the one above, maybe it’s all in the timing and a push in 2008 or 2009 may be more likely to succeed than trying to get sign-off before Christmas.

2) Collect evidence that organisations they respect have gone there.  If possible, arrange for them to visit other successful implementations.  Like the approach above, the focus of this is on creating social proof.

3) Try a scaled back approach where enterprise-wide EDRMS is secondary.  In this situation, we pick a scenario where we know there will be good business benefit and strong advocates if we are successful. Picking a common problem points - approval processes or the management of a major project can be a great way to go.  The challenge here is getting software that supports this approach.  For a lot of organisations, using SharePoint to prove this approach - not necessarily as the final solution although it may be - can be a great way of helping people see what is possible.  One of the challenges of EDRMS is that it is hard to sell at a conceptual level.   Mini-deployments can help users, leaders, and funders see the benefit.

There is more than one way to skin a cat.  Banging your leader’s head against a brick wall/business case is unlikely to bring the results you need.

I grabbed this on the off chance at Singapore Airport - hadn’t read any reviews but it looked like a reasonable read for the ride home.

Christine Comaford-Lynch is a successful entrepreneur who shares her personal story in an easily digestible style.  From her time at Microsoft in the early days through to her ill-fated connection with a guru, Christine tells it like it is.

Many times I found myself doing a ‘me too’.  Despite being a high flyer, Christine strips away the trappings of success and reveals her own failures and shortcomings.  Very refreshing in a personal development book, I found myself cheering for her and for myself. 

This is a short sharp dose of motivation.  Is it packed with good advice?  Well kinda….the old chestnuts about visualisation, networking with a view to helping others, avoiding toxic people etc……[complete with your favourite piece of motivational/personal development advice]….are all in here.  I think the real question is whether the story makes the messages more sticky.  Certainly for me it did.  If you’re interested in autobiographies of successful people, with a dose of motivation and good advice thrown in then this is a good buy.  If you’re looking for new insights you should probably look elsewhere.