In a new content management environment, some writers refuse to give up ownership of “their books“. They work alone in the safety of their self-built silos. They desperately try to protect their work from others, keeping their arms wrapped firmly around their computers so their files won’t be shared with anyone. After all, their work might get “messed up“ if anyone else touches it! (We all know at least one of these writers, right? Or maybe we are one of these writers!?)

You may have a long-term goal to implement a component content management system (CCMS) and structured authoring, but you may only have the staff and budget to dip your toe in and wade slowly through the shallow end rather than to plunge into the deep end all at once. Is it possible to break the implementation down into manageable steps?

One of the hardest things to do is to get people to move from their comfort zones. When you begin to implement your content management strategy and move to structured authoring, you will likely see some resistance from a few writers who will say, “That’s not the way we’ve always done it!“ Ah, change! It can bring out the stubbornness in some people and make their boss’ hair turn gray as he drags them, kicking and screaming, into the new work environment.

Encouraging Your Team to Love Your CMS Strategy

As a manager, you’re excited because your organization is going to buy a content management system (CMS) and implement a new strategy to help streamline your writing and publishing efforts – YEA! Now, you have to get your writers on board with the idea. Hmm. This could be tough, because some writers aren’t real receptive to change, and this will definitely rock their world. They won’t be able to do their jobs the way they have always done it anymore. Now, they might own content modules, but not entire books. They will have to share their content – oh my!

One of the phrases that bothers me the most is when someone says, “that’s the way we’ve always done it“…argh! That’s a sure sign of someone who is afraid of change!

Several years ago, I did a joint presentation with a client about how to implement a content management system (CMS) in an organization. We based the presentation on the book by Robert Fulghum called All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. It’s amazing how those simple principles, like “Play fair,“ can apply to so many aspects of life, including a CMS implementation. One of the principles from Robert Fulghum’s book that can help with the change management issue of implementing a CMS is this: “Flush.”