Stay-At-Home Activities for IM Professionals

So, you're stuck at home, doing your part and practicing social distancing.  Maybe you're working from home with reduced hours or reduced demands, or worse, you're not working at all (my sympathies).  But now you have some time to do things you wouldn't be able to do otherwise.  If that's the case, here is a list of activities you might consider to keep yourself both sharp and occupied as a practicing IM professional.

1. Professional development

• There are many institutions from Harvard and MIT all the way down to ARMA's website offering free courses on a wide range of topics.  Take them up on it!  If you need to earn CRA, CRM, or IGP maintenance credits, now is the perfect time.

• Get up to speed on digital transformation, cloud computing, and work-from-home technology.  Pundits seem to agree that this pandemic is going to permanently change the way the world works - get a head start on that.  YouTube is perhaps the best place to start; there are a lot of very useful videos and webinars on cloud computing in general, and on specific solutions from organizations like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google.

• Apply to the ICRM for your CRA or CRM designation!  If finances are tight or your organization's training budget is gone, don't sign up - just start preparing.  You can't write tests anyway until the pandemic settles.  Look up the annotated study guides here.

• If you have the financial resources, sign up for a full course in an subject area that you want to be better in, or that makes you more attractive as a prospective employee.  Maybe it's in change management, cloud computing, risk management, or electronic information management.

2. Networking

This applies whether you are looking for work or not.  Networking is for more than just hoping one of your contacts has an inside line on a job.  It's also for learning from others, for hearing other stories and getting a sense of the world out there, and for simply commiserating with others going through the same things you're going through.  Try some of these things:

• Get your LinkedIn profile up to date.  Go through your list of connections and reach out to those you haven't chatted with in a while.  See how they're doing.  Post some comments.

• Host an online meeting with your current and/or former colleagues.  Introduce those that don't know each other.  You can do it with Zoom, Skype, Teams, or other video conferencing technology.  Or really go crazy - host an online Netflix Party!  Do a search on "information," "technology," or something similar to find some fitting shows (although, having tried that, I didn't have much luck... Perhaps Snowden?  Maybe you'll do better).

• Start posting on the IM online forums out there.  Forums exist at AIIM, IG Guru, and others like Facebook, Microsoft, Google, and LinkedIn.  Post your ideas and connect with other IM professionals.

• Have something you want to say?  Start a blog or a vlog.  Maybe it can be about movies and shows available on streaming services applicable to IM professionals. :)

3. A home RM project

If you're social distancing or even in self-quarantine, nothing is more exciting for a dedicated records manager than a home RM project!  There are a host of possibilities, and they can potentially cost zero dollars.  Try one or more out from the list below.  And if you're hunting for a job, of course list these projects in your resume.  Why?  They're 100% valid and valuable experience!

RM Fundamentals

• Conduct an information inventory in your home.  The physical records inventory will be easier, even if you have boxes in the attic - the electronic inventory will be more difficult.  Don't forget your records stored in cloud solutions like Dropbox.

• Create a records retention schedule for your home.  Include permanent records like your house title, and vital statistics documents, and short-term categories for financial and tax information.  Create archive categories for your children's art and school projects.  Implement the schedule to both your physical and electronic records!

Cleanup and Organization

• Clean up and organize your filing cabinets.  Maybe that's a huge job, because you've been cramming staff into them for years.  Don't be embarrassed!  (As they say, "the cobbler's children have no shoes.")

• Clean up your home computer.  Don't wince!  You've asked employees at your organization to do this on a daily basis - time to practice a little of what you preach. :)

• Organize your home email.  Oh no, you're wincing again... and again, you've asked employees at your organization to do this on a daily basis.  Choose your battles; perhaps you only want to organize the previous two years' worth, or organize your contacts and complete missing information, or unsubscribe from mailouts coming from vendors you just don't use anymore.

• Organize your DVDs or CDs (we all still have them!), or your home book and magazine library.  There are smartphone and computer apps for this very thing!  If you have the software, perhaps you would like to digitize your disk collection.

• Organize your photos.  This is a big one... now you have time to do it.  Check online software possibilities; you may want to subscribe to a photo subscription service such as Amazon, Facebook, or 100 others you'll find in a simple Google search.  (Also check the features and reviews on these sites.)

