Get Management Onboard: Retrofitting Existing Content using RoboHelp
Adobe recently hosted an eye-opening webinar with special guests, Tanner Corporate Services, who shared a “start to finish” process for getting client management “on board” to move away from print to online manuals generated with RoboHelp.
You may view the complete recorded webinar by clicking here: Getting Management on Board — This blog summarizes key concepts and solutions covered in this webinar by Beth Tanner and Shelley Bates. By the way, Beth and Shelly will be joining us in July and August for a 2-part series: you may go to the registration link by clicking here: Strategies for Success with RoboHelp 11 Projects.
A common content migration challenge
Tanner worked with a sponsor within a large corporation and also executive management. As is so often the case, the internal sponsors for change and top management had conflicting visions, as summarized in the slide below:
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Working effectively with corporate culture
Tanner was confronted with the challenge of communicating with several stake-holders who were used to quick and direct communication. Most communication had been done via e-mail. In-person meetings tended to be “loud” and confrontational.
Critical factors to success
Before moving to a pilot phase of the project, Tanner established the following guidelines:
- The sponsor was solely responsible for managing the decision-making culture
- Open communication and trust with the internal sponsor and his team was deemed essential
- The sponsor understood that Tanner is a content team, not a technology team
- Tanner could use a reliable development tool with robust support, — RoboHelp and Adobe
Decisions and RoboHelp’s Role
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The Technology Decision
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The Structure Decision
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The Format and Ownership Decisions
The webinar also covers key issues in the format decisions, including convincing executive management of the benefits of online formats over traditional paper based publications.
Ownership Decisions included a struggle over determining that SMEs were appropriate staff to be making dynamic update processes. The key takeaway was that PDFs for Review, printed output and carefully thought out, regular communications work well.
Techniques you can use
The session concluded with several cogent techniques that you can use, ranging from think in small steps to making sure that decision makers are aware that they are being heard.