Scottish Government’s journey to 11,000 users – and counting

When Objective Account Manager, Dave Wilson spoke with Pauline McGrattan, Business Engagement and Education Manager at Scottish Government, Pauline shared the Government’s story of transitioning to Objective IQ, from lessons learned to adoption success. With a focus on demonstrating the purpose and importance of information management to end users, Scottish Government has since reached unprecedented adoption numbers across a wide geography. Here’s how…

Since 2005, Scottish Government has used Objective’s Navigator ECM software to accommodate the need for a records and documents management system, compliant with legal obligations and record keeping standards. With 5,000 users at the point of implementation, Objective ECM enabled Scottish Government to work digitally and ensure employees were able to continue their everyday business with minimal disruption.

While users became comfortable with Navigator, in 2016, Scottish Government made the decision to implement a more modern, efficient, and next-generation offering to Objective ECM – Objective’s IQ browser. The Government approached this with an initial rollout to 500 users who were asked to test and validate the software before providing feedback. Such feedback was then reviewed and taken on board by Objective, and the same group tested and validated the next release version with positive responses.

In October 2019, Scottish Government rolled out Objective IQ to their 11,000-strong user base, in conjunction with a three-month support schedule to build confidence in the Objective IQ user experience. According to Pauline, one of the biggest challenges of the rollout was resistance to change – a legacy issue. However, a focus on purpose helped to support the transition:

“It really was quite a simple approach. We tried to refocus on the ‘why’ – why we were doing this, what was the purpose behind this – and improve the ‘how.’ Those were our areas of focus to cover the importance of information management as a whole. Sometimes we focus too much on how to carry out certain actions on the system without looking at the big picture as to why we were doing this,” explained Pauline.

It really was quite a simple approach. We tried to refocus on the ‘why’ – why we were doing this, what was the purpose behind this – and improve the ‘how.’ Those were our areas of focus to cover the importance of information management as a whole. Sometimes we focus too much on how to carry out certain actions on the system without looking at the big picture as to why we were doing this.

Pauline McGrattan

Business Engagement and Education Manager at Scottish Government

She explained that a lot of work had previously gone into information management principles, which has recently been replaced by Scottish Government’s information management strategy, focusing on the ‘why’ and specifically around the importance of managing information. This became the basis behind training and additional support for the rollout of Objective IQ.

With the help of Objective, a detailed marketing and communications campaign was delivered to encourage adoption. Roadshows were scheduled across four main buildings in Glasgow and Edinburgh. The two-day workshop series provided users with an opportunity to see demonstrations of Objective IQ and ask questions. For the wider rollout, users were provided with a support schedule which highlighted when Scottish Government’s team of experienced trainers were available on site at the highest-populated ERDM locations across Scotland.

One-to-one support, drop-in sessions, demos, and other additional support were made available remotely by the project team, the Knowledge and Information Management branch, and social media. Scottish Government also utilised a blended learning approach which included topical webinars, quick reference guides, and written documentation. Two new e-learning courses were developed – one targeting completely new users to the system, and one targeting existing users.

Overall, the rollout of Objective IQ to Scottish Government’s 11,000 users was smooth and the marketing and support received positively. The push has paid off, but in the words of Pauline, “it’s never feet up at Scottish Government!” Next on the agenda will be a move to Objective ECM 11 to realise the benefits of several new features aimed at supporting users and keeping Scottish Government moving in the right direction.

Watch the full conversation from our annual customer conference, Collaborate 2021, and hear more about Scottish Government’s story and transition to Objective IQ, as well as what’s next on their continuous Objective journey.