We are a 600 employee company with at least 15-25 members being out of office at any given business day due to reasons beyond control like:
- Out for work
- Personal Days
- Vacation
- Maternity Leave
- Sick Days
- Jury Duty
- Military Obligations
There are multiple instances when other team members have some work with a person who is out of office (on that very day). We have set appropriate policies for employees who are out of office. They need to:
- Fill out an out of office form and submit it to the HR after approval from their Team Leads
- Update their Email with an Auto-Responder (Vacation Message)
- Set the External and Internal Greeting in the Phone System describing the out of office message
- Send an email to a predefined out of office designated email address which notifies the team leads.
What we realized is that our method of communication was only a two way communication where-in the employee taking an out of office leave is communicating it only to the HR and the Team Lead. The problem lies when a colleague of the out of office employee tries to contact the employee. This is what happens:
- The caller remains uncertain whether the out of office colleague is out on a break for coffee or is out of office
- There is wastage of time and effort due to the fact that the caller assumes that the other employee will respond to the callers needs in a timely fashion (which is not going to be the case)
To eliminate this confusion we have:
- Designed an module on our intranet website “Helpdesk” which will allow all employees to see a list of employees out of office.
- The HR team has access to add/modify this list daily (hence keeping this list updated all the time)
- We run periodic reports to check whether the data on the Helpdesk matches with our Payroll system (thus keeping both the systems integrated together)
With appropriate planning and policy definitions we have been able to educate all our company members the new policies and are able to save employee time by displaying them who is In-Office and who is Out-of-Office.
Many of us consider Web Technology as the biggest advancement in Innovation. Collaborative effort is encouraged by use of Web Application tools like Email, Forum, Blog and Wiki.
In our company we have support solutions/articles on Forum, Emails and Network Folders. Lately it was becoming more and more difficult to manage information due to the fact that data was located at multiple locations and the most updated copy of data was difficult to find. We needed a centralized location where the accessibility and availability of information/documents was quick, easy and up-to-date.
As a Knowledge Manager, I concluded Wiki was the most logical and technologically feasible solution for an organization of our size.
Forum
You can post questions and you get responses. People come to a forum to communicate, exchange thoughts, etc. However it is not a true form of Knowledge Repository. You would have to search through multiple forum threads to find the answer you are looking for.
Emails
They are not reliable due to the fact that 1) you would always have multiple emails 2) finding the last updated information through the email is not always easy
Network Shared Folders
We have Multiple Copies of the documents on the Network. It’s difficult to determine which one is accurate. Many folders are not backed up daily.
Wiki
- Wiki offers a collaborative environment to maintain data.
- A controlled environment can be set-up to provide group based read and edit rights.
- Wiki is easy to learn and manage.
- The Wiki software keeps track of every edit made and it’s a simple process to revert back to a previous version of an article.
- Wiki can allow a user defined structure of data management
I tested various Wiki softwares and websites including:
- MediaWiki
- DokuWiki
- Wikispaces
MediaWiki (Official supporter of the Wikipedia Project) came out as the best available Open Source Wiki software. We quickly drew our task force members to lay down policies to:
- Define Wiki Advantages over other mediums of communication
- Define Wiki policy to be a single source of information and slowly transition on submerging the Forum.
- Defining policy on keeping the Wiki constantly updated.
After proper implementation of the policies:
- We now have 5 Wiki instances (4 out of 5 use MediaWiki).
- There is a controlled environment set to edit Wiki; thus maintaining appropriate quality of data
- The most current information is available on Wiki
- We are now integrating “Video” uploads on the Wiki allowing employees to upload videos on various services we provide.
This time of the year I tend to rethink all that I have accomplished through out the year.
2007:
Personal Life:
- Got married!!
- Expanded my field of study from Technology to Health Care with IT.
- My rock collection/study (Petrology) is progressing.
- Extended my lifestyle as a Jain follower.
- Organized all our important documents online for real time access.
Work:
- Successfully coordinated the $28,000 valued CCHIT certification effort for the company product.
- Improvised the company intranet website — HELPDESK — allowing internal communication improvement.
- Formulated appropriate communication policies within the company for directing the employee efforts in the right direction.
- Transformed from being a Knowledge Research Specialist to being a Knowledge Manager.
