“Keep it simple” should be the guiding principle for taxonomy design and maintenance. Stakeholders play an important role in the overall success of the taxonomy design and maintenance process, primarily because of their knowledge of the business. Hence, it is important to keep them engaged and involved without encumbering them with the intricacies of taxonomy design. Angela Pitts, a knowledge management expert specializing in taxonomy design with Enterprise Knowledge, explains how to do it in an agile environment.
The first step would be to develop a taxonomy governance plan designed to enhance communication. This would help in making changes to the taxonomy (taxonomy maintenance), when needed, in the simplest possible way with the proper level of engagement for all the stakeholders. In an agile environment, this somewhat complicated task can be done by leveraging the services of facilitators. They can break down the parts of the process into digestible tasks and, thereby, align it naturally with the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders. Additionally, there are tools and tricks that can help taxonomists accomplish their goals in an agile and efficient manner. One such tool is the responsible, accountable, consulted and informed (RACI) + facilitator (F) — RACI+F chart.
Click here to read about taxonomy maintenance using the RACI+F chart.
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