http://tc.eserver.org/authors/Robertson,_James A bibliography of works by Robertson, James in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Robertson,_James http://tc.eserver.org/33261.html http://tc.eserver.org/33261.html Few organisations are able to realise this vision of content reuse in practice. Instead, content reuse is typically only used in a few limited situations, with authoring and publishing continuing unchanged to a large extent. http://tc.eserver.org/33271.html http://tc.eserver.org/33271.html This article outlines a structured approach to deploying a CMS, as well as providing a range of practical guidelines and tips that will assist the implementation team. http://tc.eserver.org/33107.html http://tc.eserver.org/33107.html Intranet search often fails to meet the needs or expectations of users, with confusing and complex results provided for even the simplest searches. http://tc.eserver.org/33108.html http://tc.eserver.org/33108.html One of the first challenges when establishing an intranet is to determine who should have overall ownership of the site, and where the intranet team should be located. While the responsibility for driving the intranet must be given to a single business area, this group must be located within the right area of the organisation if the intranet is to succeed. This briefing explores a number of common intranet owners, and discusses the pros and cons of each group. It then presents some general guidelines and approaches for selecting where to place the intranet team. http://tc.eserver.org/33061.html http://tc.eserver.org/33061.html Much is expected of intranet authors, and they are vital to delivering an intranet that is useful (and used). Yet, in many cases, intranet authoring is treated as a hobby within organisations. This briefing looks at the role of intranet authors, and challenges organisations to either take intranet authoring seriously, or to let go of unrealistic expectations regarding content quality and timeliness. http://tc.eserver.org/33065.html http://tc.eserver.org/33065.html While intranets often have someone appointed as the intranet ‘manager’, do they spend their time actually managing the site, or publishing pages? Observing many organisations and intranets, one of the critical success factors is to have an intranet manager who is free to focus solely on the management of the site. The intranet manager should not be writing HTML or publishing pages. http://tc.eserver.org/33070.html http://tc.eserver.org/33070.html This article challenges the vision of the corporate intranet as a publishing tool, or a static repository for web pages or documents. Instead, it looks at a number of ways in which the intranet can become a dynamic and living environment for knowledge-based activities. http://tc.eserver.org/33071.html http://tc.eserver.org/33071.html Improving the effectiveness of internal communications is often one of the key goals underpinning corporate intranets. In practice, this is often reflected in ‘latest news’ section on the home page of most intranets. While news on the home page is certainly widespread, the question needs to be asked: how effective is it? This article explores the role of the intranet as a news channel, revisiting some of the assumptions about how best to deliver online news within an organisation. http://tc.eserver.org/33072.html http://tc.eserver.org/33072.html All too often, intranets become a dumping ground for “second-hand documents”. Information is sent out via email, or other mechanisms, and then stored on the intranet as an afterthought. Where this is the case, intranets deliver few real benefits, while still shouldering the full cost of maintaining an increasingly large collection of pages and documents. This briefing explores the nature of the problem, and proposes what may be considered a radical solution. http://tc.eserver.org/33075.html http://tc.eserver.org/33075.html All too often, centralised intranet teams find themselves battling with decentralised authors to enforce consistency and quality standards. Not only is this fighting ultimately fruitless, it can be very damaging for the morale of all participants, and potentially crippling for the future of the intranet itself. In these situations, intranet teams need to find a new approach, and new ways of working with their decentralised authors. The first step is to lose the language of enforcement. http://tc.eserver.org/33078.html http://tc.eserver.org/33078.html It is widely recognised that an intranet must be trusted, if it is to be regularly used by staff across an organisation. While it is easy to make this statement, it is harder to qualify what is meant by trust, how users assess it, and how we can build (or rebuild) trust in the intranet. This briefing looks at the issue of trust, and presents some simple steps that can be taken to further build staff trust in the intranet. http://tc.eserver.org/33080.html http://tc.eserver.org/33080.html An intranet must constantly grow and evolve to match the changing needs of the business, while ensuring a high level of usability and efficiency. This is no easy task, and it