By: Jessica Enders
Region 8 Coordinator
On the Wednesday of Symposium, I facilitated a discussion group on "the future of forms". The session had a great turnout, with about 20 attendees from both private and public organisations. It was a lively, diverse and interesting discussion, so I decided to report the main points here for the benefit of the BFMA Board and wider membership. Many thanks to everyone who participated in the group discussion. I hope you feel that I've represented your views accurately.
A paperless world
We began by discussing the fact that paper forms still exist. Some participants were surprised that forms haven't progressed further down the electronic path, while others felt that it will take a long time for this shift to occur.
One participant noted that today's children and teenagers have grown up with computers in a way that the previous generations did not. This will probably mean that this generation thinks about electronic data capture in an entirely different way to today's senior forms professionals, thus progressing the shift to the electronic medium.
Participants thought there was a complexity, often unacknowledged, in the transition from a paper to electronic world. While electronic forms can deliver significant efficiencies, paper can be more accessible (e.g. you do not need to have a computer). Some participants also felt that some customers continue to be reluctant to adopt the electronic medium; others reminded the group that there are still many people in our countries with poor or no computer access/literacy.
Another aspect of moving to the electronic medium concerning a number of participants was the ability to archive and recall forms on demand. One participant noted that for legal reasons, he needs to be able to say exactly how a form looked on a specific day and at a specific time. It may be harder to get this information when the form is part of a complex IT system, the changes to which may or may not be comprehensively tracked and documented.
Information Technology
At this point the discussion naturally moved onto the relationship between Forms and Information Technology (IT).
The issue of computer viruses and 'downtime' was discussed for quite a while. For some participants, these issues are a major barrier to wider adoption of electronic forms amongst form-fillers. For others, personal experience with computer problems has made them reluctant to move away from paper-based 'backups' and archives.
The group noted the need for forms disaster recovery and backup plans to extend to IT systems. One participant suggested encouraging your organisation to think in terms of the entire data collection process, rather than focusing just on the form itself. What things need to be done so that the whole process can continue in the face of an incident?
All of this suggested greater coordination with IT. Some participants thought this would best be achieved through integration of Forms with IT, while others felt that keeping Forms outside of IT meant they would achieve better service from IT, and be able to continue to influence other, non-IT aspects of forms management. One participant described how her IT department actually asked Forms to stay outside IT, so that they would continue to be a "client" of IT and thus get more attention!
Integration of Forms with IT raised some interesting questions such as "what happens if IT is outsourced?" There was concern that outsource IT providers have very limited forms knowledge and expertise. Moreover, some participants felt that Forms staff often had knowledge about the history of forms in an organisation, and sometimes knowledge about form scripting, that IT doesn't have. Indeed one participant, who provides form design services as a consultant to a large government agency, explained how he and his team held more corporate knowledge about forms in the department than the department staff themselves. This was because there was less turnover in the consultant's organisation when compared with the government department.
Will forms continue to exist?
The group was asked whether they envisage a future in which there may not be any forms at all. For example, data transfer may occur automatically from one system/database to another, without human intervention.
The general consensus was that forms will always exist, even if they are the front-end to databases or the like. After all, forms are just an input device. One participant noted that they have considerable trouble getting people to keep their personal details up-to-date on their electronic system, which doesn't augur well for getting them to do other things electronically.
Participants also saw a number of hurdles for increased data sharing between organisations without the use of forms. The key issues were privacy concerns and the differences in the way organisations do things. For example, motor vehicle registration can be administered very differently between one state and another, let alone across countries.
What about dedicated Forms units in organisations?
There was some debate about whether, in the future, organisations will have groups of staff dedicated to forms. The impression I had was that while the participants hoped this would be the case, it would continue to represent an uphill battle.
One area of particular concern is that lay people often have a very narrow understanding of what a form is. This leads to limited recognition of the need for a separate forms unit.
There was a suggestion that perhaps we should call ourselves "question managers" rather than "forms managers", to place the emphasis on the data capture aspect of our role. Another suggestion was to refer to "data collection" rather than "forms". One participant's job title is "visual communications manager". The participants noted that discussions over terminology are not new, and will likely continue.
There was general recognition of the need to promote forms management as a profession, one that requires considerable training, knowledge and skill. Managers and IT are the key people that need to be educated about this, particularly as IT often outnumber Forms and are therefore often a considerable barrier. One participant noted that an IT person looking at the Symposium program would feel that none of it was relevant to them, yet we want to get IT people, who need to know about forms, to get involved in what we do.
Some participants felt that forms professionals need to be technology, platform and medium independent, so they can be focused on design and open to the best tools to get the job done. This is another argument for placing the forms unit outside IT.
Tips for ensuring the longevity of the Forms Unit that came out of the discussion:
- position yourself to be prominent and central, e.g. be introduced as a key part of the organisation during orientation for new staff;
- point out how you can help other areas with their work by taking the forms management tasks off their plate (they probably don't enjoy them that much anyway); and
- leverage the good relationship that Forms often has with Legal, who realise how bad it can be to be sued and also often have a lot of influence internally.
Next month, read the rest of the discussion of what the tomorrow of forms holds, for BFMA in particular.
What now?
The conversation shouldn't stop here.
Please make a comment (below) and let us know what you think about the future of forms. What do you think the forms profession will look like in 10 years time? What is the main challenge for you in getting your forms to where you feel they ought to be?
We look forward to your thoughts.
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