OBJECTIVES

In 2018 a national, not-for-profit membership association began work on a comprehensive information management strategy whose ultimate goal was to better serve its members and other partners in its community. The organization’s systems were largely paper-based and teams tended to work in silos, often leading to miscommunication and duplication of effort. Leaders recognized the need to modernize their approach but were challenged to find time to make changes, due to their fast-paced environment and heavy workloads.

SOLUTION

A five-year implementation plan began, following consultations with each team on annual work cycles, pain points and ideas for improvement. Focusing first on infrastructure, new IT tools were rolled out team by team. As staff got used to the new tools, a series of process audits, particularly processes involving more than one team were held. These audits challenged the status quo, clarified roles and responsibilities and encouraged staff to use the new tools to collaborate. Over time, a regular cycle of identifying challenges and testing solutions became the norm, and the organization started to see significant change.

RESULTS

1. A nearly paperless workplace: The introduction of efficiency tools and systems that allowed for co-authoring, document sharing and quick communications significantly reduced the reliance on paper. Accelerated by remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic, staff began to see the advantages to the new digital workspace and adapted their processes accordingly.

2. Increased collaboration: With modern tools in place, cross-team work was now better supported and became an expectation. Roles and responsibilities were clearer and teams worked together, rather than in parallel, towards the same goals.

3. Centralized business flows and information management: Wherever possible, internal and external systems were linked, facilitating the collection and transfer of information across teams and with external partners. The organization introduced self-serve portals for external partners, which were powered by a central CRM system.