will require the constant enthusiasm and efforts of the intranet team. http://tc.eserver.org/33082.html http://tc.eserver.org/33082.html Intranets require strong leaders if they are to be more than just publishing platforms for occasionally-used information. The intranet team must take on this leadership role, and drive the evolution and enhancement of the site. This is not an easy role for some intranet teams to play, but ultimately it is one that is satisfying for the team, and greatly beneficial for the site itself. This article outlines a range of practical tips that can be applied to help intranet teams operate more effectively in this leadership role. These are all small (but important) steps that can be taken immediately by any intranet team. http://tc.eserver.org/33084.html http://tc.eserver.org/33084.html You can’t usefully deliver information to users that you haven’t personally met. This article discusses the challenges in delivering information to all staff within an organisation, and outlining practical approaches that ensure efforts spent publishing intranet content are not wasted. http://tc.eserver.org/33085.html http://tc.eserver.org/33085.html Search is often the greatest source of frustration on intranets. Irrelevant results, hard to read results pages and ‘untitled document’ entries plague many intranet searches. With the size and scope of most intranets, search is a key tool used by staff to find information. While the expectation is that it should be quick and easy to find information on the intranet, this is often not the case. Beyond generating staff frustration, these problems can reduce trust and confidence in the search tool. http://tc.eserver.org/33086.html http://tc.eserver.org/33086.html One of the greatest challenges confronting intranets is ensuring that content is up-to-date, accurate and useful. In many organisations, much thought and effort is put into maintaining (and enhancing) the quality of published content. What must be realised, however, is that not all content on an intranet needs to be of equal quality. Only once this is recognised can successful strategies be put in place to support content authoring and publishing. http://tc.eserver.org/33087.html http://tc.eserver.org/33087.html Staff in geographically isolated locations are most reliant on information sources such as intranets. In practical terms, however, these staff are the hardest to reach.This is a central paradox for intranets, and while there are no easy answers, there are some practical steps that can be taken to better meet the needs of these isolated staff. http://tc.eserver.org/33090.html http://tc.eserver.org/33090.html Many organisations are attempting to clarify the relationship between the corporate intranet, and their document/records management system. While this is a broader issue of information management with an organisation, there are some short-term activities that can be taken to create a working relationship between these two platforms. This briefing outlines a simple scenario in which the intranet helps staff find key corporate information, while the documents accessed are stored in the document/records management system. http://tc.eserver.org/33092.html http://tc.eserver.org/33092.html Thanks to Google, intranet users expect to be able to type in a word (or two) and find the page they are looking for, preferably in the first few results. This is not an unreasonable expectation. At the most fundamental level, search on an intranet is supposed to make it quick and easy for staff to find things, thereby saving them time and improving their productivity. This can be distilled down to a very simple concept: search should work like magic. As much as is possible, search should always give staff the information they need, somewhere in the first few results. http://tc.eserver.org/33094.html http://tc.eserver.org/33094.html The growing status of content management systems (CMSs) is now providing many organisations with an impetus to revisit and renew their intranets. Unfortunately, while the technical aspects of implementing a CMS are well understood, many organisations are struggling to identify the issues with the content, structure and management of their intranets. The good news is that by following a disciplined approach, it is possible to re-invigorate an intranet, making it deliver real business benefits, and supporting strategic goals. This article outlines a sixteen step process which guides you through to a refreshed and dynamic new intranet. http://tc.eserver.org/33097.html http://tc.eserver.org/33097.html The primary purpose of intranets is to support staff in doing their jobs, to help them complete common business tasks. In practice, however, this can be very frustrating on many intranets. Policies are located in one section, procedures in another section, and forms in a third. Information then needs to be hunted out in order to complete even simple activities. The effectiveness of intranets can be greatly enhanced by bringing together all of the information and tools relating to a task or a subject, and presenting them in a single location. http://tc.eserver.org/33050.html http://tc.eserver.org/33050.html The fundamental question to ask for all intranets is: what is the intranet actually for? While this is an easy question to ask, answering it meaningfully involves gaining an in-depth understanding of staff and organisational needs. http://tc.eserver.org/33051.html http://tc.eserver.org/33051.html The intranet needs to have a strong brand, a sense of identity that, at a basic level, distinguishes it from the public website and other information sources within the organisation. Beyond this, the intranet brand should be designed to build staff trust, and to convey a clear sense of what the intranet can offer and when it should be used. This briefing explores the role of the intranet's brand identity, as well as outlining how to put it into practice. http://tc.eserver.org/33052.html http://tc.eserver.org/33052.html Many intranets are trapped in a 'downwards spiral': process and resources issues lead to poor-quality content, which reduces trust, which leads to more problems, and so on. This briefing explores the nature of the problem, and outlines some approaches to reshaping the intranet into something that grows and prospers. http://tc.eserver.org/33054.html http://tc.eserver.org/33054.html This case study presents the findings from five different intranet reviews, with the aim of exposing some of the issues being confronted across different organisations. These reviews also show that even within seemingly-similar organisations, the intranet issues can be quite different. This highlights that there is no 'one size fits all' intranet solution, and emphasises the value of conducting meaningful 'needs analysis' activities, such as those outlined in this article. http://tc.eserver.org/33055.html http://tc.eserver.org/33055.html Most intranets have some form of policies and procedures, typically focusing on authoring guidelines and standards. The question is: are these the right policies to have? In many cases, intranet teams have established policies that they find difficult to enforce, while missing the opportunity to develop policies that will be much more beneficial for both the intranet team and the site itself. This briefing takes a different look at the role of intranet policies, and outlines five policies that all intranet teams should develop. http://tc.eserver.org/33058.html http://tc.eserver.org/33058.html When developing intranet releases, intranet teams often find themselves very constrained by both time and resources. The challenge then becomes delivering sufficient content and capabilities to meet business and user expectations, within the project constraints. This briefing introduces a simple approach to scoping a release that takes all of these factors into account. http://tc.eserver.org/32935.html http://tc.eserver.org/32935.html Much is made of the role of knowledge management (KM) in supporting innovation within organisations. This is also closely tied in with enhancing the activities of 'knowledge workers' in dynamic organisations such as consulting firms. While KM is undoubtedly important for innovation, this aspect has somewhat overtaken another focus of KM: ensuring consistency. In many organisations, it is consistency that must be the key driving factor, rather than innovation. This briefing will explore and contrast these two facets of KM: innovation and consistency. http://tc.eserver.org/31430.html http://tc.eserver.org/31430.html While the use of a news section on the company intranet's home page is widespread, communicators need to ask themselves how effective this is as a way to avoid mixed messages and information overload. Does it reduce information overload, or increase it? And how can the news section be used to effectively cut through informational clutter? http://tc.eserver.org/29750.html http://tc.eserver.org/29750.html When it comes to information management or content management strategies, particularly at the enterprise level, there is a strong tendency (and desire) to create long-term plans. This briefing will explore some of the issues encountered when creating and executing long-term plans, and will argue for an approach that delivers benefits on a much more frequent basis. http://tc.eserver.org/29747.html http://tc.eserver.org/29747.html Choosing a content management system (CMS) is not just about finding the product with the right functionality. It's also about dealing with a vendor who can support your needs for the lifetime of the solution. This briefing explores the way most CMS vendors have evolved, what this means for the way they work, and what you should be looking for when purchasing a solution. http://tc.eserver.org/29752.html http://tc.eserver.org/29752.html The functionality of the content management system (CMS) is obviously a key deciding factor when purchasing a new product. Equally important is the usability of the CMS. http://tc.eserver.org/29746.html http://tc.eserver.org/29746.html Scenarios are narrative descriptions or stories that concisely outline how something will work in practice. In the context of a content management system (CMS) project, scenarios