The Psychology of Effective Records
and Information Management
IRMS Scotland Group, Tues June 11th 2013
Heather Jack
HJBS Ltd
Unlocking the value
of your information
Definitions
Psychology is an academic and applied
discipline that involves the scientific study of
mental functions and behaviours.
Psychology has the immediate goal of
understanding individuals and groups …..
and by many accounts it ultimately aims to
benefit society.
Wikipedia
Psychology and Records Management
• Records Management is a hard sell
– true or false?
“It’s the way [you] tell them”
© 1983 Mirrorpix
Records Management: Why?
Public Records
(Scotland) Act 2011
S61 RM code of FOI(S)A (other
brands are available)
Data Protection Act
…….
http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passio
nate_users/2006/09/motivating_othe.html
The Historical Abuse Systemic Review 1950-1995
“Former residents …are responding to
a basic human need to search for
family and to better understand what
happened during their childhood. They
live in a society of people who grew up
in family homes, knowing their
siblings, parents and extended family.
Their lack of such knowledge can make
them feel isolated, so records can help
them trace their own family
connections and develop a common
sense of belonging…”
Tom Shaw
Records Management: Why?
• NOT a tick box
exercise
• Driven by need
http://www.guardian.co.uk/healthcarenetwork/2013/may/02/fiona-caldicott-reviewpatient-data
Psycho-tactics
….. A smörgåsbord of first hand and anecdotal
experiences from me … and you
The “Template” Approach
• One size doesn’t fit all
• Ownership
– no pain no gain
• Lessons learnt
– gonnae* learn those lessons
*gonnae = please would you
Create “light bulb” moments
• Access and sharing information
– I want to be able to access the info I need to do my job
– I don’t see why others need to see the information my
team holds
• Common filing structures and naming conventions
– I can understand my naming conventions
– I cant understand other people’s naming conventions
• Mandatory index fields
– It’s a pain in the neck to fill in metadata
– I send emails all the time – and fill in metadata to do so
even if I don’t realise it
Trust
• Local champions
• Listen
• Manage expectations
Training
• Too generic
• Not carried out by people who use it themselves
• Too soon – training days/weeks before actually
rolled out
• No follow up
• Evaluation too soon
• Lack of agreed targets
to measure success of training
A stitch in time saves nine
• “Uncomfortable change becomes punishing,
and rational people don't continue activities
that are more painful than they are
rewarding”
• http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/20
0210/the-10-rules-change
Challenge Assumptions
• Ours
– Everyone knows what I know
• IT literacy and experience
• Users
–
–
–
–
it’s my information
IM is something someone else does
It’s about IT
It’s an admin task
– If we rationalise information, everyone will be able to
see everything
Business Therapist??
• In a vacuum of consistent, standardised and
workable systems, guidance and support people
will revert to:
– what they did in their last job
– their information personality
• And when presented with change and no
support
– they will adopt an information change attitude
I have a few people I would like you to meet …
Information Personalities
•
•
•
•
•
•
Claire Chaotic
Connie Clear-out
Tommy Top-secret
Fred Free-for-all
Sarah Squirrel
Oliver Organised
Information Change Attitudes:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Bertha Bored-out-of-her-head
Ivan Irrelevant
Scarlet Awfy-scared*
Cyd Cynical
Caroline Control-freak
Edward Enthusiastic
*Awfy = awfully
The Psychology of Effective Records
and Information Management
Thank
You!
Unlocking the value
of your information
Heather Jack, HJBS Limited
heather@hjbs.com
www.hjbs.com
@akaIRMbigyin