And now for something completely different...

I usually don't do posts that are simply links to other people's blogs, but I really need to make an exception for this one for two reasons:

1. This is one of the most romantic things I've ever seen (read), and not just what Sid did but also the song - which is free for download from the Heartless website (the movie is really lovely too.)
2. It not only has muppets in it but I have learnt from this post that it is possible to design and purchase your very own muppet Whatnot!!! Which I must say is a super-cool concept, even if the online store doesn't ship to Australia.

The post is about a wedding proposal with a difference, and it is lovely to think that after ten years together he would still go to so much trouble to propose. The cynical part of me thinks he wanted an excuse to make a muppet movie, but the effort to get it into a cinema belies that :-)

Maybe it is just the Krismas spirit, maybe it is the hopeless romantic in me, but I just had to share this one - enjoy.

Conference presentation on the information environment

I've been asked to present at an Ark Group conference on eDiscovery next April in Melbourne.  After considering it for a day or two I have suggested that I could talk about the information environment, documents and frameworks involved and how setting this up can assist in the eDiscovery processes.

I've started working on the presentation, and will hopefully get to use my current working environment as a case study, since we are progressing the artefacts for the information environment.  One of the things that it has reinforced for me is the importance of Security Access Models for all IT systems, which I presented at an information management policy conference three years ago. I have developed this further over the last few years and will be including this in the new presentation as well.

I've also come up with a much more refined image of the artefacts of an information environment. It's like a building blocks structure from bottom to top and I think it is a little more succinct and accessible to management. I'd be interested in any feedback on it.

Once I've done the new presentation I will post it up into Slideshare as well, unless of course I do decide to use Prezi for this one (I'm seriously toying with the idea but don't know if it will be too distracting).

Personal reflection

Do you ever have those days when you go into work and think "today will be the day they work out I'm a fraud"? I don't know why we do this, and I say we because I actually learned in a coaching training (don't ask) that this is an acknowledged condition (mainly in women not surprisingly).

I've been feeling a little overwhelmed at work this week, so much to do so little time, and so this feeling has been allowed to creep into my daily thoughts. This completely sucks, because usually it is when I have a really heavy workload that I'm more prone to these thoughts, but this is when I just need to kick in and get things done without any self-doubt.

Maybe this is just a little glimpse into my psyche that I shouldn't really share, but at the end of the day I am not a fraud, I know my job and I do it well - either that or I'm a much better bluffer than I ever thought possible. Next post will be more informative and not just about my mental processes - promise.

When not getting funding is better than getting funding - Project Series

So you've jumped the hurdle of the business case and your project has been given approval to proceed. You're patting yourself on the back and then you find out that the funding is conditional.  In my opinion, because I have had a rather important project that suffered this fate, you are better off having the project delayed or rejected than having someone say "we've approved the project and given you the $500K, but it's only for this financial year, so you've get to get it in by 30 June."

These artificial deadlines can set a project up for failure and don't allow projects to be run properly. But can you really say "thanks but no thanks" when you get this conditional approval? This depends on the business you work in but, having gone through the grief of this once before, I will push back if I am given an artificial deadline like this again.

If you have been very clear in the business case about how long the project will take, then you have a very clear position to push back on - basic project management theory will tell you that if you want to reduce the time taken for the project then you need to increase the money and/or decrease the scope.

But if you are undertaking a project that has a large cultural change component then, in my opinion, it is not possible to reduce the timeframe without significantly impacting the success of the project. People need time to be consulted, time to review, time to absorb and adjust to the changes - conditional funding or not.

As a side note to this, if you have minor upgrades/enhancements sitting on the shelf and funds have been made available (you know that end of financial year spend) then you can probably go for it and get the benefits of conditional funding - but it is not the way to fund an important business project (IT based or not).

Minor successes - major plans

I've blogged a couple of times about the information environment and how I may have a chance of finally being in an organisation where I can implement it.  Well good news, the organisation has agreed to proceed with implementing the Information Management Strategic Framework that I have developed for them. It is the beginning of a long process, but they seem willing to take the long journey of getting this sorted and doing it right.

There are two next steps to build the information environment, they are conducting an information audit to develop the Information Inventory and conducting a needs assessment with the business to develop the Needs Matrix.

It may take up to 6 months to get this process completely finished and get all of the documentation finished, but from there we can develop the Information Management Strategy, which will feed into the ICT and RIM plans.

While we go through this process we are still going to proceed with the Records and Information Management Improvement Program that I have developed. This is designed to sort out naming conventions, the shared drive and finally an EDRMS implementation - which can happen alongside the other development work.

So it is full steam ahead it would seem - I'll keep you posted on the progress as it goes along.