are a very effective way of documenting key CMS requirements, and they complement the formal lists of functional requirements typically found in tender documents. http://tc.eserver.org/29748.html http://tc.eserver.org/29748.html Despite all of this opportunity for change, the simple rule of thumb is that the new site will be at best 20% different from the current site. There are fundamental reasons for this, which will be explored in this briefing. The implications of the rule for the design and technology aspects of the project will also be discussed. http://tc.eserver.org/29469.html http://tc.eserver.org/29469.html I started The Myths of Innovation in a positive frame of mind, generated by my interest in the topic (and the excitement of seeing my photos in print). I ended the book similarly enthusiastic. While it isn't a long read (I started in Cambridge and finished before I touched down in Los Angeles), good books don't need a lot of words to make their point. Scott Berkun clearly presents his arguments, demolishing many of the misconception about innovation. For those of us running businesses or developing new products, it's a must-read. http://tc.eserver.org/28502.html http://tc.eserver.org/28502.html Selecting a content management system (CMS) can be a complex task, and organizations often run into pitfalls with processes, politics, and understanding the CMS environment. James Robertson outlines a common-sense approach to avoiding the most common mistakes. http://tc.eserver.org/28010.html http://tc.eserver.org/28010.html This article explores some of the approaches needed to ensure that we are successful at implementing IA within organisations, with the goal being to encourage further discussion in the community about these issues. http://tc.eserver.org/27997.html http://tc.eserver.org/27997.html Much effort is focused, on the selection and subsequent implementation of a content management system (CMS). While it is obviously vital to ensure that the initial implementation project is successful, this is only the beginning of an ongoing commitment to growing and enhancing the use of content management throughout the organisation. http://tc.eserver.org/22085.html http://tc.eserver.org/22085.html Numerous surveys across a diverse range of IT projects have identified that the lack of support from senior management (project sponsorship) is one of the biggest causes of project failure. This briefing explores the need for a project sponsor, the role they need to play, and how to choose one. http://tc.eserver.org/22094.html http://tc.eserver.org/22094.html There is no single best authoring environment provided by a content management system. Instead, the authoring tools must be matched to the job at hand to ensure they are easy and efficient to use. http://tc.eserver.org/22087.html http://tc.eserver.org/22087.html In the past, many sites were redesigned solely on the basis of the vision of a designer. Some of these sites worked well for users, most did not. http://tc.eserver.org/22089.html http://tc.eserver.org/22089.html In many organisations, the intranet competes with e-mail, file shares, the document management system and records management. Information is scattered between these systems, making it difficult for users to know where to look. What is needed is a clear policy about when these information systems should be used, and what they are for. http://tc.eserver.org/22093.html http://tc.eserver.org/22093.html There are two main publishing models used by content management systems: dynamic and batch publishing, and each has its strengths and weaknesses. http://tc.eserver.org/22099.html http://tc.eserver.org/22099.html Without care and attention, a CMS can slide into a state of living death. Such systems can be revived by implementing a number of practical (and non-technical) activities. http://tc.eserver.org/22088.html http://tc.eserver.org/22088.html Staff induction activities are designed to provide new-starters with the information they need, as well as getting them up to speed on how the organisation works. Induction processes are vital to ensuring that new staff are productive as quickly as possible, and should play a key role in knowledge management initiatives. http://tc.eserver.org/22096.html http://tc.eserver.org/22096.html The front-line environment must be understood when implementing knowledge management initiatives. http://tc.eserver.org/22098.html http://tc.eserver.org/22098.html A content management system (CMS) is critical to the success of almost every website and intranet, and yet many organisations are not familiar with this technology. http://tc.eserver.org/22086.html http://tc.eserver.org/22086.html Not all aspects of a content management system (CMS) project are equally easy. While some elements can be installed 'out of the box', others have proved difficult to implement. The starting point for improving the management of CMS projects is to recognise the sources of uncertainty, and how these affect project outcomes. http://tc.eserver.org/22090.html http://tc.eserver.org/22090.html An important first step is to gain an understanding of