IM BLOG: Building Better Feedback: A Records Manager's Guide to Listening and Learning
Not just nodding in meetings, but genuinely creating space for people to tell you what's working, what's broken and what's driving them quietly mad about your systems. That's where thoughtful feedback mechanisms come in and they're worth getting right.
Start With Why (Or You'll End Up With Noise)
Before you create a survey, pause. Why are you collecting feedback? Because we should isn't good enough.
Maybe you've just rolled out a new EDRMS and need to understand adoption barriers. Perhaps your retention schedule is being ignored and you're trying to figure out why. Or maybe leadership is questioning the value of your entire IM program and you need evidence of impact.
Whatever your reason, name it clearly. Then make sure your feedback approach aligns with your organisation's information management strategy and governance frameworks (think ISO15489 or your local derivative). This is about ensuring your feedback efforts actually contribute to measurable improvements in recordkeeping, compliance, accountability and business outcomes.
Know Your Audience (They're Not All Like You)
Avoid designing feedback mechanisms that work perfectly for records professionals but leave everyone else baffled or intimidated.
Your stakeholders aren't identical. You've got frontline staff who just want to save documents without tears, system administrators wrestling with technical configurations, auditors focused on compliance evidence and executives who care about risk and efficiency. Each group needs different approaches.
The finance team that's been using the same filing system since 1997? They need something simple and reassuring. The IT-savvy marketing crew? They might appreciate a quick Slack poll after using the new IAR. Tailor your methods to match both technical literacy and IM maturity - not everyone speaks in metadata and disposal authorities.
Get Specific or Get Platitudes
How's the new system? is a guaranteed way to receive unhelpful responses like ‘fine or it's okay’.
Instead, focus your feedback on specific aspects: Is the search function in your EDRMS actually finding what people need? Can staff locate approved retention schedules without sending you desperate emails? Did that training session on the business classification scheme make any difference whatsoever?
Rather than asking Is the system user-friendly? try How many clicks did it take you to file this document in the correct location? or When was the last time you successfully found a record older than two years? Specific questions yield actionable answers.
Make It Easy (Or They Simply Won't Bother)
Don’t use a 15-minute survey to provide feedback on a 10-minute training session.
Embed feedback opportunities into existing workflows. Add a quick two-question prompt after someone completes a records disposal review. Include a Was this helpful? button on your IM intranet pages. Monitor helpdesk tickets for recurring themes - that's feedback you're already receiving, you just need to pay attention to it.
Mix your methods too: surveys for broad trends, focus groups for deeper understanding, user testing sessions for system changes and good old-fashioned conversations. Both numbers (quantitative data) and stories (qualitative insights) matter.
Create Psychological Safety (Or Prepare for Silence)
People won't tell you that they've been ignoring retention policies or storing sensitive documents on personal drives if they think they'll be punished for it. Yet that's precisely the feedback you need most.
Be explicit about how feedback will be used. Will responses be anonymous? Who sees the raw data? How will it inform decisions? And critically - make it clear this isn't a compliance audit in disguise. You're seeking insight, not ammunition.
When someone admits I've been using shared drives because the EDRMS is too slow, your response shapes whether anyone will ever be honest with you again. Thank them, investigate the technical issue and show that speaking up leads to improvements, not lectures.
Treat Feedback Like the Records You Manage
Here's where we practice what we preach. Feedback is an important information asset. Track trends over time. If three people mention search functionality in March and twelve people mention it by June, that's not coincidence - it's a pattern demanding attention. Your analysis should be as rigorous as any other information management activity.
Close the Loop (Or Break the Trust)
The fastest way to kill future feedback? Collect it, then vanish into silence.
Even if you can't implement every suggestion, explain what you're doing and why. We heard that 60% of you find the disposal approval process too slow. We've streamlined the workflow and reduced average turnaround from nine days to three is powerful. So is We can't change the retention schedule for emails because of regulatory requirements, but we've created a quick reference guide to help you understand which messages to keep.
Share outcomes through dashboards, summary reports or team updates. Make people feel heard, even when the answer isn't what they hoped for.
Keep Evolving
Finally, remember that feedback mechanisms themselves need feedback. Is that quarterly survey still relevant? Has that suggestion portal been used since 2005? Are you actually learning anything new or just confirming what you already knew?
Integrate insights into planning cycles, policy reviews and training updates. Periodically assess whether your feedback approach is still fit for purpose. The goal isn't perfecting a process - it's fostering an environment where continuous improvement is embedded in how your organisation manages its information.
At the end of the day, effective records management isn't about imposing perfect systems on reluctant users. It's about building systems that work for real people doing real work - and the only way to know if you're succeeding is to ask, listen and adapt.
Meet your blog authors:
Peta Sweeney CXRIM FRIM (Life), Information and Content Specialist, RIMPA Global