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503.452.9166
"The fact is that a great many people need to work together to get this
thing off the ground, let alone land it safely," says document design expert
Dr. Michael Turton. "Their paths may not have crossed thus far, but each
will certainly approach the subject from different angles and their
objectives will be different, possibly conflicting with those of others."
Turton suggests that understanding who to get involved in strategy
design, before any decisions are made, is the "single most important
aspect of the whole document strategy process."
The Document Constituency
The people who make up your document constituency are the people who
use your documents, have responsibility for their existence and have a
stake in how well they perform. Chances are, you already know many of
the people who make up your document constituency. But there may be
other people whose membership is not immediately apparent. As you
learn more about your critical documents and the technology that is used
to produce them, the members of your document constituency become
easier to spot. Some of the people will come easily to mind because they
have already accepted ownership of a document or have a long history
managing part of the process. Others may be less ready to accept
accountability or are simply unaware that they have anything to do with a
"document process." Nonetheless, the people who create, produce and
care about your documents will have, at different times, differing
concerns, goals and interests. To be successful, you will need to search
out these people and include their needs and concerns in the design of
your strategy.
You can identify members of your document constituency by using these
four categories:
1. Authors - the writers, composers and content providers, both intentional
and implied.
2. Producers - the creators, producers and processors of your documents.
3. Stakeholders - the people who have a stake in your documents
performance.
4. Readers - the people who use, read, and react to your documents.
Each of these people has a different set of needs, expectations and
constraints. Authors have specific objectives about a document's content,
for example, that may, or may not, coincide with the needs and
expectations of the reader. Producers have pressures and constraints
that must often be overcome in order to meet the expectations of
stakeholders who have a broader interest in how documents
communicate and carry on business.
In addition, the activities and requirements of the people within your
constituency will influence and determine both the message of your
documents and the medium used to deliver them. They influence what a
document says, the information it contains, its format and construction,
and whether it is presented on paper or in digital form. Document
attributes are entirely determined by the people in your document
constituency.
Authors
A document author is the person or persons who are concerned about
what a document says and how readers will react. An author could be an
individual, a team or an entire department. Corporate documents often
contain information from various sources and are authored by several
different departments who may, or may not, be working in concert. These
multiple authors may not even be aware of each other's presence in the
process (one certain indicator that a document strategy is needed).
Identifying a single document author may not always be possible in a
large organization. While there may be some documents that are written,
designed and published by a single person who is solely responsible for
their content, media and performance, it is more likely that several
authors are involved. Regardless, each has a common objective to
convert information into action and to ensure that the right message is
effectively communicated to a reader.
Producers
Document producers are the individuals, work groups, departments, or
vendors who provide the "output" of your document systems. They are the
people who are responsible for production of your documents - everyone
from artists, typesetters and system programmers, to printer operators,
mail clerks and Web masters.
It is essentially impossible to meet the needs of the other members of
your document constituency if the needs of your producers are not met.
Producers need the right information from the right sources at the right
time, as well as the right staffing and equipment in order to produce
documents with acceptable quality, timeliness and cost. Document
producers often feel the pinch between meeting the needs of their
customers and working within operating constraints. As a result, their
needs are often at odds with the needs of the other members of your
document constituency. A key objective of your document strategy should
be to understand and reduce this gap.
"The current corporate culture often contains a weird prejudice against the
people who actually produce things," says author and Web consultant
Paul Telles. "It often seems that the big thinkers are regarded as the real
soul of the company. Without a clear means of production and the
expertise to run them, however, the greatest ideas will fail to bear fruit."
Stakeholders
Stakeholders are customers of document performance. They are
concerned with both the strategic and tactical aspects of your documents:
how well they convert information into action and how cost effectively and
efficiently they can be produced. Stakeholders might include marketing
executives concerned about whether consumers will purchase a product,
financial officers concerned about how quickly they will pay, or divisional
vice presidents concerned about the costs involved with document
production. Other stakeholders might include government regulators,
internal auditors or corporate legal counsel who are concerned with
document security, content and verbiage. Suppliers are stakeholders too,
since they supply the materials, machinery and technology that make your
document process run.
Stakeholders can have a significant influence on both the contents of a
document and the medium used to present it. Both authors and
producers take their cue from stakeholders when it comes to what and
how documents communicate. As a result, the needs and constraints of
authors and producers can change depending on the needs and
constraints of stakeholders.
Readers
Readers are the audience of your documents. They are the people who
react and respond to the information contained in your target documents.
Reader reaction is the litmus test of document performance, so how
information is converted into action is high on the list of concerns for both
authors and stakeholders. As a result, the expectations and requirements
of readers are important to your strategy. The integrity of information
contained in a document, its timely arrival, and how clearly it
communicates are some important criteria for all readers. Privacy,
security and accuracy are important to readers outside your company,
while readers inside your organization may be primarily concerned with
how easy documents are to use, find and file.
Readers also influence both the message and the medium of a
document. If the reader of your target document is a pharmacist, for
example, the content you provide may need to be detailed, and the
message may need to be meticulous and specific. On the other hand, if
your document is targeted at senior citizens that get prescriptions filled,
your document may need to be less technical and easier to understand -
even the font size may be an important factor. And while a pharmacist,
who fills the prescriptions, may be happy to refer to the Internet for
up-to-date information, Medicare recipients are less likely to surf the Web
for the latest on prescription drugs.
The needs, constraints and requirements of your document constituency
will guide your decisions and actions within your document strategy.
Additionally, by consulting these people during the design of your
document strategy, you will be more likely to have their support and
participation in whatever changes you propose. Ultimately, by identifying
your document constituency and understanding their respective needs
and constraints, you will be more likely to construct a meaningful strategy
that will be successful in gaining executive sponsorship and support.
Constituency Discord
One opportunity for improvement that often lies waiting for a document
strategist is "constituency discord." This is the instance where the needs
or objectives of one member or members of your document constituency
are at odds with the needs and objectives of other members. Bringing
harmony to this discord is one way to find success in your strategy.
For example, suppose two members of your document constituency are
Jane Jones and Steve Smith. Jones is a product marketing manager and
a document author. Smith is an operations manager and a document
producer. Jones is responsible for the content as well as the format and
appearance of an important target document. Smith is responsible for
producing the finished document and ensuring that it is processed with
the most efficient use of labor and equipment. Jones's objective is to
increase revenue while Smith's is to reduce operating costs. While both
are admirable goals, these seemingly opposing objectives can create
discord. As an author, Jones may complain that Smith is unable or
unwilling to take the time and expense to produce a document that serves
her objectives. On the other hand, Smith may complain that Jones's
objectives are unreasonable and that she does not take into
consideration his constraints concerning equipment, cost and workload.
How can your document strategy bring harmony to this discord?
Know your Document Constituency
In the Information Age, it is easy to become enamored with technology.
But in the end, people are the reason documents are produced - without
cavemen there would be no cave drawings; without people there would
be no documents. It seems reasonable, therefore, that the people who
populate the document process in your organization are the best people
to describe the process. By knowing your document constituency and
understanding their needs and objectives, you will design a document
strategy that will bring about more meaningful and lasting benefits for
your organization and the people involved with your document process.
Let these people point the way as you chart the course of your document
strategy.