This chapter suggests a broad project management methodology for implementing electronic records management and gives references to the wealth of advice that is available on the subject.

In Chapter 3 we saw how project management needs to feature in the business case for electronic records management. This chapter examines the subject in a little more detail and in the context of implementing a new system.

Introduction

More and more work is undertaken by specific projects as opposed to being part of mainstream operations and activities in an organization. The main driver for this has been economic, but the increased concentration has also been seen to deliver better products in a timely fashion. Since the 1950s project management has emerged as a specific discipline for organizing and managing resources in such a way that they deliver all the work required to complete a project within defined scope, quality, time and cost constraints.

Most of project management is common sense. What the various methodologies do is to offer a structured approach that will enable you to get the job done more effectively and efficiently.

One basic decision to make when embarking on a large project is whether you are going to use in-house expertise or employ specialist consultants. In implementing electronic records management it is very likely that you will want to use outside technical experts. Management of the project, however, should always be controlled internally. If you decide to use a substantial amount of your own organization's resources, it may be necessary to organize some training for staff. This will almost certainly be time and money well invested. Such is the ubiquity of project management that there will be a long-term benefit for the organization and its staff.

Sample project for implementing electronic records Management

This suggestion is based largely on a methodology commonly used in the public sector in the UK and widely recognized in the UK private sector – PRINCE 2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environments), which was first established in 1989. The key features of the methodology are: