This summer, Square 9® Softworks sponsored its first WAKA kickball team, the Elm City League Shredders. I was hesitant to join at first because like many people, I haven’t played a game of kickball since elementary school. But I quickly found that the rules were simple, straightforward and the game overall was easy to learn.
As a team of all new players, our first few games were challenging. We not only lacked communication, but offensive production as well – kind of like an office who deals with inefficient paper processes. But as the season went on we learned to work together as a team. We were making more effective decisions, quickly finding the answers when we needed them and best of all – we were winning games. Although the season has come to an end, playing kickball with my coworkers has given me better insight into the departments I don’t regularly work with. But you don’t need to play kickball in order to gain visibility across your company. Implementing Enterprise Content Management (ECM) can drastically improve collaboration to help your team become winners in the office.
First Up – Strategy
When I first stepped up to the plate to kick, nerves immediately took over. I was unsure about where I should kick the ball to get our base runners across home plate. But with an offensive strategy in place, I knew how to advance our team in the most strategic way. The same can be said when it comes to managing documents across a department. What is the approval order? Who should each document be sent to and where can they be kept for easy retrieval? That’s why, whether in business or kickball, the first thing any team needs is a strategy – and with ECM, your business can have just that.
ECM software delivers a simple navigation and customizable functionality to fit your specific business needs. Whether it be processing, storing, or accessing your documents implementing the software allows your team to start fresh with an organized and efficient flow of business information. By automatically routing your documents and sending due date notifications, you increase employee productivity, efficiency, and don’t have to worry about where your documents may end up – unlike the ball once you kick it.
On Deck – Communication
Once you kick the ball, you have to run. Easy, right? Well, not quite. Communication can make or break a team, not just in kickball, but in business as well. Base coaches helped our kickball team stay focused on how far to run, when to steal a base or stay safe where we were. This type of communication was extremely important for offensive plays.
The same goes for your company. In order to keep business moving, lines of communication need to be open and users must be able to easily access business documents. With an Enterprise Content Management solution all your documents are digitally stored in one place, with a built-in document history log showing users exactly who viewed, edited, or modified a document and when. This type of visibility into business processes ensures employees always have access to the most recent version of a document, keeping all users “in the loop.”
For the Win – Security
We’ve all heard it before – defense wins championships. When out on the field, you must always be prepared to catch a pop fly and defend your base. Enterprise Content Management software provides robust options that not only securely capture and store your data and documents, but keeps them compliant with FERPA, HIPAA, and other mandatory company regulations. With user-based password permissions and security preferences, individual employees or even an entire department can be kept from viewing certain files. That way, collaboration can continue as planned, tampering is avoided, and data will be as secure as when you catch that ball.
Contact Square 9 to learn how Enterprise Content Management can improve your collaboration efforts today.
