Building momentum

Once you’ve got buy-in and know the concerns and expectations of everybody involved in the project, it’s time to start working on momentum. 

For initiatives like this one, you gain momentum by starting as small as possible. You want your initial implementation to be contained and led by a small group of people. Ideally, between 2-5 team members, including the leader. Normally this team consists of UX researchers, ReOps, and designers.

In the initial phase, you should set clear milestones that the small team needs to get to before rolling out the repository to other teams or team members in the organization.

Some of those milestones should include:

• The first draft of your taxonomy 
• Validation of the taxonomy with stakeholders (research consumers)
• An inventory of the files, artifacts, and insights you would like to migrate to the repository  (more on this in the migration section)
• A clear understanding of governance. Who will have access to what?
• Protocols: How do people request access to the tool, who updates the taxonomy, and how will people be trained?

The best way to build momentum is to show what success could look like on a smaller scale. Some companies start implementing their repository within just one small team before thinking of how other teams will adopt the new workflow or system. 

Taking this approach means that you give yourself the time to learn whatever tool you choose to use rigorously; it helps you stress-test your taxonomy and provide a real-life example that other teams can follow. In a nutshell, starting small enables you to learn in a low-risk environment and get the confidence needed to launch the initiative across the organization.