Launching a new taxonomy is a large undertaking that requires cross-organizational coordination and communication. Fast-moving efforts of this complexity inevitably have peaks and valleys of optimism and frustration along the way. Services firms often get to have a double-dip of change and communication efforts, given that their taxonomies reflect frequently-changing external language that defines services offerings for clients as well as internal language that covers enterprise data reporting and tracking. In this presentation, Kate Vilches of Ulteig, an infrastructure design and sustainable engineering firm, and Laurie Gray, formerly of RGP, a business consulting and professional services firm, will share their experiences in riding the ups and downs of designing and implementing enterprise taxonomies at their respective services organizations. Their presentation will provide particular detail around: 1) the importance of change management to transcend corporate gravity and maximize adoption 2) how to perform cross-functional planning in a way that provides your stakeholders with an exhilarating experience 3) tell the story of taxonomy across the organization and throughout the taxonomy lifecycle in a way that truly gets people on board. At the end of their presentation, Kate and Laurie will provide presentation attendees with the blueprints that they found most useful as they built their own taxonomy tracks within their organizations.

1. ©2023 Ulteig
Road to the Taxonomy Rollercoaster
Kate Vilches, Ulteig
Laurie Gray, Enterprise Knowledge

2. ©2023 Ulteig
You have an idea, but they have options
Taxonomies aren’t built in a vacuum – you
need buy-in, experts’ times, leadership
sponsorship – What is the story that will
have them lining up to get on board?
At Ulteig, the big ask and therefore the
story was Findability. The secondary
motivating factor was information and data
categorization to better reporting.
Tailor your message: All employees were
interested in Search – it was consistently
complained about in company surveys –
but technical managers who resource
projects were especially interested in
better people + project data being pulled
from multiple systems.
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3. ©2023 Ulteig
Getting Riders Into the Queue
Convincing your users that you have an exciting option:
• What are organizational goals?
• How are different groups/divisions going about solving them?
• How are they support or detract from ultimate success?
Other things to consider:
• The importance of vision
• Getting the right people to the table
• Getting them to understand the power of taxonomy – and the benefits
to them
• Determining how best to engage

4. ©2023 Ulteig
Taxonomy Use Cases to Consider
Apply faceted search to enable faster access to content. Frequently this
includes document types, departments, products, etc.
Add a layer of findability and discoverability through metadata tagging. This
accelerates the rate at which work can be completed and increases user satisfaction.
Involve users from across the organization to improve overall user-centrism. Construct
a taxonomy that resonates with the way the organization views and does business.
Increase the accuracy of search results by tagging content using taxonomy
terms that are relevant to the content needs of groups.
Provide a customized experience for internal or external end users by
targeting content to specific audiences, ensuring that the right people have
access to the right content when they need it.
Ensure the taxonomy remains relevant and meaningful by designing and
implementing a governance model.

5. ©2023 Ulteig
The Right People on Your Ride
Potential riders are milling around the
initiative theme park, eying the
taxonomy. Who gets on first?
• Sponsors – tell the story and explain
the why
• Representatives of each function
• Bring even more people in for
verification
• Be prepared to revisit the taxonomy
frequently, especially as you do your
first few implementations
• Don’t forget to emphasize what’s in it
for them every step of the way
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6. ©2023 Ulteig
Building Coalitions
Assessing and tracking stakeholder influence and interest can accelerate success by allowing you to devote
resources to those stakeholders most likely to experience – and influence – success.
Meet Their
Needs
Key Player
Least Important
Show
Consideration
Stakeholder Interest
Stakeholder
Influence

7. ©2023 Ulteig
The First Big Drop
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On your first implementation of the taxonomy, you
might be hit with panic, resistance, screaming as your
users go over that first hill. You may have found that
the drop off is steeper than expected!
For Ulteig this happened with the Power Systems
Design section of the Topic taxonomy when we rolled
it into our Learning Management System. Members of
our Transmission & Distribution engineering teams did
not know how to categorize their videos and courses,
spotted errors in the taxonomy (yikes!), and there was
disagreement about what level of specificity they
should categorize at.
Tips:
• Don’t be afraid to go back to the beginning
• Look for compromise, talk it out, keep explaining
your “why” and look for what motivates your users
• Highlight and reward feedback

8. ©2023 Ulteig
Managing Ups and Downs
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• Change management
• Governance – hold
steady, don’t respond
to every bump and
bounce
• Communicate the
governance plan out,
make sure people are
included, feel included

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Current Transition Future
Ultimately requires individuals to move from
their current to their future state
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C C C C C
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C C C C C
T
T T T
T T T T
T T T
T T T T
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F
F F F
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An Organizational Move to a Future State

10. ©2023 Ulteig
When to Purchase the SpeedLine Pass?
Getting external support
can reduce friction and
smooth out internal battles
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11. ©2023 Ulteig
Amplify your fans
Toot your own horn – when the taxonomy
helps solve a problem, communicate that
out
Better yet, get your people-managing fans
to communicate it out for you
Educate your fans on how to spot
opportunities for taxonomy in the business,
build its reputation as a problem solver
Don’t let the taxonomy stagnate, a retro
wooden roller coaster is a fun change-of-
pace, but it can’t be the only ride in the park
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12. ©2023 Ulteig
Back to the Beginning
• Get the right people in
the room
• Get them going in the
same direction
• Sustain the momentum
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Ensure Happy Riders:

13. ©2023 Ulteig
Thank You & Questions
More questions or thoughts to add?
Kate Vilches, kate.Vilches@ulteig.com
Laurie Gray, lgray@enterprise-knowledge.com
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