the CMS marketplace. This briefing outlines a few of the practical ways of doing so. http://tc.eserver.org/22091.html http://tc.eserver.org/22091.html A simple intranet feedback mechanism is an effective way of keeping an intranet up-to-date, and assisting with change management and cultural change processes. http://tc.eserver.org/22092.html http://tc.eserver.org/22092.html There are a number of processes used to select and purchase a content management system (CMS). Many of these involve the creation of a tender document. Beyond this core goal, it is worth reviewing what the purpose of a CMS tender is. http://tc.eserver.org/22097.html http://tc.eserver.org/22097.html This article explores the role of XML in the context of content management systems, focusing specifically on the business issues. http://tc.eserver.org/22081.html http://tc.eserver.org/22081.html There is considerable confusion in the marketplace regarding the definition of various information management terms. The scope and role of specific information systems is particularly blurry, in part caused by the lack of consensus between vendors. With the aim of lessening this confusion, this briefing provides an at-a-glance definition of terms for a range of information systems. http://tc.eserver.org/22076.html http://tc.eserver.org/22076.html At the beginning of any information design exercise, it is normal to be confronted by a very long list of potential subjects to include. The challenge is to organise this information in a way that is useful and meaningful for the users of the system. A card sorting session can go a long way towards resolving this problem. http://tc.eserver.org/22078.html http://tc.eserver.org/22078.html A range of statistics are typically gathered on intranet usage, but of these, search engine reports are by far the most useful. This briefing explores two key search engine reports that should be implemented on all intranets, and looks at how they can be used to improve the effectiveness of the site. http://tc.eserver.org/22082.html http://tc.eserver.org/22082.html The intranet team often becomes viewed as a gatekeeper or bottleneck that does little more than say 'no' to business units. The business then reacts by rebelling against this centralised control, or simply working around the intranet team. There is a better way. Intranet teams should instead look to playing a leadership and coaching role in the organisation. These two approaches provide a range of techniques for encouraging organisational change and supporting staff activities. http://tc.eserver.org/22079.html http://tc.eserver.org/22079.html Corporate policy documents have had a long and difficult history within many organisations. While much effort has been put into creating and maintaining them, they are often more ignored than followed. This briefing looks at the role of corporate policies within an organisation, and the need to better communicate their message to staff. http://tc.eserver.org/22080.html http://tc.eserver.org/22080.html Open-source CMS has now matured to the point where it should be considered alongside commercial products, but is not without its weaknesses and issues. http://tc.eserver.org/22084.html http://tc.eserver.org/22084.html While the web design house did a great job, you don't want to have to go back to them for every change. http://tc.eserver.org/19151.html http://tc.eserver.org/19151.html The promotion of an intranet is never-ending. From the day it's launched, through to its eventual retirement, an intranet must be constantly advertised to staff. Without this, many staff will remain unaware that the intranet even exists. Others won't recognise the full value of the intranet, or use anything but a tiny corner of the site. This article outlines 34 ideas for promoting an intranet, ranging from the obvious through to the very unusual. Somewhere in this list should be a few approaches that you can apply to your own intranet. http://tc.eserver.org/19155.html http://tc.eserver.org/19155.html Your organisation is unique, and as such, has a unique set of content management system (CMS) requirements. There is also no single 'perfect for everyone' content management system. Each product has its own set of strengths and weaknesses, and distinctive design principles. Unfortunately, the selection process followed by many organisations doesn't recognise this, leading to the purchase of a CMS which does not match business needs. Selecting a CMS does not have to be a lottery. By following a requirements-focused methodology, instead of a features-driven approach, the right CMS can be identified, and the business risks minimised. http://tc.eserver.org/19150.html http://tc.eserver.org/19150.html In March 2003, an online survey was conducted of consumer opinion about CMS vendor websites. This was extensively promoted through the CMS mailing lists, and on key CMS websites such as CMS Watch, the Intranet Focus and Step Two Designs sites. In total, 168 responses were made to this survey, representing consumers from across the globe, and in every type of organisation. This briefing provides a high-level summary of the