I come from a long and varied experience in the railway sector, yet I am flustered with the document management system (or lack thereof) in my current assignment in an LRT project. Having generally worked on very systematically run projects in the past, I am finding it increasingly difficult to come to terms with what they call here as "Document Management System", which essentially is a collection of incoming and outgoing documentation loosely organised under very broad categories, but with no regard to structure of the system. It therefore has become really impossible to even look for documents in the right place. I am now seriously looking at the possibility of creating my own system of folders arranged by PBS and ABS, with links to the existing database (if I may call it one!). However, this is easier said than done, and this is why I am here at this time to seek help. Saving Changes...
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John FarlikProgram & Project Management| SPX FLOWWaxhaw, Nc, United States
Sumit,
Thanks for your question, and it is a good one. Without a solid information management system, documents are hard to find or may get lost. Therefore, your team's productivity and project execution efficiency could suffer. But--you know all this.
Here's what I suggest.
1. In your communications plan include a section for document management including: naming convention, who will manage the version control, the review process and the tool in which you will save them
2. As for a tool--depending on the type of project you are running there are some different tools I'd suggest. If you are a pretty mature agile organization consider Jira with its companion tool Confluence. Confluence lets you post documents and create pages that can be linked to user stories and epics in Jira. Consequently those stories/epics can then be ported over to Git Hub for an all inclusive record of requirements to code.
If your projects are more waterfall in nature, consider adopting a sharepoint structure with folders and notes that are standardized for each project. You can even have the same titles for every project. (PM Docs, Meeting minutes, technical documentation, SOWs/Contracts, etc.)
In my experience setting up the structure is actually welcomed by the team and they will comply with some extra attention early in the process.
Inheriting a disorganized group of documents is a different problem. I would suggest still setting up the structure for new additions and then creating a sub-team of "change agents" who can look through the old structure and rename, reorganize "X number of documents" per day until it is cleaned up. Also, when someone finds a document in the old chaotic way, rename it and file it, then send out a notification to the team what it is and where it was placed according to the document management plan. Good luck!! :) Saving Changes...
Henry HattenrathProject Consultant| Tectonic Engineering MSA LLCNew York, Ny, United States
In my experience, EDMS is used by Sellers to organize and manage volume and performance for work flows needed to maintain schedule and to demonstrate progress to the Buyer - not for the Buyer to retrieve documents and transfer knowledge after the contract/project is closed.
In addition to the article, here are some immediate tips:
- Hire an electronic document management system (EDMS) manager with project and operating experience with the rail transit
- Organize EDMS to be consistent with the LRT Owner's operation and maintenance organization
- Prepared detailed plans that identify reviewers, document review type, strict labeling and numbering convention and that demonstrate a work flow for document retrieval by the Owner's groups
- Test the EDMS for compatibility with the Owner's established internal paper document management system or internal digital knowledge management system. Saving Changes...
