Leadership & Management Skills

Whitepaper Review: From Rules to Reflex—Transforming Information Governance into a Cultural Value

Written by Jim Merrifield on September 22, 2025. Posted in Change Management, Collaboration, Communications, Education, Information Governance, Information Management, Knowledge Management, Leadership & Management Skills, Uncategorized.

Written by Jim Merrifield, ARMA Chair and Director of Information Governance and Business Intake at Robinson+Cole Having spent years helping organizations grapple with the realities of information governance (IG), I was drawn to ARMA International’s...

The First 90 Days: A Quick-Start Guide for New Managers

Written by Julia Davis on June 24, 2024. Posted in Change Management, Collaboration, Communications, Leadership & Management Skills.

The first 90 days are critical for any new manager. Whether you’ve been promoted internally and are now responsible for overseeing your former peers or have been brought in from outside and need to get up to speed on a new organization, it can be...

New Podcast Series Focuses on the Careers of Women Leaders in Information Governance

Written by ARMA International on September 11, 2020. Posted in Information, Information Governance, Leadership & Management Skills, Uncategorized.

Launched this July, The Women Leaders in Information Governance podcast series features the career stories of successful women in the IG profession. Lynn Molfetta, Information Governance Strategist | MC Bernstein Data and Katie Tall, Marketing Manager...

Antiquated Policy Wording: Part 4 — The Problem with “Should”

Written by Lewis S. Eisen on April 26, 2020. Posted in Communications, Education, Leadership & Management Skills, Policy.

This is the final article of a four-part series on drafting requirements in IM policies, looking at the problems of using the words “must,” “may,” and “should.” Of the three modal verbs discussed in this article, “should” suffers the worst identity...

Antiquated Policy Wording — Part 3: The Problem with “May”

Written by Lewis S. Eisen on April 15, 2020. Posted in Communications, Education, Leadership & Management Skills, Policy.

This is the third article of a four-part series on drafting requirements in IM policies, looking at the problems of using the words “must,” “may,” and “should.” The word “may” suffers from the same deficiencies as “must,” discussed in Part 2....

Antiquated Policy Wording — Part 2: The Problem with “Must”

Written by Lewis S. Eisen on April 8, 2020. Posted in Communications, Education, Leadership & Management Skills, Policy.

This is the second article of a four-part series on drafting requirements in IM policies, looking at the problems of using the words “must,” “may,” and “should.”(Read Part 1 here.) In traditional policy wording, writers use “must” to indicate...

Antiquated Policy Wording: Part 1 — “Must,” “May,” and “Should”

Written by Lewis S. Eisen on April 1, 2020. Posted in Communications, Education, Featured, Leadership & Management Skills.

This article is the first of a four-part series on drafting requirements in IM policies, looking at the problems of using the words “must,” “may,” and “should.” Part 1 — Overview The traditional use of “must,” “may,” and “should” when drafting...

Have You Considered Tone of Voice?

Written by Lewis S. Eisen on December 5, 2019. Posted in Communications, Leadership & Management Skills.

When we review an old information management policy to see if it needs updating, what do we look for? Too often an organization will revise the operative content but fail to update the tone of voice. Obviously we check for accuracy to make sure...

Eisen’s Book on Rule-Writing Delivers on its ‘How-To’ Promises

Written by Jeff Whited on September 17, 2019. Posted in Communications, Leadership & Management Skills, Review.

Usually I pick up a how-to book only if it’s in the way of a book I want to read, but Lewis S. Eisen’s How to Write Rules That People Want to Follow (Pixley Press) conquered my bias rather quickly. Here are four reasons I’d recommend the book to anyone...

Can Information Management Policies Be Both Clear and Concise?

Written by Lewis S. Eisen on August 13, 2019. Posted in Communications, Featured, Leadership & Management Skills, Process Management.

Most information management (IM) professionals would agree that well-written policies are clear and concise. Too often, though, the policies are “dumbed down” because someone is afraid that maybe, somewhere, some individual in the organization...