More information
Description
The project will create a coherent information system for supporting processes, including contact management, advanced e-mailing, connection to banking, accounting and office applications. Staff will be trained in the use of the system and security procedures. By automating support processes, Restorative School, Inc. will be better able to focus on value-added professional work. Communication with clients regarding the offer, implementation and evaluation of services and/or collaboration will be faster and more accurate for both parties. Operational and management information will be more accessible to users and better protected.
Summary of project results
One third of our working time was consumed by support activities that could be automated (mailing, managing applications and invitations, payments, invoices and confirmations, information for accounting reports, etc.). We were not fast enough and we made mistakes. With the planned increase in capacity, there was a risk that support activities would either paralyze expert workers or force us to hire operational workers, which would jeopardize the economic vitality of the organization.
We identified parts of our support processes that could indeed be automated. We researched and tested various software solutions that could automate the processes. We tried different combinations of software to find the best solution in terms of the ratio of implementation and maintenance costs, time savings for our staff, and user-friendliness for our clients. We piloted the selected solution for two months and made a decision on which parts of it we will use in the future. All employees responsible for support activities in our organization participated in the process.
We have developed an integrated information system (with elements of Contact Management (people, organizations, roles), Emailing, Invoice Management and Payment Matching, Accounting Export, Management Reports). The system, with minimal manual data entry by our staff and no further duplicates, records input from the target group (interest, application, payment, confirmation of participation) and translates it into management reports. We have named tasks and roles for the support processes of our organization. Staff have been trained in procedures and IT security.