Lisa, 
 
I've worked in a "one man shop" as Peter puts it, and in an environment
where the importance of IRM or RM is not well understood and in
consequence gets little management attention.  I'd offer some
suggestions -- not panaceas by any means, but over time, effective in
building awareness and marshalling support.  
 
(1)  Be patient.  We'd all like to be in the boardroom but the reality
is that most of us are still in transit.   
 
(2)  Keep the lines open between you and the managers or department
heads who are responsible for what you do.  Emphasize your
professionalism.  Make sure they know you are the subject matter expert.

 
(3)  Be on a first-name basis with the General Counsel.  In the
organizations I've worked in, the GCs are often viewed as necessary
evils, but when things get dicey, management beats a path to their door
and they in turn need to know that they can rely on you for answers to
information and risk management questions.  
 
(4)  Cultivate close (first-name and chatty) relationships with the
workers who create and use information every day.  Make sure when they
see you in the halls or in their offices they know you by name and say
"hi".  Use the line from Ghostbusters -- when they have IRM related
problems, concerns, or questions, who they gonna call?  
 
(5)  Never miss an opportunity to do training and awareness -- face
time, emails, PowerPoints, newsletters, whatever your time and
imagination can produce.  Ideally training needs to be on two levels --
policy awareness and management/oversight responsibility training aimed
at upper-and mid-level managers (especially the mid-levels who directly
supervise the workers), and training for the workers, emphasizing
recordkeeping procedures as part of their everyday work.  Expect about
80% of what you say or present to be forgotten or not understood, but
keep plugging.  
 
    If you're a one man (or woman) shop in a large, diverse, or
geographically scattered organization, getting awareness and support is
much more difficult.  It's easier to build relationships in smaller
organizations, but the upshot is that eventually the people you report
to will trust your knowledge and expertise, know that the GC has
confidence in you and perhaps most importantly, that the workers know,
like, and rely on you.   With patience (and persistence), you can build
a program from the inside out.  
 
Dean Bundy, CRM
Naval Research Laboratory
 
"Views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and
do not represent or reflect the official policies or programs of the
Naval Research Laboratory."
 

List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance
To unsubscribe from this list, click the below link. If not already present, place UNSUBSCRIBE RECMGMT-L or UNSUB RECMGMT-L in the body of the message.
mailto:[log in to unmask]