Breaking Down Silos — Improving the User Experience by Improving Communication in Your Organization with Charles Cooper

@Cooper_42 | #InfoDevWorld | www.rockley.com

• Work with companies in pharmaceutical, medical
devices, high technology, and finance
• These companies translate content in 4-70 languages
• Deliver content on paper, traditional web and various
mobile devices
• Create intelligent content strategies from creation
through translation and delivery
• Optimizing localization plays a big part in this process
• Component content management plays a key role in
the solution

• 30+ years in the information
business
• 20+ years in the content business
• Forever working with people to get
them to work together
• Fascinated by how we gather and
spread information
• Have a large and growing collection
of e-toys to test different methods
of e-publishing

Now, here, you see, it
takes all the running
you can do, to keep in
the same place. If you
want to get
somewhere else, you
must run at least twice
as fast as that!

Silos

• Information is created in
different groups and not
shared
• It’s sometimes jealously
guarded

• Information is created in
different groups and not
shared
• It’s sometimes jealously
guarded
• It’s not just Content Silos

• Business divisions
• Departments
• Tools

We need to change

• Push-back
• It’s hard
• It’s going to take too long
• Out of our comfort zone
• We’d have to rewrite our SOPs
• No-one does it like that
• ….

Magnus Lindkvist - LocWorld, Dublin 2014

Full Team Strategy

“To summarise the
summary of the
summary…

“To summarise the
summary of the
summary…
People are a Problem

Need to build a Team

With apologies to
Abraham Maslow

• the business
• the users
• the creators
• those answering customers’
questions (CSR or Help Desk)
• those localising/translating
• publishing
• marketing , selling
• and maintaining the content.

Your first decision is “who fills these roles in my
organisation?”

• What do they want?
• How can this process
fulfil that need, without
compromising the needs
of others?
• Are there natural allies in
the organisation?

• Is it cross division?
• Worldwide or Local?
• Does the project
leader focus on one
division/region?
• How can this project
meet those needs?
• Who are their natural
allies?
• Natural Allies:
• Project Owner

• Who are your users?
• Can you get them on
the team?
meet those needs?
allies?
• Natural Allies:
• Customer Service

• Who creates the
content?
• Where are they
located?
• How can this
project meet those
needs?
• Who are their
natural allies?
• Natural Allies:
• Subject Matter Experts
• Localisation/Translation
• Marketing
• Sales

• Are they the same
people?
• Are they internal or
external?
• Are they aware of the
overall strategy of
the project?
meet those needs?
allies?
• Natural Allies:
• Content Creators

• Is it an in-house or
external service?
• Do they publish in
different regions?
• In different countries?
• Paper or electronic,
both?
meet those needs?
allies?
• Natural Allies:
• Project Owner

• What’s their
responsibility?
• More than one
product?
• How can this
project meet those
needs?
• Who are their
natural allies?
• Natural Allies:
• Sales
• Project Owner

• What’s their
responsibility?
• More than one
product?
• How can this
project meet those
needs?
• Who are their
natural allies?
• Natural Allies:
• Marketing
• Project Owner

• Is this a different
group than the
content creators?
• Are they remote?
• What type of access to
the ‘system” will they
need?
meet those needs?
allies?
• Natural Allies:
• Project Owner

• It’s not (really) about the tools used
• Worst thing to hear…
• We have to use <totally inappropriate
tool X>, and we need to publish on
Monday

• Why is it required?
• What is the required workflow?
• Who can use it (internally and/or externally)?
• What does it talk to?
• Does it support the business needs?
• Does it facilitate the business rules?

• Business rules are the rules that your content follows
to adapt to different devices and different customer
requirements.
• Business rules allow the system to automatically pick
and choose content and adjust the presentation of that
content to meet specific requirements.
• If ‘this’ then ‘that’
• If displaying on a mobile device break content into
‘pages’ at the intro, ingredients and instructions
• If on paper, ‘pages’ are larger
• Integral to a complete content strategy

It’s worthwhile to spend
extra time in the design
and implementation
phase.

This allows you to
light a fire without
matches which might
get wet and not work
in the rain.

So does this.

Think about what you want to
achieve and design towards that

• No one (or group) can do this on their
own
• Must break down, or make the
organisational silos permeable
• Different groups get input into
content much earlier in the cycle

• Find out who your allies
are
• Find out what they want
• Work to establish common
needs and goals
• Open lines of
communication, and work
to keep them open

moreinfo@rockley.com

Breaking Down Silos — Improving the User Experience by Improving Communication in Your Organization with Charles Cooper

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Breaking Down Silos — Improving the User Experience by Improving Communication in Your Organization with Charles Cooper