Norfolk County
Records management strategy and roadmap for Norfolk County
Image credit: Wikipedia
About Norfolk County
Norfolk County is a municipality located on the north shore of Lake Erie in Ontario, Canada with approximately 1200 employees and staff.
Services provided
Records management strategy
Governance planning
Roadmap
Context and goals
Norfolk County had a Records Management (RM) solution for both digital and physical records. The records management solution was deployed to select departments, and the County wanted to move it forward across the organization with a more holistic approach. Norfolk County engaged Gravity Union to provide RM strategy and program advice for the broader rollout.
The goals of the project included creating a multi-year RM strategy that considers investments needed in governance, scanning and digitization as well as a roadmap for the future.
Solution highlights
Current state assessment and gap analysis
Review existing systems, processes, content
The project started with a current state assessment of the RM program. This involves interviewing project stakeholders and department users about the current RM program. In these discussions, we reviewed the current processes, what’s working well and any pain points.
These sessions lead to a gap analysis and recommendations for future enhancements. These recommendations include governance changes, scanning recommendations, as well as advice for addressing user concerns with the rollout process or technology.
Governance recommendations
There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ for Records Management governance. Every organization has unique needs and constraints, and we worked with the County on identifying what’s working well and what can be improved as part of the RM program governance.
A key governance recommendation included a network of records management champions who can be the single points of contact (SPOCs) for their business unit about RM matters. This would assist Divisions to improve their accountability and governance over their business records, and give the County’s Records Analyst room to focus on the ongoing evolution of the program.
Next steps and future roadmap
This project delivered a series of next steps and future projects as part of roadmap for the County. This roadmap included both physical and digital records management recommendations. Adding automation for improved retention and information architecture improvements to move away from a retention schedule structure were identified as key pillars for future work.
Overall this project helped the County understand and assess the future priorities for a successful Records Management program while also building a more collaborative relationship between RM team members and business unit stakeholders.
Deliverable sample: current state assessment
Deliverable samples: Governance recommendations included a network of champions (SPOCs)
Benefits and Results
Improved understanding of how to move forward with the existing RM program
Technology possibilities with RM tools and systems including Microsoft 365 Purview and SharePoint Online
A more collaborative relationship between RM teams and stakeholders
"It’s been great working with Gravity Union, and we've learned quite a bit about how we'd like to go forward with records management in Norfolk County."
— Records Analyst
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