We (myself and Avni) wish you a Merry Christmas and hope your holidays are filled with joy and happiness.
My Contact Information:
Email: nainil@eliteral.com
Orkut: nainil@gmail.com
IM: nainil@hotmail.com
I have always believed in optimizing time and work effort to lead a balanced life.
Todd D. Rakoff is Byrne Professor of Administrative Law, Harvard University. His book “A Time for Every Purpose - Law and the Balance of Life” explains the various laws which govern our effective use of time and it explains that the structure of our time for organized efforts is gradually changing.
Here is my work schedule:
- 6.30 AM : E-mail
- 7.00 AM : Write project plan for a process optimization project.
- 8.00 AM : Read news, blogs and watch videos on Health Care; Technology and Government matters.
- 9.00 AM - 6.00 PM :
- Every day I attend 2 meetings (at least) and define rules for process definition and improvement.
- I am a developer by heart; I spend an hour coding for our “HelpDesk” using open source (PHP and MySQL). The HelpDesk is a central source for all our internal communication needs.
- Write and send enterprise e-mail about our monthly Network Maintenance updates; Email Policies; Latest updates on Health Care; Introduction of new projects.
- Attend communications-project steering committee meeting
- Define pricing for customized development items and lay down a road map for timely completion of the projects
- Define knowledge transfer rules for an employee
- Meet with senior vice president of sales to discuss plans for: Website updates; New ideas on marketing
- 7.00 PM : E-mail
- 8.00 PM : Dinner with family
- 9.00 PM : Update Blog; Write research paper [on Governing Dynamics of Internet (Health Care IT)]
- 10.00 PM : Study Jainism and geological sediments (rock formation)
I am often asked the reason why I am consulted more than my seniors for any advice in Health Care or IT Services. It is not always the expertise which I possess allow me to provide consultation services; it is my nature of sharing knowledge and educating everyone with updated information on the industry.
Sharing knowledge has allowed for an improvised team effort in our organization. We follow a value added approach rather than a incremental approach in knowledge management. We have a meeting every week to discuss the current processes which are followed by individual departments. We have a steering committee to find gaps amongst these departments and the goal of the steering committee is to monitor these gaps. Once a gap is identified the gap is documented and assigned to the team involved in “Gap Addressing”. After the gap is addressed it is appropriately communicated to the various team managers in the organization, who intern communicate it to their team.
In this fashion, all team managers are aware of any updates in any processes for other departments they interact with. We have a document management system (developed in house known as “HelpDesk”) which allows easy navigation to the meeting minutes and process documents. We send periodic newsletters to our company members - updating them on any new process development or any new projects in hand.
We are developing a process to keep a track of any new project that is undertaken by a member of the company. Currently each department is responsible to keep a record of the projects their team members are involved in.
We are seeing that the Communication Process is making use of the most optimum resources in terms of both member skills and in terms of technology to keep everyone up-to-date. This brings in a sense of “Thought Leadership” amongst the teams and improvises quality of work.
When you manage a software development firm you are often asked which department costs you the most. Varied answers are available debating amongst “Development” and “Sales / Marketing”, but my experience teaches me that it is “Support”.
The people, policies and technology are often quite difficult to manage leading to increased “Support Calls”. The human nature asks for external as well as internal support within an organization.
Support Systems are often categorized by the nature in which they were developed.
Managing support requires:
- People
- Structure
- Ticketing System
- Knowledge Base
- Live Chat
- Documentation
Areas that need proper controlled forces are:
- Monitoring Frequently Asked Questions
- Educating Support Staff on the latest development advancements
- Managing Support Staff Ratings
- Maintaining appropriate backup staff for the areas of expertise
- Periodic Staff Evaluation on performances
Support ticketing trends / reports are measured using three main criterias:
- Average Response Time to address a ticket
- Nature of the support call
- Frequency of the support call
Support systems are formally designed a three tier architecture. The tier three support being the most complex and the tier one support being the comparatively simpler questions.
Any organization either big or small usually needs a support system and a dedicated department to answer the clients questions.
Nainil Chheda,MS is the Knowledge Research Specialist at eClinicalWorks LLC, Member of ASTM, AMIA, AIIM, PDF/H, EHRVA, HITSP, AIS and ACM, and a practicing researcher on Healthcare Informatics.
