Improve Service Through Faster Access to Information

The amount of information government agencies handle today is greater than ever. Information exists in many forms such as email, faxes, paper files and electronic records. The challenge is handling all these types of documents while trying to improve service to citizens and other government agencies.

The Underlying Challenge
Information—whether it's a physical piece of paper, electronic file or a fax—is the underlying component in government processes. The key to improving process efficiencies and cost effectiveness is managing the information flow.

Main information management objectives include:
• Improving service to the public;
• Enhancing information access to the users;
• Improving employee productivity and efficiency; and
• Above all, ensuring record security and preservation.

Processes and the flow of information—how the work gets done—are often different for each department or agency. The bottom line is that better management of the information is critical to improving the processes. The challenge: to work toward a system that will accomplish these goals while supporting information management and cost reductions, all while realizing real-life budgetary, staff and technical constraints.

Where to Start When it comes to improving agency processes, there are many solution providers from which to choose. When researching the various providers, keep in mind what you want to accomplish. Be sure to articulate your business need. Without a clear understanding of your goals and requirements, the solution will ultimately fall short.

There are many solution providers that promise the "end all" with a software package. It is important to remember that it's not the software package alone that improves efficiencies; it's the improvement in the process itself that helps create the efficiencies! The software only facilitates it. Using the old adage "garbage in, garbage out" best describes the outcome when the solution considered looks at only technology to improve agency efficiencies. Selecting a partner who has an understanding of all types of information—regardless of what form—along with the knowledge of workflow and business process improvement will ensure success.

Implementation of the right mix of process improvement and document management solutions generally recognizes more than a 50% improvement in agency processes—resulting in the ability to serve more citizens, improve government response time and reduce the paperwork burden.

Realizing the Benefits
Having a clear understanding of the information needs within the processes and the best practices of information management is the best approach to improving agency processes. This includes:
1. Documenting and improving the current process. Improving business process efficiencies and ensuring accountability and compliance start with documentation.
2. Automating the process. Going through the documentation phase will bring out the issues with the existing process and give those involved a chance to be part of the solution.
3. Ensuring the solution is scaleable. The solution selected should allow growth as your information needs grow.

Following these steps will ensure:
1. Immediate improvement in productivity and efficiencies. Look at improving the process that needs the most work or will show immediate productivity gains first. Once you get that early success under your belt, managing other information processes or issues will be easy.
2. Reduction in administrative costs. The right solution will allow staff to be more efficient simply by making access to information faster. The paper burden is lifted, as there's no longer the need to make multiple copies, search for lost files, recreate lost information or deal with expensive paper-storage costs.
3. Improved service to the public. Citizens will no longer have to wait for days to get requested information. Information is immediately available.
4. Legal records compliance through best practices in managing information. The correct classification and management of records allows agencies and departments to know exactly what information they have and when they can get rid of it. Audit, retention management, role-based security and reporting capabilities help ensure records are handled securely and in a trustworthy fashion.
5. Security and protection. Documents are protected through role-based security so only those that should see the information can see it. Preservation of vital documents is also handled through the correct classification and retention rules so that the records that need to be around for many years...are.
6. Future growth. The right solution allows agencies to grow their solution as they'd like—from a single department to municipal-wide.

In summary, when looking for a "solution" for improving agency processes and access to information, remember that the right solution is really a combination of process and software and not just software alone.

Improving agency efficiencies and processes requires harnessing the existing information chaos and understanding the process. Choose the solution and the provider that will allow you to manage all information assets, paper or electronic—while improving the process itself.

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Smead (www.smeadsoftware.com) is uniquely positioned to apply 100 years of records management experience into recordkeeping solutions. Committed to providing innovative solutions for the management of information, Smead has developed a comprehensive line of recordkeeping software.