results of the survey. http://tc.eserver.org/19153.html http://tc.eserver.org/19153.html At a basic level, implementing a content management system (CMS) is like deploying any other large software package. Fundamental project management principles must be followed, along with best practice technical guidelines. Beyond this, however, a CMS project presents a number of unique challenges. These must be recognised and addressed for the project to be successful. http://tc.eserver.org/19152.html http://tc.eserver.org/19152.html How well is your intranet working, and is it meeting business needs? These are the fundamental questions facing many intranets. Having grown organically for years, most intranets are now suffering from major structural and content issues. This briefing presents a simple checklist that will allow you to judge just how much work will be required to bring your intranet back to top performance. Work through this checklist, and tick all those statements that apply to your intranet. http://tc.eserver.org/19146.html http://tc.eserver.org/19146.html The rollout of a content management system (CMS) has the potential to impact on more users than any other system since e-mail. More crucially, the success of a CMS depends entirely on how much it is used, whether it is authors creating content, or users accessing the published site. It is these two challenges that place usability as a central issue to be raised and addressed. http://tc.eserver.org/19156.html http://tc.eserver.org/19156.html There is considerable confusion in the market between document management systems (DMS) and content management systems (CMS). This has not been helped by the vendors, who are keen to market their products as widely as possible. These two types of systems are very different, and serve complementary needs. While there is an ongoing move to merge the two together (a positive step), it is important to understand when each system is appropriate. http://tc.eserver.org/19157.html http://tc.eserver.org/19157.html Metrics are a concrete way of defining what a knowledge management or content management project will achieve, and whether it met those goals. In an environment of tight budgets and high expectations, metrics are an appropriate next step for an industry that prides itself on delivering big benefits. Defining metrics is not easy, however, and much study and further practical experience will be needed before implementing such measures becomes simple or commonplace. This article reviews the benefits of metrics, outlines some commonly used measures, and presents some practical tips and tricks. It is hoped that this article will further stimulate the current discussions on the use of metrics in the knowledge management and content management communities. http://tc.eserver.org/19147.html http://tc.eserver.org/19147.html A multi-disciplinary approach is needed when establishing an intranet team. Due to the diverse range of responsibilities, a large number of skills are required. This briefing outlines the major roles in an intranet team. http://tc.eserver.org/19149.html http://tc.eserver.org/19149.html There are two fundamental aspects that must be satisfied if an intranet is to succeed: the intranet must meet staff needs; sufficient content and functionality must be created to meet these needs. These are the 'two faces' of the intranet, one looking towards staff and organisational needs, the other at the infrastructure and processes needed to meet it. http://tc.eserver.org/19148.html http://tc.eserver.org/19148.html This column aims to answer the question: where is the knowledge in a content management system (CMS)? In doing so, light will be shed upon the long-term value of a CMS in capturing organisational knowledge, and the role a CMS has to play in a broader knowledge strategy. Interestingly, the knowledge is not in the content itself. Instead, it's in the processes and practices that surround a content management system. By recognising the importance of these supporting activities, the greatest benefits can be gained from implementing the CMS, and the goals of the broader knowledge strategy can be met. http://tc.eserver.org/19154.html http://tc.eserver.org/19154.html Beyond a common use of HTML, intranets and corporate websites (internet sites) are very different animals. The needs they meet, the content they contain, and the users that access them are all very distinct. These differences need to be understood by site designers, and reflected both in the design process and the final product. This article summarises some of the key differences between intranets and websites. http://tc.eserver.org/14169.html http://tc.eserver.org/14169.html Selecting and implementing a content management system (CMS) will be one of the largest IT projects tackled by many organisations. With costs running into the millions of dollars, it is vital that the right CMS package be selected. This article outlines some of the lessons that we have learnt when assisting clients to chose a CMS. It offers ideas and tips, and provides an approach for identifying your business' actual requirements for a CMS.