Information Security and Protection

• Is your virus protection software up to date?  Double check.

• Do some research and create an information security plan for your home network, computers, and devices, and then implement it.

• Create a disaster response plan (DRP) for your home.  There are lots of online resources for this.  Put it into action and do a test run with your family.

Digital Transformation

• How much physical mail do you receive?  How much of it can be received electronically instead?  Contact your institutions and make the switch to paperless.  Organize your My Documents location on your computer so that you can manage the correspondence properly when it comes in.

• Use an old computer or laptop to set up a media server in your home with access from your home network (especially if you digitized your CDs and DVDs).  Too daunting?  You have time now, not just to figure it out but to do it too!

• Choose any kind of digital transformation project that challenges you.  Even if you're unsuccessful, you'll learn a ton.

I would love to hear about your projects - let me know!

Wayne Hoff, CRM
ICRM Liaison, Calgary ARMA
icrmrep.armacalgary@gmail.com

ICRM Response to COVID-19

As you might have guessed, all Pearson Vue testing centres have been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  You can see the ICRM statement here.  Of course, you can still prepare and study for exams; the ICRM will announce when the testing opens up again.

All the best in your studying and preparation, but also in your homes and places of work - please be safe.

Wayne Hoff, CRM
ICRM Liaison, Calgary ARMA
icrmrep.armacalgary@gmail.com

Employee Departures and Information Management

My organization has been in a fair amount of turmoil for a good year, with changes at the top and slashed budgets and other things besides.  It has led to the recent layoff of 200 employees.  We knew it was coming, which added to the stress.  But it also gave me some time to prepare.

Almost three years ago I wrote an information offboarding procedure, got approval, and implemented it enterprise-wide.  Essentially, when an employee leaves the organization, it is the leader's responsibility to check the employee's email, personal drives, and other areas where there may be information of value.  Leader notification is automated, but it still takes time to track it and chase down tardy responses.

I had never thought that that layoffs might be considered as an incident within a disaster response plan (DRP), especially when they were expected - but I thought wrong.  It has absolutely impacted the organization's ability to manage its information effectively.  It's been just over a month, and I'm still in the process of managing not only the information offboarding but all of the regular RIM requests that come to the records inbox on a daily basis.  There are some other lessons I've learned that come out of this.

1.  An information offboarding policy is an important policy to craft and to implement.  Not only does it help to capture records that might be otherwise lost when an employee leaves, but it also demonstrates to the organization that a) the responsibility for managing information doesn't suddenly cease when an employee leaves, b) enterprise knowledge management is important to the enterprise, and b) it is both an individual's responsibility and a leader's responsibility to manage information within their area of accountability.

2.  Having a process in place prior to a major event is a huge advantage.  Most leaders had already done an offboarding or two, and knew the process.  My team has been involved in all corners of the organization, so they know me and understand the expectations.

3.  Further to that, know your key stakeholders well.  I had met with HR in advance to determine the process.  Some exceptions showed up during the layoffs, but the lines of communication were already established, so with a quick call I was able to determine the issue and respond appropriately.  I had also met with the IT manager responsible for access control, and we understood that had to work together to make the offboarding work successfully.  There are still some issues we are working out, but again I know where to go when the issues arise.

4.  There is a human element to layoffs that can't be ignored.  My team was informed whenever there was an employee departure.  There was a higher than usual amount of attrition prior to the layoffs, which is not uncommon.  The heaviness of layoffs hung over everyone for several months.  I knew it was possible that someone on my team might be monitoring our notifications and see their own layoff.  As part of my team's preparation for the coming layoffs, I held special meetings to check in with them.  "Are you doing okay?" was the common question.  We banded together, stayed positive and stayed strong, through a very difficult time.

How have you managed during times of downsizing?  Any lessons of your own to share?  If so, please respond in the comments!  Thanks.

By the way, both of my team members were let go - if you looking for an excellent information management analyst in Calgary and area, let me know. :)

Next post:  lessons in demonstrating your RIM program's worth to the organization.

Wayne Hoff, CRM
ICRM Liaison, Calgary ARMA
icrmrep.armacalgary@gmail.com