What information literacy means for records management and the opportunities it creates

It means knowing the difference between a high quality information environment, and a low quality one.

High quality information environments deliver -

1. The right information to

2. The right person (or machine) at

3. The right time at

4. The right level of quality and

All of the magic is in the linking together of "the right information" and information at "the right level of quality."

We're all fond of post it notes, but we probably agree that while they can deliver the right information to the right person at the right time, they have serious limitations and secondary costs.

Most people get the simple stuff.

Paper to form.

Form to electronic form.

Where most people struggle is with the levels of abstraction that become necessary to improve speed, visibility and manageability.

The right information reduces errors in processes.

Abstracted information feeds decisions about the process, how people manage their work, and how the organisation is managed.

It's all of the things that managers use to get visibility of their organisation, and manage proactively, instead of reactively.

The kinds of transformations I'm talking about do things like -

1. Linking forms to process.

2. Linking process to status.

3. Linking status to strategic progress.

This is also "the right information in the right place at the right time and the right level of quality."

But it's management information, not process information.

This is the stuff that people don't get, and don't understand how to achieve without getting a person to do a thing.

The opportunity it creates is simple.

It's what managers and executives will fund for the simple reason that a simple way to lose your job as a manager or executive is to be constantly reactive.

Pretty quickly people feel like you don't know what's going on in your business, and they want someone who does.

High-quality information environments deliver the kind of visibility that managers and executives want.

And we can help them understand how to get there.

We can help them be literate.

Then they can ask for it.

And we can help - for a price.